FDA Key to Buyout Passage, Etheridge Fights for Farm Families

RALEIGH - With 73 days having passed without the U.S. House appointing conferees on the tobacco buyout, U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-Lillington) sent a strong signal to the Republican leadership that farmers will accept regulation of tobacco products by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ensure passage of a buyout. In a letter to House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas, Etheridge stressed that the success of a tobacco buyout is directly tied to the inclusion of FDA regulation. The U.S. Senate passed the buyout coupled with FDA on July 15th, and a number of legislators, including tobacco state Senators Elizabeth Dole and Mitch McConnell, have stated definitively that FDA regulation is essential for the buyout to pass the Senate.

"Let me be very clear: North Carolina's farm families can't wait any longer for a buyout, and if FDA is the ticket to their security, then we'll take it," Etheridge said. "We've heard time and again that FDA is the only way the buyout will pass the Senate. The House Republican leadership should not gamble with farm families' future by playing political games with the buyout or FDA. Farmers and I have had concerns about FDA regulation in the past, but we are willing to accept it to pass a buyout. Congress and the House leadership need to stop playing politics and give our farm families much needed relief."

The House and the Senate both passed the buyout as a part of H.R. 4520, the corporate tax bill also known as FSC/ETI. Each chamber passed different versions of the tax legislation and the buyout and these differences must be worked out in a conference committee and each chamber must approve the final version of the legislation. The Senate appointed conferees immediately after passing the buyout, but the House has yet to appoint conferees. Two weeks ago Etheridge wrote a letter to Speaker Hastert urging him to appoint conferees immediately so that negotiations can begin.