Democrats who control the U.S. Senate have voted to override President George W. Bush’s veto of the SCHIP bill, but saw the House of Representatives come up short. So they did the next best thing: they banned tobacco sales in their own Capitol Hill store.

“The Senate was operating as a discount cigarette outlet. It was time to shut it down,” said Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, one of the most ardent anti-smoking activists in the Senate. He joined with four other anti-tobacco Democrats – Tom Harkin of Iowa, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Jack Reed of Rhode Island – in sending a letter to California Senator Dianne Feinstein on August 4 requesting that Senate sundry shops no longer sell tobacco products.

Feinstein, whose Rules and Administration Committee oversees such matters, issued a letter banning the sale of any tobacco products in Senate restaurants and stores.

Because tobacco was priced in these locations free of Federal or District of Columbia taxes, they were less expensive than in surrounding stores. But, of course, instead of correcting the price differential, Democrats went for a ban. Is there a preview here of future legislation?

The situation in the House of Representatives relative to sales of tobacco products is unchanged, however, since one side of the Congress cannot regulate the other.