[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 42 (Thursday, April 6, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2350-S2351]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. HARKIN (for himself, Mr. L. Chafee, and Mr. Graham):
  S. 2379. A bill to provide for the protection of children from 
tobacco; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.


             kids deserve freedom from tobacco act of 2000

  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I am pleased today to be joined by 
Senators Chafee and Graham to introduce the ``KIDS Deserve Freedom from 
Tobacco Act of 2000.''
  Just over 2 years ago, on March 31, 1998, Senators Harkin, Chafee and 
Graham teamed up to introduce the first comprehensive bipartisan 
legislation to reduce teen smoking. Today, I am pleased to announce 
that Senators Harkin, Chafee and Graham are teaming up again with the 
same goal. This bill is the first bipartisan Senate effort to restore 
the Food and Drug Administration's authority to protect our kids from 
tobacco.
  We feel it is absolutely critical to show bipartisan support for 
picking up the ball the Supreme Court dropped in our lap just two weeks 
ago. We hope that our announcement today will be the beginning of a 
bipartisan push to get this type of common sense legislation passed.
  The need is clear. As the Supreme Court recognized, tobacco use among 
children and adolescents is probably the single most significant threat 
to public health in the United States. A new study released just 
yesterday shows how the tobacco industry continues to successfully 
target our children. Seventy-three percent of teens reported seeing 
tobacco advertising in the previous two weeks, compared to only 33% of 
adults. And 77% of teens say it is easy for kids to buy cigarettes.
  That is why 3,000 kids start smoking every day and fully 1,000 of 
them will die prematurely because of it. That's the equivalent of 3 
jumbo jets packed with kids crashing every day. And that is why 
cigarette smoking among high school seniors is at a 19-year high. There 
is no question we face a public health crisis of unmatched proportions 
and we have the opportunity this year to stop it.
  Passing comprehensive legislation that would dramatically reduce the 
number of American children hooked on this deadly habit is a once and a 
lifetime opportunity. Unfortunately, though, the tobacco debate in 
Washington has so far been largely partisan. That's why we've joined 
arms across party lines behind the KIDS Deserve Freedom From Tobacco 
Act, the KIDS Act. We hope and believe that the introduction of our 
bipartisan bill will change the debate and significantly increase the 
odds that reforms will be made this year.
  Let me be clear. Nicotine is an addictive product and cigarettes 
kill. Even the tobacco companies are starting to admit it. In fact, Big 
Tobacco has known this for so long, they deliberately manipulate the 
nicotine in cigarettes to get more people addicted.
  The FDA regulations, struck down by the Supreme Court two weeks ago, 
were about stopping kids from smoking. These regulations were an 
investment in the future of our kids.
  Our legislation will re-affirm the FDA's authority over tobacco 
products. It will classify nicotine as a drug and tobacco products as 
drug delivery devices. It will allow FDA to implement a ``public 
health'' standard in its review and regulation of tobacco products. By 
codifying FDA's regulation of 1996, our legislation will also allow for 
continuation of the critically important youth ID checks. It will 
provide needed youth access restrictions such as requiring tobacco 
products to be kept behind store counters and ban vending machines. It 
will also include sensible advertising limits as well as other 
important provisions of the original FDA rule designed to reduce teen 
access to tobacco.
  For the sake of our kids and the public health, we have a 
responsibility to act quickly on this. Today, we begin that important 
effort.
  Mr. President, I urge my colleagues to examine our legislation and 
give us their comments. We should not leave this year without taking 
this type of common sense step to protect our kids.
  Mr. L. CHAFEE. Mr. President, I am pleased to join Senators Harkin 
and Bob Graham in introducing the Kids Deserve Freedom From Tobacco Act 
of 2000, which would give the Food and Drug Administration the 
authority to regulate the manufacture and sale of tobacco. This 
legislation is a common-sense and bipartisan approach to ensure that 
tobacco products do not get into the hands of minors, especially in 
light of the Supreme Court's recent decision that the FDA does not have 
the authority to regulate tobacco products.
  The Supreme Court's recent decision is disappointing. This judgment, 
while following the letter of the law, will cause unnecessary harm to 
millions of people unless Congress acts quickly to stem its affects. We 
must ensure that the FDA regulations are enacted into law.
  Not only does tobacco pose a significant risk to the individual 
smoker, but it reaps a high cost from the American public. The 
widespread use of tobacco is eating away at our society's physical and 
financial health. Tobacco's physical toll in deaths and diseases is 
well-documented. However, the financial weight that tobacco places on 
America's overburdened health care system is often overlooked. As the 
single most preventable cause of premature death, disease and 
disability facing our nation, tobacco use is also the single biggest 
preventable expense to our nation's health care system.
  America's publicly financed health care system has also suffered. 
Nearly half the costs of treating tobacco related illnesses--
approximately $25 billion in 1993, according to the Centers for Disease 
Control--fall to state and federal governments through such programs as 
Medicare and Medicaid. This

