[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 133 (Tuesday, September 24, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11128-S11129]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                TOBACCO

  Mr. FORD. Mr. President, Kentucky writer and farmer Wendell Berry 
wrote that:

       Though I would just as soon get along without it, a 
     humbling awareness of the complexity of moral issues is said 
     to be a good thing. If such an awareness is, in fact good--
     and if I, in fact, have it--I have tobacco to thank for it.

  Like Berry, any awareness I have of moral complexities is also thanks 
to tobacco. Now I know there are some people who don't think there is 
anything at all complex about the tobacco issue. For them it is simply 
money versus morality.
  For them there is no family business, there is no tradition, there is 
no farmer. And perhaps most disturbing--there is no appetite for 
reason.
  That is something that we seem to be in short supply of here, from 
those who are determined to regulate an industry out of business to 
those who would rather play politics than protect our farmers.
  These opportunists are thinking only of themselves and today, rather 
than all of us and tomorrow. And in the process, teenagers keep 
smoking, farmers fret about their futures, and the litigation 
continues.
  I will admit that when it comes to Kentucky, I can be as hard as a 
bull's head. But, on the issue of teen smoking, I have been as 
reasonable as they come. I am one of the biggest defenders of tobacco, 
yet 1 year ago I, Wendell Ford, introduced legislation putting severe 
restrictions on the tobacco industry in an effort to reach a reasonable 
solution to the problem of teen smoking. Today, a full year later, none 
of my friends on the other side of the aisle have joined as a cosponsor 
or offered other legislative options.
  And this is not my first attempt at reason on the issue of youth 
smoking or on the issue of the health effects of smoking by any means.
  Mr. President, when I was Governor back in 1973, I worked with the 
legislature to create the Tobacco Research Board and authorized the 
University of Kentucky to begin an intensive research program directed 
toward ``proving or disproving questions about health hazards to 
tobacco users . . ..''
  In 1984, I sat down at the table and came up with reasonable warning 
labels for tobacco products.
  In 1992, I sat down at the table and hammered out an agreement on a 
national minimum age for the purchase of cigarettes. We backed those 
SAMSHA purchasing requirements with teeth, to ensure States did 
everything they could to enforce the law.
  In 1994, I was right at the table when my colleague, Senator 
Lautenberg, decided to offer his pro kids bill, prohibiting smoking in 
any building that receives Federal funds and to which children have 
access. I did not stand in the way.
  I sat down at the table time and again because like everyone else, I 
am against youth smoking. But I also sat down at the table because I 
realized that inaction was not a solution to the problem of youth 
smoking, just as it is not a solution today.

[[Page S11129]]

  Don't get me wrong. I am as angry as I can be that the FDA is being 
given jurisdiction over tobacco. Bringing in the FDA will only create a 
whole new bureaucracy when tobacco is already regulated by at least 
seven Federal agencies including USDA, HHS, BATF, IRS, SAMSHA, EPA, and 
the FTC. I have it right here, Mr. President, a stack of all the 
current Federal tobacco laws and regulations--oh, about 18 inches 
tall--and this does not even include the tens of thousands of pages of 
State tobacco law and regulations. And now with the new FDA 
regulations, I can add another 200 pages from the Federal Register to 
this stack here on my desk.
  But despite my frustrations and complete opposition to FDA 
regulation, I know that simply ignoring the problem is not going to 
fly, just as putting tobacco out of business is not going to fly.
  The only answer is a legislative solution. Unfortunately, instead of 
working with me over the past year to come up with a legislative 
solution for our farmers, many in Congress have chosen to use the FDA 
regulations as a campaign rallying cry. But while they are stonewalling 
to win the tobacco farmers' vote today, where will they be if the 
courts rule against our farmers tomorrow? They must be prepared to 
answer for their inaction.
  Anyone who says this can be solved with one vote at the polls in 
November is not shooting straight. That is because everyone familiar 
with this issue knows that the FDA would have been sued if they took 
this action, and they would have been sued if they took no action.
  I do not care who you have in the White House next January or holding 
the gavel here in Congress, you have a problem that is going to be 
solved one of two ways--in the courts or in Congress. It's a fact that 
farmers have a bigger voice in the Halls of Congress then they do in a 
court room. We are forcing farmers to play Russian roulette with the 
court system and giving them an uncertain and ambiguous future.
  It has been clear to me--and should be clear to others--that we must 
have a legislative solution for our farmers. We need a legislative 
solution because FDA jurisdiction has been rejected by the courts in 
the past, because the question of FDA regulation may be tied up in 
litigation into the next century, and because many aspects of the FDA 
regulation go beyond what is needed to target youth smoking.
  With good reason, tobacco supporters are most troubled by this last 
reason--that the FDA regulations go beyond what is necessary to target 
teen smoking. We do not believe Dr. Kessler's desire to reduce smoking 
is his only motivation for regulating tobacco, and the regulations 
themselves further undermine his credibility on the issue. Let me 
quote, Mr. President, from the Federal Register notice accompanying the 
regulation:

       . . . FDA intends to classify cigarettes and smokeless 
     tobacco at a future time,--

  Classify cigarettes and smokeless tobacco at a future time?

     and will impose any additional requirements that apply as a 
     result of their classification. . . .

