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Earlier today the U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to approve legislation passed in the Senate yesterday giving the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) broad regulatory authority over tobacco products. The vote today in the House was 307 to 97 and now the legislation will go to President Obama’s desk for signature. The President has already indicated he will sign the legislation into law.
In an overwhelming vote of 79 to 17, the U.S. Senate approved legislation providing for sweeping U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory authority over tobacco. The bill, similar to legislation already passed in the House, will need to be approved by the House before going to the President’s desk for signature. AWMA was supporting alternative legislation offered by Senator Burr (R-NC) that was considered prior to this vote. The Burr bill would have promoted more reasonable regulation of tobacco but the bill was defeated by a vote of 60 to 36.
AWMA has been working with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace to promote the message that the misnamed “Employee Free Choice Act” or “card check” would deny workers the right to a secret ballot stripping them of their basic freedom in deciding in private whether or not to unionize.