[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 83 (Tuesday, June 23, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H4973-H4974]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  REALITY CHECK ON TOBACCO LEGISLATION

  (Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, it is time for a reality 
check. Our friends on the opposite side of the aisle claim they are not 
the party of tobacco.
  The reality is that through the eighties and mid-nineties, the 
Democrats accepted 10 percent more money from the tobacco industry than 
did Republicans, according to Common Cause. The reality is that three 
out of five top tobacco PAC recipients in the House are Democrats, with 
the second biggest recipient being the Democrat minority leader.
  The reality is that during the recent tobacco debates, our liberal 
friends took a Republican proposal and turned it into a $868 billion 
tax increase. Yes,

[[Page H4974]]

that is billions with a ``B.'' Additionally, that tax would have placed 
the heaviest burden on lower income Americans who earn less than 
$30,000 a year.
  The reality is that the recent tobacco proposal would have done 
little to curtail teenage smoking, which was one of its original 
intents, and would have turned a number of trial lawyers into very rich 
people.
  I join the Republican leadership to make every effort possible to 
curtail teenage smoking without massive tax increases. That is reality.

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