Congress Asked to Continue Funding Lawsuit

The Justice Department asked Congress to continue paying for lawyers and staff to work on a lawsuit against the tobacco industry while the administration decides whether it will pursue the case. The Bush administration’s proposed budget for next year would keep intact the staff of about 30 people preparing the case, officials said. Still, no decision has been made on whether to follow through on the Clinton administration suit seeking hundreds of billions of dollars from such tobacco companies as Philip Morris Cos. and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc., they said. In an agreement with Congress last September, the Justice Department contributed $11 million and the Clinton administration borrowed about $12 million from the Veterans Administration, the Defense Department and the Health and Human Services Department to cover the litigation’s costs in the current fiscal year. “The decision to go to those agencies again has not been made,” said Paul McNulty, who headed the transition effort at the Justice Department. The lawsuit accuses the tobacco industry of concealing for decades from Congress, government agencies and the public the fact that cigarette smoking causes cancer and other diseases. It seeks to recover the costs that government health insurance programs paid to treat sick smokers. Philip Morris rose 25 cents to close at $47, while RJR Holdings rose 42 cents to close at $57.50, both on the NYSE.