Washington, DC (PRWEB) June 24, 2004 -- In response to the U.S. House of Representatives’ plan to sneak through a “sweetheart deal” for Big Tobacco by attaching it to an unrelated corporate tax bill, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids has launched www.StopBigTobacco.org, a nationwide campaign calling on the U.S. Senate to insist that this plan be excluded from the final bill.

At issue is a provision of the House-passed tax bill (called the Foreign Sales Corporation, or FSC, bill) that amounts to a $10 billion, taxpayer-funded giveaway to tobacco companies. The provision was added to win votes for the controversial tax bill from tobacco-state lawmakers. It is billed as a buyout for tobacco farmers, but really amounts to a sweetheart deal for tobacco companies and a raw deal for everyone else. This plan does nothing to protect public health and reduce tobacco’s tremendous toll in health, lives and money. It makes taxpayers pay for the buyout instead of the tobacco companies, adds to the federal budget deficit and eliminates all price and production controls on tobacco, which would allow tobacco to be grown anywhere in the United States.

This House buyout shortchanges small family farmers and provides an unwarranted windfall to the tobacco companies. Tobacco companies benefit because they do not have to pay for the buyout and they end up with cheaper tobacco. The Congressional Research Service has estimated that tobacco companies will save between half a billion and two billion dollars a year under such a buyout proposal.

Visitors to www.StopBigTobacco.org can send a message to their Senators urging them to reject the House’s proposal. The campaign, which was made public last week, has already generated over 17,000 letters from www.StopBigTobacco.org to Congress from Americans who believe that Congress should protect public health, not Big Tobacco’s bottom line.

Voters know that that House buyout plan is a bad deal for them. According to a nationwide poll of voters, conducted June 11-13, 80 percent are opposed to the House tobacco buyout plan, including 67 percent who are strongly opposed. Republicans, Democrats and Independents alike are strongly opposed.

Instead of the House buyout plan, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids has urged Congress to pass separate legislation that includes effective Food and Drug Administration regulation of tobacco products and a responsible tobacco farmer buyout that is paid by the tobacco companies, not the taxpayers.

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids is building a healthier future for our children by changing public attitudes and public policies regarding tobacco use. The Campaign strives to prevent kids from smoking, help smokers quit and protect everyone from secondhand smoke. For more information, go to www.tobaccofreekids.org.