[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 136 (Friday, September 27, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11562-S11564]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       AD HOC HEARING ON TOBACCO

 Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, on September 11, I cochaired 
with Senator Kennedy an ad hoc hearing on the problem of teen smoking. 
We were joined by Senators Harkin, Wellstone, Bingaman, and Simon. 
Regrettably, we were forced to hold an ad-hoc hearing on this pressing 
public health issue because the Republican leadership refused to hold a 
regular hearing, despite our many pleas.
  Yesterday I entered into the Record the testimony of the witnesses 
from the second panel. Today I am entering the testimony of the 
witnesses from the third panel which included talk-show host Morton 
Downey, Jr.; his doctor, Dr. Martin Gordon; former Marlboro man, Alan 
Landers; and, former cigarette model Janet Sackman.
  Mr. President, I ask that the testimony and related materials from 
the third panel of this ad hoc hearing be printed in the Record.
  The material follows:

  Testimony at the Ad-Hoc Tobacco Hearing, U.S. Senate, September 11, 
                                  1996


                    statement of morton downey, jr.

       Mr. Chairman, distinguished Senators, Dr. Martin Gordon, 
     Fellow members of the American Lung Association, Ladies and 
     Gentleman, I wish I did not belong on this panel of people 
     who have learned first hand the connection between smoking 
     and cancer. Sadly this former smoking fool heads the list.

[[Page S11563]]

       Like 3,000 kids every day, I began smoking at the age of 
     about 13. My parents had sent me to military school. All my 
     buddies smoked, it was cool. By Christmas vacation I was 
     hooked. Banging down about 20 butts a day. I knew they 
     couldn't hurt me, because the full-page advertising Life 
     magazine and the Policeman's Gazette said, ``More Doctors 
     Smoke Camels Than Any Other Cigarette.'' Think of how hooked 
     I was. It was military boarding school, every time I got 
     caught smoking it was ten demerits, which meant ten hours of 
     marching with a rifle on my shoulder after class and on 
     weekends. In my first year, I marched over 300 hours of 
     punishment for smoking. My dad said that showed how stupid I 
     was to smoke. Billy Waldon, my roommate, said it showed how 
     stupid I was to get caught. I agreed, kept smoking and kept 
     being stupid. Bill Waldon, my ex-roommate, died when he was 
     53. He had given up smoking at 40 and started chewing tobacco 
     so as not to get lung cancer. He died ten years of tongue and 
     throat cancer--some trade off.
       What kind of trade off are we giving our children, Mr. 
     Chairman? An absolute guarantee that if we do not face our 
     responsibility right now, at least 1,000 of those new daily 
     smokers will die an agonizing death from a smoking-related 
     illness.
       To those who falsely gnash their teeth over First Amendment 
     rights, what about the Preamble, those first thoughts our 
     forefathers had about the right to Life, Liberty and the 
     Pursuit of Happiness? Cancer will steal their life! Liberty 
     should mean the right to be liberated from our own youthful 
     stupidity.
       Mr. Chairman, can I find happiness for my child when I know 
     the adults who pretend to care for her, the Tobacco 
     Lobbyists, the Government that is sworn to protect her, 
     abandon their responsibility and bow to the cigarette giants, 
     the Tobacco Terrorists?
       She needs your courage, your leadership, your ability to 
     stand-up in the face of those who would spend 5 billion a 
     year to send our children to an early but agonizing death--
     but not spend one red cent toward the breaking of the smoking 
     habit, money to purchase medication for the agonizing pain as 
     death approaches, or dollars to develop a cure for their 
     addicting gift to our children.
       To think I was a role model for cigarette smoking youth, 
     even signing my name on their cigarettes. To that generation, 
     I beg your forgiveness. May the next generation have kinder 
     and wiser role models such as you Senators and President Bill 
     Clinton who will not bow to the Tobacco Terrorists by 
     weakening the regulations that only serves to deny our youth 
     the opportunity to destroy themselves as many of us already 
     have. I ask you to show the legislative courage to save my 
     little girl. She need not suffer as I have, as my colleagues 
     have. Think of some of my fellow smokers, Sammy Davis, Jr., 
     Edward R. Murrow, Yul Brynner----
       They smoked and they're dead. Wouldn't it be a better world 
     if they were alive today?


                  statement of Martin n. Gordon, m.d.

