Sorry, Nonsmoking Strictly Prohibited

By DAVID ELLIS/

Extending a courtesy given to other Cabinet officers, the Republican Governors Association welcomed an offer by Dr. Louis Sullivan, George Bush's Secretary of Health and Human Services, to speak at its annual meeting two weekends ago. Then, without much warning, the invitation was revoked. It seems that Sullivan's anti-cigarette stance didn't sit well with R.J. Reynolds and the Tobacco Institute, two sponsors of the gathering at Pinehurst, N.C. Sullivan had dedicated just one line of his remarks to antismoking efforts, but this apparently was still too much for the association and its supporters.

With reporting by Linda Williams