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Hon. Henry A. Waxnan -2- September 27, 1994 



I. 



The Council has cooperated fully with the SubcoB- 

 mittee and is continuing to do so. Imnediately after I 

 testified on May 26, we began the very substantial task of 

 collecting the documents and information that had been re- 

 guested by members of the Subcommittee. 



As you may be aware from discussions with the 

 Subcommittee staff, we have sought to discuss with the Sub- 

 committee staff procedures for the Subcommittee's handling 

 of documents and information provided to it by the Council. 

 In particular, some of the information and documents involve 

 matters that we regard, for one reason or another, as confi- 

 dential. We e5q)ect to provide to the Subcommittee the in- 

 formation that it requested. However, before doing so, we 

 would like to try to reach an understanding with the Subcon- 

 mittee staff with respect to the Subcommittee's procedures 

 for handling and disclosing materials that we provide to the 

 Subcommittee. Until last week, we had understood that we 

 would have an opportunity to do that. Apparently, however, 

 the Subcommittee has decided to afford such an opportunity 

 to the tobacco companies — but not to the Council. 



It might be helpful for you to know the factual 

 background of this situation. In August, as we neared the 

 completion of the process of collecting information and 

 documents, our counsel, Judah Best of Debevoise k Plimpton, 

 called William Schultz of the Subcommittee staff to arrange 

 a meeting concerning the Subcommittee's procedures for han- 

 dling materials provided to it by the Council. Shortly 

 before that time, we had learned that since June the Subcoa- 

 mittee staff had been discussing with the tobacco companies 

 the procedures that would govern the companies' production 

 of documents and information to the Subcommittee. Mr. Best 

 advised Mr. Schultz that the Council was prepared generally 

 to be governed by the procedures that were agreed to by the 

 tobacco companies, and was prepared to raise one additional 

 confidentiality issue that is unique to the Council. Mr. 

 Best twice scheduled meetings with Mr. Schultz to be held 

 early in September, but both meetings were postponed. At no 

 time were we advised that a discussion of the Subcommittee's 

 procedures would be inappropriate or unavailable to us. 