       Good Morning.
       My name is Dr. Martin N. Gordon. I am a physician 
     specializing in pulmonary medicine at Cedars Sinai Medical 
     Center and I am Morton Downey, Jr.'s pulmonologist. I am 
     honored and pleased to address this committee and offer my 
     views on tobacco smoke, lung cancer and the FDA regulations.
       It is generally agreed by those in the scientific and 
     medical communities that most lung cancer is attributable to 
     the inhalation, by a susceptible host, of carcinogenic 
     pollutants. Cigarette and other tobacco smoke are the most 
     important of these pollutants. Members of the committee may 
     be interested to know that the initial suspicion that tobacco 
     might cause cancer was first voiced by the English physician, 
     John Hill, in 1761! This was promptly followed by our Surgeon 
     General's report in 1964.
       Early in this century, physicians and scientists alike 
     strongly suspected a relationship between smoking and lung 
     cancer. Dr. I. Adler was the first to strongly suggest that 
     lung cancer is related to smoking in a monograph published in 
     1912. A similar conclusion was reached in a 1941 article by 
     Dr. Michael DeBakey, who cited a correlation between the 
     increased sale of tobacco and the increasing prevalence of 
     lung cancer. In addition, early investigators seemed to 
     understand the correlation between the age when one first 
     begins to smoke and lung cancer, finding that smokers with 
     lung cancer began smoking earlier and continued to smoke 
     longer than control groups.
       Lung cancer is only the tip of the iceberg. Smoking has 
     been causally related to an increased incidence of a number 
     of other malignancies, and is a significant risk factor in 
     the development of coronary artery disease. As Dr. Thomas 
     Petty from Colorado states, ``Today, no reasonable person 
     would deny that smoking is the cause of 90% to 95% of lung 
     cancer.''
       Lung cancer is the most fatal malignancy of both men and 
     women. In the United States we will probably have close to 
     193,000 reported cases of lung cancer this year, 112,000 in 
     men and 81,000 in women, with a 5 year mortality rate of 85%.
       Building on Dr. Petty's statement, it would be safe to 
     state that, sadly, 90% of lung cancers are preventable. 
     Logically, preventing people from smoking would be the single 
     most positive step towards reducing the incidence of lung 
     cancer. Furthermore, since it is widely known that starting 
     to smoke at an early age is a particularly strong risk factor 
     in the development of lung cancer and almost 90% of daily 
     smokers begin before the age of 18, it would make sense to 
     focus our effort on preventing children from smoking. This is 
     the goal of the FDA regulations--to protect children from 
     tobacco's addictive properties and its deadly effects. As a 
     physician who has seen the ravages of lung cancer, I fully 
     support the timely enactment of the FDA regulations. I 
     believe they will go a long way towards my seeing fewer 
     patients like Morton Downey, Jr. walk through my door.
       I urge those on the committee and other members of Congress 
     to support the FDA regulations and oppose any legislative 
     efforts to weaken them. Thank you for the opportunity to 
     address this distinguished body. I would be happy to answer 
     any questions.


