[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 10 (Wednesday, February 11, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S638]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            HEALTHY KIDS ACT

  Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, I am proud to join the Vice President, 
Vice President Gore, Senator Conrad, and other colleagues, in support 
of comprehensive tobacco control legislation. I believe it is time for 
the Congress to join the President's call to curb teenage smoking.
  But I believe that as a U.S. Senator, as a Vermonter, and as the 
ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, that the HEALTHY Kids 
Act improves the proposed national tobacco settlement in two key 
areas--this is what I am looking at in tobacco settlements--that you 
have to have full document disclosure and that there can be no immunity 
for the tobacco industry.
  The reason I say this, Madam President, is I have here a 1974 
marketing plan by RJR Tobacco.
  In 1974 they were saying how they have to target the 14-to-24 age 
group. In 1974 they were saying how they had to put their ads together 
so that people in the 14-to-24-year-old group could be targeted, could 
become cigarette smokers, could become addicted, and once addicted 
would remain their customers until they died. Of course, so many of 
them did die of lung cancer and other tobacco-related diseases.
  These documents became public almost a quarter of a century later 
only because of the suits that are going on, only because of the forced 
disclosure. I say whatever we do in tobacco legislation, make sure all 
documents have to be disclosed and make sure that there is no immunity 
to the tobacco industry.
  I want to thank Senator Conrad for working with me to craft 
legislative language that calls for full disclosure of all tobacco 
industry documents relating to the health effects of tobacco products, 
the control of nicotine in tobacco products and the marketing of 
tobacco products. This disclosure to the FDA includes key documents 
that the industry may claim as privileged.
  After internal review, the FDA has the authority to publish these 
documents to further the interests of public health. And these 
documents will be available on the Internet for every citizen to 
finally learn the full truth about the tobacco industry.
  Contrary to its public relations ploys, the tobacco industry is still 
using stonewalling tactics to keep industry documents secret. Minnesota 
Attorney General Skip Humphrey has been prying loose documents that 
reveal much about the past practices of tobacco corporations. But the 
tobacco industry continues to abuse its attorney-client privilege by 
trying to block damaging documents from being publicly released. Again, 
yesterday, the court in Minnesota found the tobacco industry improperly 
used the attorney-client privilege to hide thousands of industry 
documents.
  This stonewalling will stop and the American people will know all the 
facts about the tobacco industry under our bill. Second, our bill 
scraps the sweetheart deal of immunity for the tobacco industry from 
punitive damages and class action lawsuits that was in the proposed 
national settlement.
  Every day we learn more and more about documents that reveal industry 
schemes to market their deadly product to children and hide smoking-
related health research.
  Marketing cigarettes to 14 year-old children is outrageous. Is that 
the kind of conduct that we should reward with unprecedented legal 
protections? In the words of today's 14 year-olds, ``Get real.''
  Under our bill, a state may resolve its attorney general suit or take 
on the tobacco industry in court, as Minnesota is doing. It is up to 
the people of that state, not a Washington knows best approach. I am 
confident that Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell knows the facts 
in his lawsuit against big tobacco and will weigh the best interests of 
Vermonters in making the decision whether to opt-in to the bill's 
settlement provisions.
  I strongly believe that this comprehensive tobacco control 
legislation puts the interests of our children ahead of the interests 
of the tobacco lobby.
  I look forward to working with President Clinton, Vice President 
Gore, Senator Conrad and my other colleagues on both sides of the aisle 
to enact it into law.
  I thank again my good friend from Indiana. I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Indiana.
  Mr. COATS. I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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