you do know that the Dems controlled the House for 40 years, from 1955 until the Gingrich revolution in 1995? And the Senate for most of those years?
At least one Democratic senator
owned a tobacco farm
When Congress finally got round to banning smoking on airlines in the late 1980s, it was as a rider to an appropriations bill
The U.S. ban on inflight smoking began with domestic flights of two hours or less in April 1988, extended to domestic flights of six hours or less in February 1990, and to all domestic and international flights in 2000. The 1990 ban applied only to the passengers and the cabin of the aircraft and not the flight deck. Pilots were allowed to continue smoking after the 1990 ban due to concerns over potential flight safety issues caused by nicotine withdrawal in chronic smokers.
(snip)
Such regulations have on occasion met with defiance; in 2010 a Qatari diplomat was arrested upon arrival at Denver International Airport for smoking in the onboard lavatory on United Airlines Flight 663 and for making threats; when confronted by airline staff, he jokingly suggested that he was attempting to set his shoes on fire.
those qataris have a wacky sense of humor