Smoking Banned in House of Representatives Meeting Area

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced today that smoking would be banned from the Speaker's Lobby, a House of Representatives meeting area, because of the danger of second-hand smoke.

Smoking bans are becoming increasingly common. In many areas, smoking has been banned from restaurants, office buildings, bars, and, in some places, even parks because of concern about second-hand smoke. Now, a formerly smoke-filled meeting room for members of Congress can be added to the list.

The Washington Post described the Speaker's Lobby as an "ornate space dotted with fireplaces and chandeliers ... the biggest and most visible space where smokers gather. The lobby, where lawmakers relax between votes and debates, is blue with smoke most days. You can smell it from the approaching hallways. Cigarette smokers claim the leather wing chairs during the day, filling the ashtrays with butts. At night, the cigar smokers take over."

A smoking ban was passed in the District of Columbia last year. It went into effect in restaurants and office buildings last April, and in bars and nightclubs this month. However, D.C. legislators exempted themselves from the ban. Offices of members of Congress were, and still are, exempted, as was the Speaker's Lobby until today.

That makes the Speaker's Lobby one of the few remaining places in Washington where smoking was still allowed. Banning smoking in this traditionally smoky room shows that the times are really changing.

""The days of smoke-filled rooms in the United States Capitol are over," Speaker Pelosi said in a press release. "Medical science has unquestionably established the dangerous effects of secondhand smoke, including an increased risk of cancer and respiratory diseases. I am a firm believer that Congress should lead by example. Effective immediately, smoking will no longer be permitted in the Speaker's Lobby of the United States Capitol." She added that "as Members of Congress, we must be held to a higher standard. We can no longer risk the health of colleagues, staff, pages, reporters and others who pass through the Speaker's Lobby each day."

The American Lung Association applauded the decision, calling it "both an important public health victory and a symbolic decision," and urged Congressional leaders to extend the ban even further to include all areas in all office buildings on Capitol Hill, where smoking is still permitted in smoking areas next to two cafeterias and in the private and committee offices of Members of Congress, at their discretion.

Sources:

House Democrats end smoking in the "lobby," Reuters, Wed. Jan. 10, 2007 12:32 pm ET

American Lung Association Applauds Speaker Pelosi's Smokefree Capitol Decision, American Lung Association, Jan. 10, 2007, PR Newswire

Pelosi bans smoking in Speaker's Lobby by Kelly McCormack, The Hill, Jan. 10, 2007

Pelosi: 'The Days of Smoke-filled Rooms in the United States Capitol Are Over,' Office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Jan. 10, 2007, PR Newswire

D.C. Smoking Ban Begins, Jan. 2, 2007, nbc4.com

The Last Gasp of a Smoke-Filled Room? by Lyndsey Layton
Washington Post, Dec. 8, 2006

Smoking Ban Extended to Congress by Martin Austermuhle, Jan. 10, 2007, dcist.com