Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 12, 1995 TAG: 9504120081
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: DANVILLE LENGTH: Medium
``Virginia's congressional delegation will stand like a stone wall to stop these,'' Warner told more than 300 people during a meeting of the Concerned Friends for Tobacco. The group is a tobacco lobby founded by growers in Pittsylvania County.
Warner's seat on the Senate Agriculture Committee is viewed as crucial by tobacco growers as Congress prepares to write the 1995 farm bill, which will determine the nation's agriculture policies for the next five years.
Growers said they need Warner's support to keep tobacco separate from other farm subsidy programs, which Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., the Agriculture Committee's chairman, has pledged to abolish.
Republicans and Democrats also have introduced measures to ban cigarette and other tobacco product advertising, and states such as Florida have demanded that the federal government pay Medicare costs for illnesses associated with smoking.
``We can deliver a substantial tobacco vote in Southside Virginia [to Warner], but my question is what's he going to do in return for it,'' said Keith Atkinson, a tobacco grower who is vice chairman of the Concerned Citizens group.
``We'll do all we can to help, if he is devoted to protecting our livelihood,'' Atkinson added.
Warner said any proposed advertising ban likely was unconstitutional. ``What are you going to do next, ban advertising for cosmetics or tennis shoes?'' Warner said. ``This is a free society,'' but advertisers should not target children, Warner added.
As for any proposal to raise the 24-cent excise tax on cigarettes, Warner said it was unlikely given the new Republican majority in Congress.
by CNB