[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 144 (Thursday, October 6, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: October 6, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                            TITLE IV, H.R. 6

  Mr. MATHEWS. Mr. President, I rise today to comment on findings 
contained in Title IV of H.R. 6, the Improving America's Schools Act of 
1994, which the Senate approved yesterday. The methodology used to make 
these findings deserve the question: is it fact or fiction?
  The finding is found in section 4002 and states that the ``* * 
*average age for the first use of smokeless tobacco is under the age of 
10.'' Mr. President, I am all too aware, as a Senator from a State 
where tobacco is a vital part of the economic life of many people, that 
being critical of tobacco products is fashionable. Anti-tobacco groups 
are doing all they can to infringe on adult choice with respect to 
tobacco products. No one, Mr. President, including this Senator from 
Tennessee, the Congress, or the tobacco industry, wants those under the 
age of 18 to purchase or use tobacco products. But statements like the 
one found in section 4002 are designed to mislead and encourage 
regulation of adult choice.
  What is the source of this finding on the age of initiation? While no 
source is given in the conference report, it likely comes from a 1992 
HHS inspector general report entitled ``Spit Tobacco and Youth'' which 
reports that ``the average age of initiative of our 1992 users was 9.5 
years old.'' Mr. President, the problems with this report are so 
numerous that I must question the rationale for its use in the 
congressional finding. First, the inspector general's survey collected 
information from only 54 reported users of smokeless tobacco. I think 
everyone must agree that this is an exceptionally small sample upon 
which to base any conclusions. Furthermore, the survey participants 
were--in the words of the inspector general's report--``selected 
judgmental.'' This means that the participants had to fit a 
preconceived profile: under 21 at the time of the survey; claimed to 
have initiated use of smokeless tobacco before age 18; claimed to have 
used smokeless tobacco on a regular basis for 2 years or more; claimed 
to have used smokeless tobacco nearly every day during the last year of 
use. How credible is a survey and its findings if bias is built into 
the methodology? Are we to believe that such a survey has application 
to the general population of smokeless tobacco users? Moreover, is it 
reasonable to legislate on concocted studies? Again, I have to ask is 
it fact or fiction?
  Mr. President, every State has enacted legislation that restricts the 
sale of tobacco products to persons over the age of 18. Failure to 
enforce the minimum age on the sale of tobacco products subjects States 
to forfeiture of Federal funds under legislation that was passed in 
1992 with the support of the tobacco industry. These are facts, Mr. 
President.
  The fact of the matter is that according to a recent HHS report, use 
of smokeless tobacco by males under 18 is low, decreasing and very 
close to HHS's target or goal for the year 2000. The 1992 Healthy 
People 2000 Review, which provisions of H.R. 6 are designed to 
implement, reflects that the reported use of smokeless tobacco 
products--defined as use on at least one occasion in the last 30 days--
by 12-17 year old males decreased from 6.6 percent of that group in 
1988 to 5.3 percent in 1991. Moreover, a National Institute on Drug 
Abuse survey published in October 1993 reported that use of smokeless 
tobacco by 12-17 year old males had further declined in 1992 to 4.8 
percent, which is very close to the 4.0 percent target for the year 
2000 set in the Healthy People 2000 Review. Furthermore, the reported 
usage of smokeless tobacco by the total 12-17 year old population--male 
and female--was 2.6 percent in 1992 according to the NIDA survey.
  Mr. President, the 1992 Healthy People 2000 Review was compiled by 
the National Center for Health Statistics--Center for Disease Control 
and Prevention--and submitted by HHS Secretary Shalala to the President 
and Congress as required by law. These are the findings that should 
have been included in H.R. 6. I thank the chair.

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