With the 114th Congress now in session, the time has come to reintroduce legislation to exempt premium cigars from FDA regulation. House Bill (HR) 662 has been introduced by Representative Bill Posey of Florida to the U.S. House of Representatives. The purpose of the bill is to introduce legislation to exempt premium cigars from regulations being proposed by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In addition, the bill has already received an additional 34 co-sponsors.
This replaces H.R. 792 introduced to the 113th Congress in 2013 which replaced H.R. 1639 which was introduced to the 112th Congress in 2011. 168 sponsors from the U.S. House of Representatives signed on to H.R. 792 while H.R. 1639 had 221 sponsors – a working majority. The new session of Congress requires a new bill to be put in place. A companion replacement bill will also be filed in the Senate. Last year, the FDA published its Deeming Document of proposed FDA regulations.
The process of recruiting co-sponsors for the bill will now begin through lobbying efforts.
The following are the list of the 35 sponsors.
Rep. Gus Bilirakis [R-FL]
Rep. Marsha Blackburn [R-TN]
Rep. Robert Brady [D-PA]
Rep. Vern Buchanon [R-FL]
Rep. Ken Calvert[R-CA]
Rep. Tony Cardenas [D-CA]
Rep. Kathy Castor [D-FL]
Rep. William Lacy Clay [D-MO]
Rep. Tom Cole [R-OK]
Rep. Chris Collins [R-NY]
Rep. Jim Costa [D-CA]
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart [R-FL]
Rep. Virginia Foxx [R-NC]
Rep. Sam Graves [R-MO]
Rep. Alan Grayson [D-FL]
Rep. H. Morgan Griffith [D-VA]
Rep. Andy Harris [D-MD]
Rep. Alcee Hastings [D-FL]
Rep. Duncan Hunter [R-CA]
Rep. David Jolly [R-FL]
Rep. Mike Kelly [R-PA]
Rep. Adam Kinzinger [R-IL]
Rep. Patrick Murphy [D-FL]
Rep. Tim Murphy [R-PA]
Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. [D-NJ]
Rep. Mike Pompeo [R-KS]
Rep. Bill Posey [R-FL]
Rep. Harold Rogers [R-KY]
Rep. Peter Roskam [R-IL]
Rep. Dennis Ross [R-FL]
Rep. Edward Royce [R-CA]
Rep. Pete Sessions [R-TX]
Rep. Lynn Westmoreland [R-GA]
Rep. Frederica Wilson [D-FL]
Rep. Kevin Yoder [R-KS]
