In the wake of an overwhelming House vote to pass a tobacco regulation bill, supporters are hoping the Senate will act before the session ends — but face determined opposition from a tobacco state Republican.

Sen. Richard M. Burr, R-N.C., has promised to drag out debate, offer amendments, and do whatever he can to ensure “a full and lengthy debate and lengthy amendment process,” should the bill (HR 1108) come to the floor.

The bill would give the Food and Drug Administration power to regulate tobacco products, and introduce strict new advertising, labeling and marketing rules. It passed the House on July 30 by 326-102.

Given the extremely abbreviated Senate calendar when lawmakers return Sept. 8 — and the long list of other priorities such as energy and budget matters — Burr’s threat could be powerful enough to sink the bill for this year. Wyoming Republican Michael B. Enzi has also pledged to vigorously oppose the legislation.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has not set the final fall legislative agenda yet, but spokeswoman Regan Lachapelle said the tobacco bill was a possibility, and Burr’s threat’s would not impact the calendar.

“This threat from Senator Burr is no different than the obstruction and threats that Republicans have made on every piece of legislation that we have considered or tried to consider in the Senate,” Lachapelle said.

Tobacco industry lobbyists opposed to the bill have said privately that they hope such threats will have an impact, however, and are looking to Burr to deliver them.

“I think conventional wisdom would say that bills subject to filibuster don’t have much chance in the final month,” one lobbyist who is fighting it said earlier this month.

Said Burr: “I hope we would spend the majority of September on energy. What’s not on energy will be on the [continuing resolution]” for the budget.

The tobacco regulation bill is being pushed in the Senate by Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., who has a companion bill he steered through committee, but is now backing the House bill. Melissa Wagoner, a spokeswoman for Kennedy said, “We’re very optimistic that this bill will be signed into law this year” and are “hopeful for floor action in the fall.”

Burr, however, has been waging a campaign to make sure that does not happen. In addition to his threats to run out the clock and offer amendments, he was waged a more public campaign to argue that the FDA is not the proper venue for tobacco regulation. Burr has previously argued that cigarette content might more logically be regulated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and packaging and labeling might be placed under the purview of the Federal Trade Commission.

In a July 31 guest opinion column in USA Today, Burr argued that giving the FDA control over tobacco would “severely impede the FDA’s core mission,” saying such a large new responsibility would take the agency’s focus away from existing problems such as drug and food safety. The White House made similar arguments in issuing a veto threat July 30.

Asked about the editorial, Burr said, “if people look at how much I have invested in modernizing the FDA  . . .  these have all addressed areas of weakness at the FDA, and I think this is the wrong time to talk about new jurisdictional responsibilities.”

While a member of the House, Burr focused on streamlining the FDA’s approval process for drugs and medical devices.

Tobacco, of course, is also a major home state industry for Burr, a first-term senator up for reelection in 2010.

“You can’t represent North Carolina and say regulation of tobacco is not important,” said Burr, when questioned about the reasons for his opposition to the bill. “I haven’t opposed regulation of tobacco, I’ve just opposed putting it at the FDA,” he added.

Burr said the state’s tobacco industry “is not as dominant a manufacturing base as it once was.” Though the North Carolina Department of Agriculture estimates tobacco’s economic impact on the state totals $7 billion annually, the crop has been in decline for years, as farmers phased out production. In 1975, North Carolina had 470,000 acres under production. In 2007, that total had fallen to 166,000 acres.

But it is still a critical industry in the Tar Heel state. The second largest tobacco company in the United States, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., is headquartered in Greensboro, N.C. It produces roughly 30 percent of cigarettes consumed in the country; in 2007, parent company Reynolds American reported sales of $9 billion.

The nation’s third largest tobacco company, Lorillard Tobacco Co., is headquartered in Greensboro, N.C. Until recently, it was a private company and did not have to file earnings reports, but in the second quarter of 2008 had sales of $1.1 billion.

Neither company has given large donations directly to Burr’s campaign, but have instead sent contributions to his leadership committee, the Next Century Fund. Reynolds’ political action committee gave $10,000 in the current election cycle, and Lorillard $5,000, according to data from CQ MoneyLine.

Cigarette maker Philip Morris USA backs the legislation, but Lorillard and R.J. Reynolds have argued that advertising restrictions in the bill essentially would lock in Philip Morris’ substantial market share, and leave other tobacco companies unable to compete.

While the legislation would outlaw many flavored cigarettes critics say are aimed at underage smokers, it has an exception for menthol-flavored cigarettes, which are marketed heavily to black smokers. That exception has generated widespread criticism.

“We know that Big Tobacco targets children and teenagers – particularly young African-Americans – by aggressively marketing menthol cigarettes to them,” Enzi said in July. Enzi has criticized Kennedy’s bill, and has said he would oppose any bill that does not outlaw tobacco outright.