Legislation: US Bill Redo, HR-1639 becomes HR-792

US House Bill HR-792Every two years, the United States Congress recommences the numbering of all House and Senate bills back to one (1).  Which means you can end up having two totally different bills with the same exact number. 

Just as many cigar rights advocates were getting used to referencing US House Bill H.R. 1639 (112th Congress) – known as the “Traditional Cigar Manufacturing and Small Business Jobs Preservation Act of 2011″ – we now must re-focus our attention and energies to new US House Bill H.R. 792 (113th Congress) known as the “Traditional Cigar Manufacturing and Small Business Jobs Preservation Act of 2013″.  H.R. 792 is a new bill introduced by co-sponsors Bill Posey (Republican – Florida) and Kathy Castor (Democrat – Florida) on Friday, February 15, 2013. 

According to Glynn Loope, executive director for Cigar Rights of America, H.R. 792 is basically the same exact bill as H.R. 1639 with minor adjustments to help further define premium cigars and protect our freedoms as premium cigar smokers.  Loope made a guest appearance on the 02/16/13 edition of Kiss My Ash Radio to announce the late-breaking news with H.R. 792.  Highlights and talking-points from Loope’s appearance are outlined below:

  • Between the United States, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic the cigar industry employs over 350,000 workers.
  • H.R. 792 provides a new classic definition of what a premium cigar is.
  • H.R. 792 narrows the scope of the types of cigars included in the bill.
  • Part of the goal with H.R. 792 is to educate the FDA on these facts:
    1. Premium cigars are not addictive
    2. Premium cigars are sold to adult
    3. Premium cigars are not marketed to children
  • In 2012, 42 healthcare groups came out against cigar rights.  Therefore, we cigar rights advocates have our work cut out for us in order to recapture the momentum gained under former bill H.R. 1639.