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Version 00 · Introduced in House · Aug 6, 2026
Preventing Opportunities for Teen E-Cigarette and Tobacco Addiction Act or the PROTECT Act
This bill requires the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop a strategy and carry out a specific initiative to prevent and reduce the use of electronic cigarettes and emerging tobacco products among youth and young adults.
As part of the initiative, the CDC must
conduct research and surveillance on types of products, patterns of use, health impacts, and other aspects of the use of such products by youth and young adults;
evaluate prevention and intervention strategies and develop guidance for intervening and treating youth and young adults who use such products;
identify effective messaging and communication efforts and implement a national public education campaign concerning the use of such products; and
continue to fund grants for tobacco control programs in health departments, including efforts to prevent and reduce the use of such products by youth and young adults.
People & committees
Rep. Wasserman Schultz, Debbie [D-FL-25] · D–FL
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
Source last updated: Oct 6, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2026-08-06 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The proposed PROTECT Act would require the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to lead an initiative addressing electronic cigarette and emerging tobacco product use among youth and young adults. It would combine research, guidance for health care providers and schools, public education, and continued funding for health departments and Tribal organizations. It would authorize Congress to provide $100 million annually for fiscal years 2027–2031; that authorization would not itself supply the money.
This Act may be cited as the Preventing Opportunities for Teen E-Cigarette and Tobacco Addiction Act or the PROTECT Act.
The Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shall carry out an initiative, to be known as the Reducing Youth Use of E-Cigarettes Initiative
Developing, in collaboration with professional medical organizations, guidance for health care providers, schools, and other entities, as appropriate
a campaign to reduce tobacco initiation and use by youth and young adults, and to educate the public
Continuing to provide funding through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Tobacco Control Program cooperative agreement to State, local, territorial, and Freely Associated State health departments and Tribal organizations, as appropriate
To carry out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2031.
Section 2 would add a new section 317W to the Public Health Service Act, requiring the Secretary to carry out the initiative through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Public Health Service Act is amended by inserting after section 317V of such Act (42 U.S.C. 247b–24) the following: 317W. Reducing Youth Use of E-Cigarettes Initiative
The Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shall carry out an initiative, to be known as the Reducing Youth Use of E-Cigarettes Initiative
The initiative would research which products young people use, how they use them, differences across demographic groups, and the relationship between electronic cigarette use and starting to smoke cigarettes or cigars. Research would include stronger state-level monitoring and rapid monitoring methods.
Conducting research (including by enhancing State-level surveillance and by using rapid surveillance methods) on use by youth and young adults of electronic cigarettes and emerging tobacco products
(A) the types of products youth and young adults use; (B) patterns of products used by youth and young adults, including initiation, frequency of use, use in combination with other tobacco products, and use of flavors; (C) the association between the use by youth and young adults of electronic cigarettes and the initiation of smoking with cigarettes or cigars; (D) use of electronic cigarettes and emerging tobacco products among different demographic groups;
Research would also examine how young people obtain these products, distribution methods, advertising exposure, manufacturers’ marketing strategies, and reasons for use. It would study nicotine dependence, efforts to quit, successful quitting, and the resources young people use to quit.
(E) the means by which youth and young adults access electronic cigarettes and emerging tobacco products, and methods of distribution of electronic cigarettes and emerging tobacco products; (F) youth and young adult exposure to advertising of electronic cigarettes and emerging tobacco products; (G) marketing and advertising strategies used by manufacturers, including the channels and messaging used and strategies that target different demographic groups; (H) the reasons youth and young adults use such products;
(I) the extent to which youth and young adult electronic cigarette users are nicotine dependent; (J) patterns of youth and young adult electronic cigarette cessation behaviors, including patterns in motivation to quit, quit attempts, successful cessation, and associated factors; and (K) resources youth and young adults are using to quit tobacco use.
The initiative would study product characteristics, nicotine delivery technology, nicotine levels, and biological indicators of exposure and resulting health impacts.
(2) Conducting research on— (A) the characteristics and nicotine delivery technology of electronic cigarettes and emerging tobacco products; (B) biomarkers of exposure to electronic cigarettes and emerging tobacco products and resulting health impacts from such exposure; and (C) the levels of nicotine in electronic cigarettes and emerging tobacco products.
