[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 45 (Wednesday, April 22, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H2124]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               SCHEDULE VOTE ON TOBACCO LEGISLATION TODAY

  (Ms. DeLAURO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, for years tobacco companies have set their 
sights on America's young people, pinpointing the most appealing way to 
market their product to them, and deliberately hooking our kids on 
cigarettes.
  A 1984 R.J. Reynolds marketing report says it all: Young people are 
the ``only source of replacement smokers,'' and that if kids ``turn 
away from smoking, the industry must decline, just as the population 
which does not give birth will eventually dwindle.''
  Yet the Republican leadership has refused to act to protect our kids 
from this deadly habit, perhaps because the tobacco companies are the 
largest corporate contributors to the Republican Party.
  Every day the Republican leadership fails to schedule debate on 
comprehensive tobacco legislation, 3,000 more kids in America will pick 
up this deadly habit, and 1,000 of them will eventually die of a 
tobacco-related illness.
  Mr. Speaker, do the right thing. Schedule a vote on tobacco 
legislation today.

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