['December', '1,', '1997', 'Honorable', 'Jim', 'Smith', 'Member,', 'South', 'Carolina', 'Senate', '228', 'Voter', 'Drive', 'Columbia,', 'South', 'Carolina', '29294', 'Dear', 'Senator', 'Smith:', 'As', 'you', 'know,', 'R.J.', 'Reynolds', 'Tobacco', 'Company', 'has', 'been', 'a', 'client', 'of', 'mine', 'for', 'some', 'time.', 'On', 'June', '20', 'of', 'this', 'year,', 'RJR', 'and', 'the', 'other', 'major', 'tobacco', 'manufacturers', 'reached', 'an', 'historic', 'agreement', 'with', '40', 'state', 'attorneys', 'general', 'and', 'the', 'public', 'health', 'community', 'on', 'a', 'plan', 'to', 'drastically', 'reduce', 'youth', 'smoking.', 'Additionally,', 'this', 'agreement', 'resolves', 'other', 'tobacco-related', 'controversies,', 'many', 'of', 'which', 'are', 'debated', 'in', 'the', 'South', 'Carolina', 'legislature', 'each', 'year.', 'Congressional', 'action', 'on', 'the', 'proposed', 'settlement', 'is', 'expected', 'to', 'take', 'place', 'when', 'Congress', 'reconvenes', 'on', 'January', '26,', '1998.', 'Enclosed', 'is', 'a', 'summary', 'of', 'the', 'major', 'features', 'of', 'the', 'proposed', 'settlement.', 'While', 'there', 'has', 'been', 'widespread', 'coverage', 'of', 'the', 'settlement', 'by', 'the', 'media,', '|', 'wanted', 'to', 'take', 'this', 'opportunity', 'to', 'make', 'sure', 'you', 'are', 'aware', 'that', 'a', 'national', 'resolution', 'on', 'tobacco', 'issues', 'is', 'pending', 'and', 'of', 'the', 'potential', 'benefits', 'for', 'our', 'state.', 'The', 'total', 'settlement', 'amount,', 'agreed', 'to', 'by', 'the', 'Attorneys', 'General,', 'health', 'organizations', 'and', 'the', 'tobacco', 'industry', 'is', '$368.5', 'billion.', '|', 'have', 'also', 'enclosed', 'an', 'estimate,', 'prepared', 'by', 'the', 'Attorneys', 'General,', 'of', 'each', 'states', 'share', 'of', 'the', 'settlement', 'funds.', 'While', 'the', 'funds', 'projected', 'for', 'South', 'Carolina', 'are', 'impressive,', 'Congress', 'will', 'make', 'the', 'ultimate', 'decision', 'on', 'how', 'settlement', 'dollars', 'are', 'distributed.', 'Congress', 'may,', 'in', 'fact,', 'decide', 'to', 'retain', 'a', 'significant', 'portion', 'of', 'the', 'revenues', 'at', 'the', 'federal', 'level', 'and', 'the', 'states', 'share', 'could', 'be', 'much', 'lower', 'than', 'the', 'estimates', 'prepared', 'by', 'the', 'Attorneys', 'General.', 'The', 'tobacco', 'industry', 'has', 'not', 'been,', 'and', 'will', 'not', 'be,', 'involved', 'In', 'developing', 'formulas', 'or', 'recommending', 'to', 'Congress', 'how', 'the', 'settlement', 'funds', 'should', 'be', 'distributed.', 'Should', 'you', 'have', 'questions', 'or', 'desire', 'additional', 'information', 'regarding', 'the', 'settlement,', 'please', 'do', 'not', 'hesitate', 'to', 'contact', 'me.', 'Best', 'Regards,', 'Fred', 'Allen', 'Attachments', 'RJR00000004', '13097159', '70065', '4488', ' ', 'gsoe', '1ZLES']