Letter: Nevada's senators praised for backing tobacco bill amendment

By a bipartisan vote of 61 to 37, the Senate overwhelmingly refused to kill an amendment sponsored by Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., to remove special legal protections for Big Tobacco. This decisive victory helps pave the way for possible enactment of sound national tobacco legislation.

Faced with hundreds of suits from states, individuals, health insurers and others, the tobacco industry is desperate to limit its liability -- and the White House and some in Congress are prepared to oblige. Last year's "global tobacco settlement' and the Senate Commerce Committee bill would have granted the industry extraordinary legal protections.

But these protections are opposed by virtually every public health and consumer organization, as well as by the nation's two foremost public health leaders -- former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop and former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. David Kessler.

As the legislative process reaches its climax, the tobacco industry will exert immense pressure on Congress to provide it with some form of legal immunity. Indeed, the industry has already spent billions of dollars to protect itself from accountability.

The more than 350 organizations that belong to Save Lives, Not Tobacco applaud Bryan's and Reid's common sense support for the Gregg-Leahy no-immunity amendment. We encourage all members of Congress to oppose any special deals, any special privileges, and any special legal protections for the tobacco industry.

Michelle Bloch, American Medical Women's Association, Paul Billings, American Lung Association

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