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Rep. Doggett Tobacco Smuggling Gets Subcommittee Hearing FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, April 29, 2008 CONTACT: Wyeth Ruthven, 202-225-4865 Washington, DC – Congressman Lloyd Doggett’s Smuggled Tobacco Prevention (STOP) Act of 2008 will be the subject of a hearing before the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security of the House Judiciary Committee. The hearing will be held Thursday, May 1, 2008 at 10:00 am in Room 2237 of the Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing will be webcast live at http://judiciary.house.gov/schedule.aspx “Tobacco smuggling is both an issue of public safety and public health,” said Congressman Doggett (D-TX), a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee to which the STOP Act has also been referred. “Ending this illegal trafficking will curb a source of funding for organized crime and terrorists.” A recent accidental injury in his district will prevent Rep. Doggett from attending Thursday’s hearing. Testifying on behalf of the STOP Act will be John Colledge, a former agent with the U.S. Customs Service Office of Investigations and the Department of Homeland Security. Colledge created and managed the Tobacco Smuggling Task Force at the U.S. Customs Service, and served as a delegate to the G-8 Organized Crime Subgroup and the World Customs Organization as an expert on cigarette smuggling. Since retiring from the Department of Homeland Security in 2007, Colledge has served as technical advisor to Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) on international cigarette smuggling and developed NGO client policy for the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC) protocol. Congressman Lloyd Doggett has introduced the STOP Act (H.R. 5689) to enhance the ability of law enforcement to prevent illegal diversions of tobacco products and to identify and punish smugglers. The bill requires that packages of tobacco products manufactured here or imported to the U.S. also be uniquely marked with a federal high-tech stamp, applied during the manufacturing process, similar to that which the State of California is already using and which Canada will soon implement. The STOP Act also amends the Internal Revenue Code to require all packages of tobacco products for export be clearly labeled for export to prevent illegal reentry into the U.S. The bill also bans the sale of manufacturing equipment to unlicensed persons to prevent the illegal use of tobacco product manufacturing machinery and to address the serious and growing problem of illegal manufacturing. Congressman Doggett’s bill would also increase penalties for smuggling for all types of tobacco products. Congressman Doggett’s legislation is cosponsored by 105 Members of the House of Representatives and endorsed by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, the American Lung Association, the American Medical Association, American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, Corporate Accountability International, Essential Action, and the Federation of Tax Administrators. # # #
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