U.S. Sen. Richard Burr spoke for another 30 minutes against the FDA regulation of tobacco.
In a second speech on the Senate floor this afternoon, the Winston-Salem Republican made several arguments against a pending bill:
* The Bush administration FDA commissioner said the agency might have to divert drug and food safety funding to pay for it.
* The Kennedy bill would cost $787 million a year; the Burr-Hagan bill would cost only $100 million a year.
* The Kennedy bill would allow the FDA to order reductions in nicotine content, which would force smokers to use more cigarettes.
* The Congressional Budget Office estimated the Kennedy bill would only reduce smoking by 2 percent a year, less than how much it goes down on its own.
* The Kennedy bill would reduce smokeless alternatives that would be less harmful to health than cigarettes.
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