Senator Ted Kennedy’s bill granting the FDA the power to regulate the tobacco industry passed yesterday in the Senate with a final vote of 79 to 17. Among the U.S. Senators voting in favor of the bill were 23 Republicans including the following:
John Barrasso (Wyoming)
Thad Cochran (Mississippi)
Susan Collins (Maine)
Bob Corker (Tennessee)
John Cornyn (Texas)
Mike Crapo (Idaho)
Mike Enzi (Wyoming)
Chuck Grassley (Iowa)
Judd Gregg (New Hampshire)
Kay Hutchinson (Texas)
Mike Johanns (Nebraska)
Richard Luger (Indiana)
Mel Martinez (Florida)
John McCain (Arizona)
Lisa Murkowski (Alaska)
Jim Risch (Idaho)
Jeff Sessions (Alabama)
Richard Shelby (Alabama)
Olympia Snowe (Maine)
John Thune (South Dakota)
David Vitter (Louisiana)
George Voinovich (Ohio)
Roger Wicker (Mississippi)
The only Democrat who voted against the bill was Senator Kay Hagen of North Carolina.
Because the Senate version of the bill has some differences from the House version, a conference committee may need to be convened to negotiate the differences or the House could accept the Senate version of the legislation, Tom Briant, executive director of the National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO) explained in a letter to NATO members, shortly after the bill was passed. President Obama was a co-sponsor of the Kennedy bill while he served as a U.S. Senator and has indicated that he intends to sign the bill into law.