HR 4404 Re-checks Congress.gov for new actions and updates the bill's status, and fills in any sponsors, committees, or related bills that are missing. It does not re-pull sponsors/cosponsors/committees/related — those rarely change — and it skips all work if nothing has changed upstream, so it's cheap to click.
Hookah Clarification Act of 2025
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to establish a tax for waterpipe tobacco, and for other purposes.
Summary
- Establishes a federal excise tax on waterpipe tobacco at $0.5662 per pound.
- Clarifies that the existing pipe tobacco tax of $2.8311 per pound applies only to non-waterpipe pipe tobacco.
- Defines waterpipe tobacco to include hookah tobacco, shisha, maassel, narghile, and argileh.
- Applies to waterpipe tobacco manufactured or imported after the date of enactment.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
-
![Rep. Issa, Darrell [R-CA-48]](https://media.civicgate.org/people/d/politicians/I000056.thumb.jpg)
Rep. Issa, Darrell (R-CA) [#48]
2 cosponsors
-
![Rep. Davis, Donald G. [D-NC-1]](https://media.civicgate.org/people/d/politicians/D000230.thumb.jpg)
Rep. Davis, Donald G. (D-NC) [#1] -
![Rep. Hamadeh, Abraham J. [R-AZ-8]](https://media.civicgate.org/people/d/politicians/H001098.thumb.jpg)
Rep. Hamadeh, Abraham J. (R-AZ) [#8]
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Darrell Issa’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- Employer not reported $45,911
- ARMSCOR PRECISION INTL $18,200
- GOOGLE $11,400
- FRANKLIN SQUARE GROUP $7,050
- 1A AUTO $6,850
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Darrell Issa → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Jul 15, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. · house
- Jul 15, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 15, 2025
Mr. Issa (for himself and Mr. Davis of North Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
A BILL
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to establish a tax for waterpipe tobacco, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Hookah Clarification Act of 2025”.
SEC. 2. WATERPIPE TOBACCO TAX.
(a) In General.—Section 5701(f) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows:
“(f) Pipe Tobacco.—
“(1) In general.—On pipe tobacco, manufactured in or imported into the United States, which is not waterpipe tobacco, there shall be imposed a tax of $2.8311 per pound (and a proportionate tax at the like rate on all fractional parts of a pound).
“(2) Waterpipe tobacco.—On waterpipe tobacco, manufactured in or imported into the United States, there shall be imposed a tax of $0.5662 per pound and (a proportionate tax at the like rate on all fractional parts of a pound).”.
(b) Conforming Amendments.—Section 5702 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the following new subsections:
“(q) Waterpipe Tobacco.—The term ‘waterpipe tobacco’ means a tobacco product consumed or intended to be consumed in a waterpipe, including hookah tobacco, shisha, maassel, narghile, and argileh.”.
(c) Effective Date.—The amendments made by this section shall apply to tobacco manufactured or imported after the date of the enactment of this Act. <all>
Comments