[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 104 (Tuesday, July 22, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H5498-H5499]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               A FRESH LOOK AT THE ANTI-TOBACCO CAMPAIGN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 21, 1997, the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. McGovern] is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I rise to welcome my friends and 
constituents from the Greater Fall River-Fresh Air Kids Program to 
Washington, DC and to the U.S. Congress. This community youth group has 
put the phrase, Think Globally/Act Locally, into action with their 
efforts to combat environmental tobacco smoke. I continue to support 
the thousands of youthful volunteers whom the Fresh Air Kids have 
recruited as they use direct action to combat the tobacco industry's 
advertising campaign against the young people in America.
  Within 25 years, tobacco-related illnesses are expected to overtake 
infectious disease as the leading threat to human health worldwide. In 
spite of this fact, tobacco companies continue to produce cigarettes at 
the rate of 5.5 trillion a year. That is nearly 1,000 cigarettes for 
every person on the planet, including our young children.
  Every day, over 3,000 kids become regular smokers, despite laws in 
every State that prohibit tobacco use by minors. Every year, 1 million 
young children start using tobacco, with the average teenage smoker 
starting at 13 and becoming a daily smoker by 14\1/2\.
  An estimated 419,000 Americans die each year from diseases caused by 
smoking. That number is more than die from AIDS, alcohol, illegal 
drugs, fires, car crashes, suicides, and murder combined. Tobacco use 
is the No. 1 cause of preventable disease and death in my State of 
Massachusetts, taking 10,000 lives every year.
  Ninety percent of all adult smokers begin smoking before the age of 
18. In my own family, I watched my mother-in-law, a lifetime smoker, 
recently become one of the hundreds of thousands of Americans to die 
annually from lung cancer. My grandfather continues to suffer daily 
from emphysema, the product of years of smoking.
  In light of these sad but very real statistics, the Fresh Air Kids 
have made remarkable progress in the 2 years since their organization 
was founded by Maureen Glisson of Citizens for Citizens of Fall River, 
Joseph Borges of the Fall River Tobacco Control Program, and Jacqueline 
Goyette of the Swansea/Somerset Board of Health Tobacco Control 
Program.
  With the encouragement and support of parent groups, educators, 
community leaders, and members of the media, some 3,000 volunteer youth 
have fueled the local movement against tobacco in their community.
  The Fresh Air Kids have spoken to Massachusetts, and their voices 
have been heard loud and clear. In a community where 34 percent of 
residents smoke, these youngsters have pledged never to start, and to 
work to keep others tobacco-free.
  Last October, I had the privilege of joining with the Fresh Air Kids 
in a march that celebrated their successful campaign to create the 
first smoke-free mall in southeastern Massachusetts. The kids marched 
to the mall with placards and petitions from their many supporters in 
the community. They obtained permission to set up a store front to 
display signs and collect signatures of support.
  At the end of the victory march, I watched with pride as the mall 
manager stood up and declared this mall is smoke free due to the 
efforts of the Fresh Air Kids.
  Currently the Fresh Air Kids are conducting a billboard campaign 
encouraging local businesses to buy back billboards which feature 
tobacco advertising like Joe Camel signs, replacing them with pro-
health messages of the Fresh Air Kids. We hope these efforts will 
encourage Congress to address other such harmful advertising practices, 
such as tobacco product placement in movies.
  The Fresh Air Kids understand and have articulated what I believe is 
the very foundation of an effective democracy, that informed and active 
citizens, willing to stand up for causes they care about, really can 
make a difference.
  Here in the U.S. Congress we can try to pass laws that we hope will 
keep our children healthy, but it is up to the efforts and actions of 
grass-roots groups in every community across America to take up the 
fight in keeping our children safe and healthy.
  The Fresh Air Kids are a shining example of what citizen action and 
grassroots community effort can accomplish. That is one reason why they 
have been selected as a National Pilot Program by the Campaign for 
Tobacco Free Kids, a national antismoking group that has set the 
standard for keeping our kids healthy.

[[Page H5499]]

  I thank the Fresh Air Kids, their parents, their educators, the local 
media, the local elected officials, and fresh air boosters everywhere 
for making southeastern Massachusetts a better place to live and a 
safer place to breathe.
  I look forward to many, many years of working with them and, once 
again, to the Fresh Air Kids, I say welcome to Washington, and I am 
very proud of you.

                          ____________________