[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 86 (Friday, June 26, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1259]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      MINORITY TOBACCO LEGISLATION

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. ROBERT A. UNDERWOOD

                                of guam

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 25, 1998

  Mr. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join my colleagues today 
in introducing tobacco legislation which addresses many of the concerns 
of the minority communities.
  As Chairman of the Health Task Force of the Hispanic Caucus and Vice 
Chairman of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, I have 
been working with a number of public health advocates to develop a 
proposal by which affected communities would benefit from public health 
services provided by organizations that have long served minority 
populations in tobacco-related activities.
  There is no doubt that minorities have been targets by the tobacco 
industry. The effects of tobacco-related illnesses suffered by 
minorities are well documented in the April 1998 report of the Surgeon 
General of the United States. Unfortunately, the Surgeon General's 
report does not have good data on the territories. Guam, for example, 
has a 41 percent adult smoking rate, but nowhere is this mentioned in 
the report. Our bill calls for good data collection which would include 
the territories.
  The bill which we are introducing today includes intervention 
programs designed to accomplish the following priorities: (1) to fund 
tobacco-related prevention activities in the minority community; (2) to 
conduct research on tobacco use by minorities; and (3) to enact 
programs to reduce or stop tobacco use by minorities.
  Last year, the tobacco industry and the State Attorneys General 
agreed to a proposed settlement aimed at the restructuring of tobacco 
policies, giving us an opportunity to address tobacco control policies 
seriously and comprehensively. The bill we are introducing today 
accomplishes some of the goals and objectives in the proposed tobacco 
settlement agreement.
  Recent efforts at reform were attempted through the McCain tobacco 
bill, which the United States Senate killed last week. The extensive 
and often contentious debate over the now-defunct McCain bill has 
demonstrated that even widespread support for anti-tobacco legislation 
can be forestalled by partisan politics, especially in an election 
year. In arguing against the bill, many Senators wielded accusations of 
``tax and spend'' policies, playing on their constituencies' wariness 
of ``big government.'' It is clear that the approximately $40 million 
of advertising by the tobacco industry designed to raise doubts about 
enacting tobacco control legislation helped to kill the McCain bill.
  The Republican leadership in the U.S. Congress now have proposed a 
teen smoking bill as an alternative to the McCain proposal. In my view, 
this narrowly-crafted proposal by the Republican leadership falls far 
short of the pressing needs in our minority communities.
  Our proposal hinges on a comprehensive plan to create public health 
interventions aimed at cessation, education, and research programs in 
the targeted communities. We believe that a proportional amount of 
funds raised from tobacco legislation should go to the funding of these 
public health programs.
  While the tobacco industry has long been notorious for targeting 
minorities, especially African Americans and Native Americans, the need 
for such public health programs grows more and more urgent as the 
numbers of minority group members who smoke continues to increase at 
alarming rates.
  Teenagers are especially vulnerable to the influence of ubiquitous 
and alluring advertising aimed at their demographic. This year's 
Surgeon General Report--the first to focus on minority tobacco issues--
evidences just how effective has been the tobacco companies' targeting 
of minorities.
  According to the report, from 1991 to 1997, smoking rates among 
African American high School students increased by 80 percent, while 
smoking rates among Hispanic high school students increased by 34 
percent. From 1990 to 1995, smoking by high school students increased 
by 17 percent among Asian Americans and by 26 percent among American 
Indian and Alaska Natives. Smoking-related illnesses, such as lung 
cancer, continue to be a significant cause of death for these groups.
  However, the tobacco industry's hold on minority groups involves more 
than just the pervasiveness of flashy advertising and targeting a niche 
market. Often, minority organizations are funded indirectly by tobacco 
companies, and soon come to depend on tobacco companies as primary 
sources of funding. We believe that national tobacco legislation should 
address the need to wean organizations away from their dependence on 
the tobacco industry. Our bill has a provision to accomplish this 
objective.
  The dependence of minority organizations on tobacco funding, as well 
as the alarming statistics in the Surgeon General's report, together 
provide compelling evidence for the urgency of our legislation. Our 
bill utilizes existing public health agencies at the federal, state and 
local levels. Community-based organizations would be involved in 
running these programs. Funds would be targeted for cessation, 
prevention, research or education programs in the minority communities. 
And the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in collaboration with 
the Office of Minority Health, would be accountable for the outcomes 
mandated by the bill. As members of the Hispanic Caucus, Black Caucus, 
Asian Pacific American Caucus, and Native American Caucus, we believe 
that our proposal is reasonable and achievable within the context of 
national tobacco legislation.
  Let's be clear on why we are introducing this bill today and why we 
are seeking support for its enactment. it's about helping our children 
who have been targeted by the industry, it's about our communities that 
have suffered, and it's about our resolve to make the tough decisions 
to prevent another 418,000 individuals from dying each year due to 
smoking.
  We look forward to working with the Republican and Democratic 
leadership in Congress, as well as with President Clinton, to enact 
comprehensive tobacco legislation which includes our proposal. It is 
our duty to act now so that more people will not die as a result of our 
inaction.

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