                       statement of alan landers

       My name is Alan Landers. I live in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, 
     and I am 55 years old. I am a professional actor, model, and 
     acting teacher. My career began with the pilot film ``Aloha 
     from Hawaii''. Over the years I appeared in various 
     television shows and motion pictures, including ``Annie 
     Hall'', ``Stacey'', ``The Tree'', ``The Web'', ``Hurricane,'' 
     ``Ellery Queen'', ``The DuPont Show'', ``Deadly Rivals'', 
     ``Cop and \1/2\'', ``South Beach'', ``America's Most 
     Wanted,'' ``Superboy'', ``Model of the Year'', 
     ``Petrocelli'', ``Kate McShane''. I also appeared as a model 
     and actor in numerous advertising campaigns, including: 
     Binaca, United Airlines, Lancer Wine, Brylcreme, M.J.B. 
     Coffee, BelAir Cigarettes (South America), Sony, and Vics 44.
       I owned the Alan Landers Acting Studio in Hollywood, 
     California. Some of the people who attended the Studio and 
     were coached by me include: JoAnne Woodward, Jerry Hall, Ali 
     McGraw, Joe Penny, George Lazinbee, Sara Purcell, Frankie 
     Crocker, Lynn Moody, Lydia Cornell, Susan Blakely, Merite Van 
     Kamp, Vinviano Vincenzoni, Shel Silverstein, and Joe Lewis. I 
     have appeared in numerous television and motion picture 
     productions, including ``Annie Hall''.
       During the height of my acting and modeling career I was 
     courted by R.J. Reynolds to appear as the ``Winston Man''. I 
     did the majority of the print ads for the RJ Reynolds tobacco 
     company in the late 1960's and early 1970's.
       I appeared on billboards and in magazine advertising 
     holding a Winston cigarette urging others, young and old, to 
     smoke. I was expected to portray smoking as stylish, 
     pleasurable, and attractive. I was required to smoke on the 
     set, constant smoking was required to achieve the correct 
     appearance of the cigarette, ash, and butt length. During 
     this time frame I also promoted Tiparillo small cigars. In 
     television advertisements, my character, dressed in a 
     trenchcoat utters the rhetorical line, ``should a gentleman 
     offer a Tiparillo to a lady?''
       Despite the fact that I worked closely with cigarette 
     company personnel during the shooting, at no time was I ever 
     told that cigarettes could be dangerous to my health. I knew 
     that some people believed them to be unhealthful, but the 
     cigarette manufacturers denied, and still deny to this date, 
     that their product is harmful.
       Later in this statement I explain what I have learned about 
     the hazards of cigarette smoke, and when the cigarette 
     industry realized these hazards. Looking back on my career I 
     am ashamed that I helped promote such a lethal and addictive 
     product to the children and adults of this country. Had I 
     understood then what I now understand--that cigarettes are an 
     addictive poison that kills almost 50% of their users--I 
     would never have participated in their mass marketing.
       In 1987 the hazard of cigarettes became tragically apparent 
     as I was diagnosed with lung cancer. Although 95% of lung 
     cancer victims do not survive five years from diagnosis, I 
     was determined to beat the odds. In a painful and dangerous 
     surgical procedure, my doctors removed a large section of 
     lung, hopefully to remove the cancer from my body. After 
     the surgery, I lived from examination to examination, 
     hoping the cancer would not recur. In 1992 I received 
     devastating news. Another cancer had formed, this time in 
     my other lung. The only hope was more surgery, which was 
     accomplished with major complications. A nerve leading to 
     my vocal cords was cut, causing it to be almost impossible 
     to speak normally. This is a crushing blow to an actor. I 
     survived the second surgery and am hoping for the best, 
     although there are no guarantees. I am extremely short 
     winded because sections of both lungs have been removed, 
     and I am told that I have in addition emphysema from 
     cigarette smoking. Scars from the surgery wrap around my 
     back permanently disfiguring me, but I feel lucky to be 
     alive.
       I have learned a great deal since the surgery for lung 
     cancer, about the true dangers of cigarettes and the deceit 
     of the industry that sold them. I never understood how lethal 
     the product really is. Looking back, I recall smoking on the 
     eve of my second surgery. I am a strong willed person who had 
     broken the addiction several years earlier. The addictive 
     power of nicotine addiction is real and that my frustration 
     of being unable to quit is shared with many, if not most, 
     regular smokers.
       I have also became aware of the industry's deceitful 
     attitude toward its customers. My attorney, Mr. Norwood S. 
     Wilner of Jacksonville, has filed a case on my behalf seeking 
     compensation from R.J. Reynolds and others. I was delighted 
     to see that Mr. Wilner