  It does not sound like they are just after youth smoking.
  Like me, my farmers want to know exactly what that means for tobacco. 
According to Dr. Kessler, a pretty grim future. Back in February 1994 
in a letter concerning FDA authority over tobacco, he wrote:

       A strict application of these provisions could mean, 
     ultimately, removal from the market of tobacco products 
     containing nicotine at levels that cause or satisfy 
     addiction. Only those tobacco products from which the 
     nicotine had been removed or, possibly, tobacco products 
     approved by FDA for nicotine-replacement therapy would then 
     remain on the market.

  Documentation like this makes Dr. Kessler's interest in the narrow 
issue of teen smoking suspect to say the least. In fact, his public 
statements and testimony in 1994 are full of references to FDA 
regulations, but never in the limited context of youth smoking. I don't 
think I am alone in fearing that the sympathetic issue of youth smoking 
has become a convenient vehicle for darker ulterior motives.
  A legislative solution is clearly needed to prevent Dr. Kessler from 
promoting his agenda under the guise of youth smoking. But that 
legislative solution will come only if all the players are sitting at 
the table ready to negotiate. It has never worked any other way with 
tobacco.
  Congressman Baesler and I have had legislation out there for a full 
year. What it represents is a good starting point for protecting 
tobacco farmers' interests instead of leaving the decision to some 
court that we have no control over. But, while we've got Members 
willing to protect NASCAR and rodeos with legislation, we've found 
little support from other tobacco State Members to try and help our 
farmers. Congressman Bliley has gone so far as to say this is a 
question for the courts, not Congress.
  Think about it. This year two of the largest tobacco companies have 
come out with even tougher proposals than mine in an effort to have a 
legislative solution that keeps FDA out of the business of regulating 
tobacco. Some will dismiss the tobacco company's action as public 
relations. I call it being reasonable.
  They too, have found little support. This should be a team effort but 
instead has turned into partisan conflict that has wasted an entire 
year and weakened our overall strength in the fight to save the youth 
from smoking and to protect our farmers.

  Mr. President, I introduced my legislation because I am fiercely 
opposed to Government interference in the legal decision of adults in 
this country. I introduced this legislation because I believe someone 
needs to truly look out for the tobacco farmers' interests. I 
introduced this legislation because I believe the problem of teen 
smoking calls for reason, not rhetoric.
  Over and over again, I have sat down at the table and tried to come 
up with solutions for my farmers. For this past year I sat at the table 
alone because others would rather play politics. I believe the decision 
to stay away will have long-term implications for the future of tobacco 
farming and for the well-being of the industry as a whole.
  Mr. President, Dr. Kessler was able to introduce his regulations 
because he said cigarettes were a device. Now he has made the thumb and 
two fingers a device because he says smokeless is included in that. So 
if you dip and get some tobacco, then your thumb and two fingers become 
a device--a device. So, cigarettes are a device, your thumb and index 
fingers are a device.
  Something about this is wrong, Mr. President. After the November 
election is over, I am sure it will get out of the political arena as 
some try to bilk the tobacco companies for all the campaign funds they 
can get and they try to bilk the poor tobacco farmer out of a vote. 
Once November 5 is past, maybe we will be able to find someone willing 
to sit down at the table.
  I was chastised in a letter I received yesterday for being in the 
position I am in. They say that--taking their numbers--3,000 young 
folks start smoking every day; that is over 1 million a year. With the 
litigation of these regulations being in the courts 3 to 5 years, say 5 
years, they themselves have allowed over 6 million young people to 
start smoking, instead of sitting down trying to work out something 
reasonable that can stop it.
  Now, you say you are trying to protect the farmer. I am, but I voted 
for every piece of legislation that has come through here to help 
prevent youth smoking, from labeling to smoke-free schools. I voted for 
SAMSHA, which is imposed upon the States. Where are those who want to 
do something for youth? All they want to do is run ads in the 
newspapers against my colleagues. They want to write big stories and 
have a lot of money in their till so they can get out there and beat 
their chest about how wonderful a job they are doing, while they are 
letting youths go down the tubes and the tobacco farmer go down the 
tubes.
  Mr. President, I ask my colleagues, those affected by this issue, 
come reason together. Reason together so we can return to our farm 
families not only a sense of security and stability but a sense of 
dignity about the work they do.
  I yield the floor.

                          ____________________