NASHVILLE, Tenn., April 4, 2006—Dr. Richard Land, president of The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, will be participating in a press conference on Kick Butts Day, April 5, with other faith leaders and youth advocates, urging Congress to support legislation to require regulation of tobacco products.
The conference will be held at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation on Capitol Hill, 212 East Capitol Street, NE, Washington, D.C. at 11:45 a.m.
Leaders will call on Congress to support legislation that gives the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority over tobacco products. In 2004, the U.S. Senate voted for this legislation, but it did not come to a vote in the House.
Other participants include: Reverend Conrad Braaten, pastor of Lutheran Church of the Reformation; James Winkler, General Secretary of the General Board of Church and Society, United Methodist Church; Katy Echols, General Youth Council of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ); and Bishop Douglas Miles, executive director of Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance.
This year marks the eleventh annual Kick Butts Day, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Kick Butts Day is an annual celebration of youth leadership and activism in the fight against tobacco use, with more than 2,000 events planned in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
The Capitol Hill event will feature 1,200 photos of people who have died from tobacco-related diseases, representing the number of Americans who die each day from tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke.
The Southern Baptist Convention is America’s largest non-Catholic denomination with more than 16.3 million members in over 43,500 churches nationwide. The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission is the SBC’s ethics, religious liberty and public policy agency with offices in Nashville, Tenn., and Washington, D.C.
