DATE: Sunday, November 23, 1997             TAG: 9711200014

SECTION: COMMENTARY              PAGE: J4   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Editorial

                                            LENGTH:   44 lines

REP. THOMAS J. BLILEY JR. TOBACCO'S CHAMPION?

Sometimes, apparently, up is down, east is west, and black is white.

U.S. Rep. Thomas J. Bliley Jr., chairman of the House Commerce Committee, has talked tough to the tobacco industry.

Bliley leads Congress in campaign money received from tobacco and represents Richmond, home to the largest cigarette plant in the world. After his fellow Republicans assumed control of Congress in 1995, Bliley single-handedly ended Democrat-led investigations of the tobacco industry. He said at the time, ``I don't think we need any more legislation regulating tobacco.''

A cynic might say that Bliley has a conflict of interest. His family business, funeral homes, gains customers from tobacco.

But last week, Bliley astounded observers by criticizing part of the proposed $368.5 billion tobacco settlement reached in June by state attorneys general, tobacco companies and trial lawyers.

He wrote Geoffrey Bible, chairman of Philip Morris Cos. Inc., a letter asking the company to turn over 864 documents that a Minnesota court has determined were improperly shielded by attorney-client privilege claims.

And he said he will consider subpoenaing the documents if they are not in Congress' hands by Dec. 5.

``If the tobacco industry engaged in criminal or fraudulent activities, then Congress has a right - a duty - to know before legislation is enacted granting that industry any form of immunity against lawsuits,'' he said.

So close have been Bliley's ties to tobacco that some wondered if his demand for documents is a scheme to delay tobacco legislation. He said it wasn't, and his actions lend credence to his claim.

On the first day of a series of Commerce Committee hearings on tobacco, Bliley said, ``We begin the work of redefining the role of tobacco in American society.'' And he said, ``We need to know whether the full extent of the industry's knowledge of the health risks associated with tobacco use. We need to know the full extent of the industry's knowledge about marketing appeals to children. We need to know whether the tobacco industry engaged in activities to hide this information from the American people.''

He should have added, ``When even I have harsh words for tobacco, it's a whole new ballgame.''

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