[[Page S11564]]

     was successful in August of this year in obtaining a verdict 
     on behalf of one of his other clients against the cigarette 
     industry. The landmark case Carter v. Brown and Williamson 
     Tobacco Comapny, tried in Jacksonville, showed that juries 
     will not forgive the cigarette industry for its carelessness 
     and deception in refusing to warn its customers or to develop 
     safer alternative products.
       I have donated my time to the fight against tobacco and to 
     protect children from becoming involved in this dangerous 
     drug. Lawton Chiles, Florida's courageous Governor, has asked 
     me to address the Florida Legislature. I have appeared 
     numerous times for the American Cancer Society, the Tobacco 
     Free Coalition, Citizens Against Tobacco, the Duval County 
     Public Schools ZIP program, the Monroe County (Key West) 
     School System, the Cancer Survivors for Life. I have at my 
     expense appeared on national and local television and radio 
     shows.
       I now understand, and wish to place into the record, some 
     of the shocking facts that the Carter jury saw, which reveal 
     how the industry put profits over people, stonewalled its 
     critics, and concealed scientific evidence from the public 
     and its customers. The attached article entitled ``Mass 
     Destruction: A Medical, Legal, and Ethical Indictment of the 
     Cigarette Industry'' authored by my attorney, Norwood S. 
     Wilner, and my physician, Dr. Allan Feingold of South Miami 
     Hospital, outlines my understanding of these terrible facts.
       I call upon the lawmakers of this country to protect our 
     children from this dangerous substance. Tobacco products 
     should be regulated as the addictive drugs they are. Tobacco 
     advertising should be eliminated or strictly curtailed. I 
     call upon the tobacco industry to compensate its victims, its 
     former customers, who are suffering and dying from its 
     products. Thank you for permitting me to appear before this 
     committee.
                                                                    ____

                                                 State of Florida,


                                       Office of the Governor,

                                 Tallahassee, FL, August 12, 1996.
     Mr. Alan Landers,
     Lauderhill, FL.
       Dear Alan: On behalf of the citizens of Florida, I wish to 
     thank you. As a former model for cigarette manufacturers, 
     your compelling testimony before the Florida Legislature of 
     cigarettes' insidious poison, and the perverse marketing of 
     this product to our youth is a true ``profile in courage''. 
     Your personal message made the difference in our winning 1996 
     Legislative battle against Big Tobacco.
       Your critical help, combined with the American Cancer 
     Society, American Lung Society, and the American heart 
     Association, permitted Floridians to beat back over sixty 
     (60) high paid lobbyists and a million dollar media campaign 
     designed to distort the truth. In biblical parlance, ``we 
     smote them with the jaw bone of an ass.''
       Alan, thank you again. We will need your help in the 
     future, and I am glad that I can count on you.
           Warmly yours,
     Lawton C. Chiles.
                                                                    ____


                             Janet Sackman

       Janet Sackman was born on September 3, 1931 in New York 
     City, New York. In 1946, at age 14, Mrs. Sackman began 
     working as a photographer's model, and soon became the Lucky 
     Strike cover girl. At the request of a tobacco executive, 
     Mrs. Sackman learned to smoke at age 17. He advised her that 
     she should learn to smoke in order to learn to hold a 
     cigarette, and look more natural when being photographed.
       In 1983, Mrs. Sackman was diagnosed with throat cancer, and 
     underwent a laryngectomy. In 1990 late doctors found cancer 
     in her right lung, and Mrs. Sackman had a portion of that 
     lung removed.
       After her illness Mrs. Sackman vowed to begin speaking out 
     against smoking. She has made numerous appearances worldwide 
     in order to educate the public regarding the health hazards 
     of cigarette smoking.

                          ____________________