January 14, 2009
Anti-Smoking Advocate Is Named to Health Post
By ROBERT PEAR
NY Times

WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama said Tuesday that he had
chosen the head of a leading anti-tobacco organization to be the No. 2
official at the Department of Health and Human Services.

The prospective nominee, William V. Corr, is executive director of the
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a nonprofit group that seeks to reduce
tobacco use among children and adults.

As a member of the Obama transition team, Mr. Corr has led efforts to
review and evaluate the work of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Mr. Obama has selected Tom Daschle, a former Senate Democratic leader,
to be secretary of health and human services. If confirmed by the
Senate, Mr. Corr would be the deputy secretary. From 1998 to 2000, Mr.
Corr worked as chief counsel and policy director for Mr. Daschle, when
Mr. Daschle was minority leader.

***The new Congress is expected to move aggressively against the tobacco
industry, by increasing federal regulation of cigarettes, raising taxes
on tobacco products and approving an international tobacco control
treaty.***

As a senator, Mr. Obama, an intermittent smoker, was a co-sponsor of a
bill that would have given the Food and Drug Administration broad
authority to regulate “the manufacture, marketing, and distribution” of
tobacco products, including cigarettes.

On its Web site, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids says its goals are
“to prevent kids from smoking, help smokers quit and protect everyone
from secondhand smoke.”

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Let's see...raise cigarette taxes by $2.50 a pack to start and raise
cigar taxes by $10 a cigar. Good start. :) Next, outlaw smoking on the
public's streets and sidewalks.