[[Page S2351]]

unnecessary fiscal burden has hit the health care industry hard, 
increasing the cost of health care, while driving millions into the 
ranks of the uninsured. As Congress struggles to pull the Medicare 
program back from the brink of insolvency, it is clear that the huge 
costs of the preventable illnesses caused by tobacco need to be 
addressed. We have a clear choice: attack the problem of preventable 
disease, or place a greater burden on our already financially strapped 
health care system.
  The Supreme Court did not argue the scientific evidence: nicotine is 
a drug and cigarettes are drug delivery devices. Nicotine is addictive, 
it lures children, kills adults, and drives up our nation's health care 
costs. In fact, the Court's majority opinion admitted that tobacco use 
was ``perhaps the single most significant threat to public health in 
the United States.''
  The only thing the FDA lacks, they said, was explicit authority to 
regulate tobacco products. Fine! Today, we propose to give them that 
authority. This bipartisan measure will abide by the intent of the 
Court's ruling by granting the FDA explicit authority to regulate these 
deadly and addictive products as it does for all other drugs.
  Congress cannot afford to wait. The three thousand children who get 
hooked on tobacco each day cannot afford to wait. Our overburdened 
health care system cannot afford to wait. I hope my colleagues in both 
Houses of Congress will come together in a bipartisan spirit to grant 
the FDA authority to stop the spread of the tobacco contagion.
  Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. President, for far too long, the health and welfare 
of America's children have been jeopardized by a relatively unregulated 
tobacco industry.
  ``The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has amply demonstrated that 
tobacco use, particularly among children and adolescents, poses perhaps 
the single most serious threat to public health in the United States.''
  These words aren't mine. They are Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's, the 
author of the majority opinion in Food and Drug Administration v. Brown 
and Williamson--the recent case which prevents the FDA from effectively 
regulating tobacco.
  We have worked hard to protect our children from the perils of 
tobacco, but we clearly have not done enough.
  A study recently released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health 
Services Administration (SAMHSA) shows that over 18 percent of youth 
between the ages of 12 and 17 are smokers.
  That translates into 4.1 million kids. And, every day, another 3,000 
children join the ranks of their smoking peers.
  Not only are these children exposing themselves to the long-term 
health risks that we know tobacco to pose, they are increasing the 
likeliness that they will develop other harmful addictions.
  SAMHSA's study has revealed that children who smoke are over 11 times 
more likely to use illicit drugs and 16 times more likely to drink 
heavily than are their nonsmoking peers. Specifically, children who 
smoke are 100 times more likely to also smoke marijuana and 32 times 
more likely to use cocaine than nonsmoking children.
  Today, of the 4.1 million children who currently smoke, 
approximately: 35% smoke marijuana; 8% take hallucinogenic drugs; 5% 
use cocaine; and 4% sniff inhalants.
  The Supreme Court has placed the burden of protecting not only these 
children, but all children from tobacco squarely on the shoulders of 
the Congress. This is indeed a heavy weight to bear, but it is one from 
which we cannot afford to shy away.
  We are here today to announce that we have accepted this charge, and 
are introducing legislation that will provide America's children with 
real protections from tobacco.
  Currently, the FDA has the authority to regulate virtually all 
products which we consume or apply to our skin--food, drugs, cosmetics 
and medical devices--protecting Americans by ensuring that these 
products meet certain health standards.
  Yet, today, FDA authority--and thus, FDA protection--does not apply 
to tobacco.
  Congress can extend these protections by giving the FDA the authority 
to truly regulate tobacco products.
  Our legislation would do just that. It would give the FDA authority 
to: (1) reduce harmful components--such as nicotine--in tobacco 
products; (2) impose appropriate advertising and marketing restrictions 
to reduce teenage tobacco use; (3) require manufacturers to submit 
information about the health effects of their product to the FDA; (4) 
require strong warning labels; and (5) regulate health claims and 
``Reduced Risk'' products.
  Mr. President, we are all in agreement that it is our responsibility 
to promote a healthier America. This legislation will help us achieve 
that collective goal, by giving the FDA the authority to regulate the 
tobacco industry. I urge my colleagues to support this important 
measure.
                                 ______