First the Speaker’s Lobby, and now this.
The Senate Rules Committee has closed two smoking rooms in the Senate office buildings, effectively prohibiting smoking in all of the Senate’s public buildings.
Last August, Sens. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Jack Reed, D-R.I., sent a letter to Senate Rules Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., requesting the committee “protect the health of employees and visitors to the Senate by eliminating smoking in Senate buildings entirely.” The two smoking rooms closed by the committee’s action were next to a coffee shop in the basement of the Hart Senate Office building; and in the Dirksen Senate Office building cafeteria.
“Congress should be setting an example when it comes to fighting the health risks of smoking and second-hand smoke. Closing down the smoking rooms and our recent ban on tobacco sales in the Senate are critical steps that will improve the health of those who visit and work in the Senate,” said Lautenberg.
Soon after assuming control as Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi ended the practice of allowing members to smoke in the Speaker’s Lobby just off the House floor.
