WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) today released the following statement after attending a White House meeting on the vaping epidemic with the President, industry representatives, and health advocates:
“I appreciated the President’s efforts to bring together stakeholders and experts to discuss proposals to solve the youth vaping epidemic. Everyone agrees that this is a serious problem, but it’s clear there are differing views about the best way to develop responsible guidelines to protect our kids. While I hope the Administration will act without further delay on its prior proposal to ban flavors that appeal to kids, I will also continue to push for my legislation that bans flavors, ensures that vaping cartridges are tamper-proof, and bans e-cigarettes from schools.”
Video of the meeting can be found on CBS News’ website here.
Background:
- At a hearing earlier this week, Senator Romney urged Dr. Stephen Hahn, the nominee to serve as Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, to support a flavor ban. He met with Dr. Hahn earlier in the month to discuss the issue.
- In September, Senators Romney and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) introduced the Ending New Nicotine Dependencies (ENND) Act, which would regulate e-cigarette standards and protect public health by prohibiting non-tobacco flavors and ensuring that electronic nicotine delivery systems are tamper-proof.
- In June, Senators Romney and Mark Udall (D-NM) introduced the Smoke-Free Schools Act of 2019 to ban e-cigarette use in educational and childcare facilities.
- In April, Romney helped introduce the bipartisan Tobacco to 21 Act, legislation that would prohibit the sale of tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, to anyone under the age of 21.