WASHINGTON — Capping a half-century battle with the tobacco industry, the Senate overwhelmingly approved landmark legislation yesterday that would for the first time give the government far-reaching power to regulate the manufacturing and marketing of cigarettes and other tobacco products.

The legislation, which was approved by the Senate 79-17 and is expected to pass the House today, would allow the Food and Drug Administration to regulate ingredients in tobacco products and ban the marketing of "light" cigarettes.

In a bid to deter new smokers, the bill also imposes strict limits on full-color advertising for cigarettes, bans billboards close to schools and requires packages to carry larger warning labels.

"Joe Camel has been sentenced and put away forever," said Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., referring to a youth-oriented cartoon figure long used to promote Camel cigarettes.

Sens. Daniel K. Inouye and Daniel Akaka of Hawai'i both voted for the bill.

President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law as early as next week. Obama, a smoker who has tried unsuccessfully to quit, issued a statement yesterday hailing the Senate action.

"My administration is committed to protecting our children and reforming our healthcare system — and moving forward with common-sense tobacco control measures is an integral part of that process," Obama said.

The landslide vote belied the long struggle to give the FDA power to control a product that causes 400,000 deaths a year in the United States, even though the agency long has been able to regulate seemingly innocuous products like lipstick and mascara.

"The bill is the strongest anti-tobacco measure the Congress of the United States has ever passed," said Matthew L. Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. "Its breadth would have been unimaginable five years ago."

Most tobacco companies bitterly opposed the bill, but acknowledged that the vote was a measure of how much attitudes toward smoking have changed in recent years.

"As society's views on the product have changed, that's being reflected in the kind of legislation being passed," said Maura Payne, a spokeswoman for Reynolds American, whose subsidiary R.J. Reynolds manufactures Camel, Kool and other cigarette brands.

Some tobacco-state critics have warned that the bill may put a strain on the FDA's resources, already stretched by problems in the food supply and delays in reviewing new pharmaceuticals. Skeptics also have questioned whether FDA oversight will lead consumers to believe that the product is safe.

POWERFUL INDUSTRY

For decades, tobacco's power on Capitol Hill was legendary — thanks to generous campaign contributions, well-connected lobbyists and the seniority of tobacco-state lawmakers.

That power helped the industry survive and even thrive for years after the U.S. Surgeon General in 1965 mandated that cigarette packages carry the iconic warning label: "Caution: Cigarette smoking may be hazardous to your health."

Four years later, cigarette advertising was banished from television and radio. But it was another two decades before Congress passed one of the most dramatic limits on the use of tobacco products — the 1990 ban on smoking on U.S. domestic airplane flights.

Early this year, Congress approved the largest-ever increase in the federal cigarette tax — raising it 62 cents to $1.01 a pack — to pay for expanding a federal-state healthcare program for children.

The 17 senators who voted against the bill were mostly tobacco state senators; all but one was a Republican.

"We all bear the increased financial cost of the diminished health of smokers," said Sen. Michael B. Enzi of Wyoming, ranking Republican on the chamber's health committee. "Every senior who smokes creates a further strain on Medicare."

HOUSE APPROVAL

The House passed a similar version of the measure earlier this year. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said yesterday that the changes were acceptable and the House would pass the Senate bill rather than slow the process with a negotiated compromise.

The bill would allow the FDA to regulate and require disclosure of what is in tobacco products.

The measure also would allow the agency to ban most flavorings, although menthol would still be permitted.

"The idea that you can have cherry-flavored cigarettes — that's aimed at children," said Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., who led the debate on the bill in the absence of longtime tobacco foe Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., who is battling brain cancer.

The bill would ban outdoor tobacco ads with within 1,000 feet of schools and playgrounds, and prohibit tobacco companies from sponsoring sports and entertainment events.

Kennedy praised the effort.

"Miracles still happen," he said. "The United States Senate has finally said 'no' to Big Tobacco."