The initiative would work with professional medical organizations to develop and distribute guidance for health care providers, schools, and other appropriate organizations on helping and treating young people who use electronic cigarettes and other emerging tobacco products.
(3) Developing, in collaboration with professional medical organizations, guidance for health care providers, schools, and other entities, as appropriate, on intervening with, and treating, youth and young adults who use electronic cigarettes and other emerging tobacco products, and disseminating such guidance.
The initiative would identify promising ways to prevent and reduce use, identify existing and develop new age-appropriate quitting support, and improve access to services, including services delivered through technology. It would also identify effective messages aimed at preventing young people from starting tobacco use and reducing use.
(4) Identifying promising strategies to— (A) prevent and reduce the use by youth and young adults of electronic cigarettes and emerging tobacco products; (B) identify existing, and develop new, cessation strategies and quit support that are appropriate for youth and young adults; and (C) improve access to, and the delivery of tobacco cessation services for, youth and young adults, including the use of technology-delivered services.
(5) Identifying effective messages and communication efforts that prevent initiation of tobacco product use and reduce use, including the use of electronic cigarettes and emerging tobacco products, among youth and young adults.
A public education campaign would be developed and carried out with the Commissioner of Food and Drugs and the Surgeon General. Its purposes would include reducing young people’s tobacco use and explaining changing products, associated harms, and culturally appropriate ways to help young users obtain quitting services. These are proposed campaign objectives, not demonstrated results.
(6) Developing and implementing, in coordination with the Commissioner of Food and Drugs and the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service, a campaign to reduce tobacco initiation and use by youth and young adults, and to educate the public about— (A) the rapidly evolving tobacco product landscape; (B) the harms associated with the use by youth and young adults of electronic cigarettes and other emerging tobacco products; and (C) culturally competent strategies for intervening with youth and young adults who use tobacco and providing or directing them to appropriate cessation services.
The initiative would continue funding through the National Tobacco Control Program’s cooperative agreement mechanism for eligible health departments and Tribal organizations, as appropriate. Funding would support prevention and reduction of youth use and access to quitting services for young people addicted to nicotine, including telephone quit-support services and provider education about services available through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
(7) Continuing to provide funding through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Tobacco Control Program cooperative agreement to State, local, territorial, and Freely Associated State health departments and Tribal organizations, as appropriate, for— (A) preventing and reducing the use by youth and young adults of electronic cigarettes and emerging tobacco products; and (B) improving access to and delivery of cessation strategies that are appropriate for services to youth and young adults addicted to nicotine, including through quitlines and provider education on cessation services available through the Medicaid program under title XIX of the Social Security Act and the Children’s Health Insurance Program under title XXI of such Act.
The initiative would evaluate state, community, and school strategies for preventing young people’s electronic cigarette and emerging tobacco product use and for helping young tobacco users obtain quitting services.
(8) Evaluating State, community, and school-based strategies for— (A) preventing the initiation and use of electronic cigarettes and emerging tobacco products among youth and young adults; and (B) intervening with youth and young adults who use tobacco and providing or directing them to appropriate cessation services.
The Secretary would have to ensure that the initiative’s activities do not duplicate other Department of Health and Human Services activities.
(b) No duplication The Secretary shall ensure that activities under this section do not duplicate other activities of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Within 90 days after enactment of the new section, the Secretary would have to submit an implementation strategy to the Senate health committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee and publish it on the Department of Health and Human Services website.
(c) Strategy Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives, and make available to the public on the website of the Department of Health and Human Services, a strategy for carrying out the Reducing Youth Use of E-Cigarettes Initiative.
The bill would authorize $100 million for each fiscal year from 2027 through 2031 to carry out the initiative. This would permit future appropriations—legislation providing funds—rather than itself provide those funds.
(d) Authorization of appropriations To carry out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2031.
The supplied actions snapshot, updated October 6, 2026, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on August 6, 2026.
Source snapshot updated 2026-10-06T18:40:12Z. 2026-08-06: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. 2026-08-06: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2026-08-06. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish what appears in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No recipient-specific or place-specific congressional spending direction was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This text-only conclusion does not establish formal earmark status or absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow carve-out, special exemption, or preferential treatment was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. Ordinary program coverage does not itself constitute a targeted benefit. This conclusion is limited to this version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Oct 6, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI