[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 24 (Friday, February 28, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1800-S1801]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TOBACCO RULE

   Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, today, the President's rules 
against teenage smoking will go into effect. I applaud President 
Clinton for these new rules and for his leadership in fighting youth 
smoking. It's critically important.
  Mr. President, it's time to stop beating around the bush about 
tobacco. Tobacco is a deadly addictive drug. And those who deal in this 
drug are dealers in death. They're responsible for snuffing out the 
lives of thousands each year. And they should be held accountable.
  Unfortunately, Mr. President, these deadly dealers also have 
tremendous political power. We saw evidence of this earlier this week, 
when a spokesman for the attorney general of Virginia said that the 
State would refuse to enforce, or even respect the validity of, this 
Federal rule against teen tobacco use. It was an outrageous and 
shocking statement. And although he has since backed off of it, the 
incident highlights the importance of protecting our children from big 
tobacco, and their deadly drugs.
  Mr. President, just this week, Gen. Barry McCaffrey, our Nation's 
drug czar, recognized that cigarettes are a gateway drug, and that we 
will not be able to effectively fight cocaine, marijuana, and heroin 
use unless we work to prevent cigarette smoking by children. Children 
who smoke are eight times more likely to use illicit drugs than those 
who do not smoke. Of adults who use cocaine, 83 percent smoked 
cigarettes as gateway behavior.
  Mr. President, it's now clear that the front lines of the drug war 
are not only in Bogota or Mexico City. They're right here in this 
country--in the corporate headquarters of tobacco companies and at our 
neighborhood convenience stores. The rule that goes into effect today 
will prevent kids from engaging in addictive behavior--behavior that 
could lead to other dangerous and illegal habits. As General McCaffrey 
has explained, prevention of Teen tobacco addiction is key to our 
national drug control strategy.
  Mr. President, the tobacco companies have been peddling these drugs 
to our kids for far too long. Although the industry denies that they 
target children in cigarette marketing, that's obviously not true. 
Consider this. How many 6 year olds do you think can identify Joe Camel 
as a symbol for smoking? The answer, incredibly, is 91 percent; 91 
percent of 6-year-olds link Joe Camel with smoking. That, Mr. 
President, is not an accident.
  Mr. President, tobacco industry marketing doesn't stop with 
advertising. They also give away products that they know will appeal to 
kids. Over half of adolescents that smoke own at least one tobacco 
promotional item, such as a Tee-shirt, cap, sporting good, or a 
lighter.
  Today, as the first part of the President's rules will go into 
effect, we will

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begin the process of protecting our Nation's children from an industry 
that kills 410,000 Americans each year. And we can't let the tobacco 
lobby undercut this effort.
  The rule that goes into effect today would bar the sale of cigarettes 
to persons under the age of 18. Additionally, in order to ensure that 
no children slip through the cracks, stores would be required to check 
the identification of any individual who appears to be 26 or younger. 
This Federal rule is necessary because recent studies have shown that 
kids are able to buy cigarettes over the counter 67 percent of the 
time.
  I have seen evidence of this problem firsthand. I went along on a 
sting operation in my home State in which I witnessed children purchase 
cigarettes with ease. It was very disturbing, but typical.
  Mr. President, the rule that goes into effect today is a historic 
first step toward eradicating the epidemic of children's smoking 
plaguing our Nation. David Kessler, the outgoing Commissioner of the 
Food and Drug Administration has called this problem a pediatric 
disease and he is right. Of the 3,000 kids who start smoking every day, 
1,000 will die of smoking-related illness.
  So, Mr. President, I again commend the administration for their 
battle against teen smoking. And I pledge here and now that if anyone 
tries to undermine that effort, I will fight it every step of the way.
  After all, we're talking about saving lives here. The lives of our 
children and grandchildren. And all of us have a responsibility to 
stand up to the tobacco lobby, and do the right thing.

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