[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 43 (Wednesday, April 13, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E634-E635]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   HONORING OUR NATION'S YOUTH ON THE 10TH ANNUAL KICK BUTTS DAY, AN 
  ANNUAL CELEBRATION OF YOUTH LEADERSHIP IN THE FIGHT AGAINST TOBACCO

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MARTIN T. MEEHAN

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 13, 2005

  Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor our nation's youth today on 
the 10th annual Kick Butts Day, an annual celebration of youth 
leadership and activism in the fight against tobacco use.
  Over the past 10 years, our nation has made significant progress in 
reducing youth smoking rates. Young people themselves have played a 
major role in this success. We should be proud that we've reduced 
smoking rates among high school students by 40 percent since 1997, when 
smoking rates among youths peaked at an alarming 36.4 percent.
  But we have more work to do. About 22 percent of high school students 
still smoke. Tobacco is still the leading preventable cause of death in 
our country, killing more than 400,000 people every year. On Kick Butts 
Day, we should commit to finishing the job of protecting our kids from 
tobacco addiction by supporting science-based tobacco prevention 
measures, strong deterrents to youth smoking, well-funded tobacco 
prevention and cessation programs, smoke-free air laws, and FDA 
authority over tobacco products and marketing.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to insert in the Record the attached report 
by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids entitled ``Ten Years of Kicking 
Butts: Reducing Youth Smoking in the United States.'' It is a valuable 
summary of the progress we have made in reducing youth smoking, the 
evidence that common sense solutions work, and the need still to 
redouble our efforts.

   Ten Years of Kicking Butts: Reducing Youth Smoking in the United 
             States--Kick Butts Day 10th Anniversary Report

       On May 7, 1996, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids held the 
     first annual Kick Butts Day to focus the nation's attention 
     on the serious and growing problem of youth tobacco use in 
     our country. At that time, youth smoking rates had been 
     rising alarmingly for several years, fueled by cigarette 
     marketing campaigns such as Joe Camel and the Marlboro Man 
     that appealed to youth and deep price cuts that made 
     cigarettes more affordable to kids. In 1997, smoking

[[Page E635]]

     rates among high school students reached an all-time-high, 
     with 36.4 percent of high school students reporting that they 
     were current smokers.
       As we celebrate the 10th annual Kick Butts Day on April 13, 
     2005, the picture is much improved. After nearly 10 years of 
     hard work, our nation has turned the tide, and we are making 
     unprecedented progress in reducing youth tobacco use in our 
     country. By implementing scientifically proven solutions like 
     tobacco tax increases, well-funded tobacco 
     prevention programs and smoke-free air laws, we have 
     reduced smoking rates among high school students by 40 
     percent since 1996.
       Still, there is much work to be done. Tobacco use remains 
     the leading preventable cause of death in our country, 
     killing more than 400,000 people and costing the nation more 
     than $89 billion in health care bills every year. A quarter 
     of all high school seniors still smoke, and another 2,000 
     kids become regular smokers every day, one-third of whom will 
     die prematurely as a result.
       Perhaps most troubling, a survey released March 31, 2005, 
     by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found 
     that our progress in reducing youth smoking has slowed 
     considerably or stalled completely. The survey found no 
     statistically significant change in either high school or 
     middle school smoking rates from 2002 to 2004.
       Public health experts have pointed to several reasons for 
     this leveling off in youth smoking rates: While states have 
     cut tobacco prevention funding by 28 percent in the last 
     three years and the American Legacy Foundation has also had 
     funding reduced for its effective, national truth' 
     youth smoking prevention campaign, the tobacco companies have 
     increased their marketing expenditures to a record $12.7 
     billion a year--more than $34 million a day. More than two-
     thirds of all tobacco marketing dollars is spent on cigarette 
     price discounts and free cigarette giveaways that make 
     cigarettes more affordable to kids, who are very price-
     sensitive.
       The recent CDC survey is a wakeup call to elected leaders 
     at all levels that we cannot take continued progress in 
     reducing youth smoking for granted and must redouble efforts 
     to implement proven measures to reduce tobacco use, including 
     tobacco tax increases, well-funded tobacco prevention 
     programs, and smoke-free air laws. It is also critical that 
     Congress enact legislation granting the U.S. Food and Drug 
     Administration authority to regulate tobacco products, 
     including the authority to crack down on marketing and sales 
     to kids. If we take these steps, our nation will continue to 
     achieve significant reductions in youth tobacco use. If we 
     fail to do so, the progress we have made is at risk and could 
     even reverse.
       This report summarizes the progress we have made in 
     reducing youth smoking in the United States and the 
     challenges that remain.

   Progress in Reducing Youth Smoking, Saving Lives and Saving Money

       High school smoking rates have been reduced by 40 percent 
     since reaching an all-time-high in 1997--in 1997, 36.4 
     percent of high school students smoked; today about 22 
     percent smoke (source: CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Survey and 
     Youth Tobacco Survey).
       Youth smoking rates have been reduced among all vulnerable 
     age groups. Since smoking rates peaked in 1996-1997, we have 
     reduced smoking by 56 percent among eighth graders, 47 
     percent among tenth graders and 31.5 percent among twelfth 
     graders (source: National Institute on Drug Abuse Monitoring 
     the Future Survey).
       These declines mean that there are roughly 2 million fewer 
     high school kids smoking than there would have been if 
     smoking rates had remained constant.
       These reductions in youth smoking will prevent 600,000 
     premature deaths due to smoking.
       These reductions in youth smoking will save $32 billion in 
     tobacco-related health care costs.

       Succeeding by Implementing Scientifically Proven Solutions

       Our nation has succeeded in reducing youth smoking by 
     implementing scientifically proven solutions, including 
     tobacco tax increases, tobacco prevention programs funded 
     with tobacco settlement and tobacco tax dollars, and smoke-
     free air laws that require all workplaces and public places 
     to be smoke-free. We are making significant progress in 
     implementing these solutions:
       Cigarette Taxes--Forty-one states and DC have increased 
     cigarette taxes since 1995, some more than once for a total 
     of 79 separate cigarette tax increases. The average state 
     cigarette tax has increased from 30.3 cents per pack on June 
     30, 1995, to 84.7 cents a pack (once all already approved 
     cigarette taxes take effect July 1, 2005).
       Smoke-Free Air Laws--In 1998, California became the first 
     state to require all restaurants and bars to be smoke-free. 
     Today, 10 states and 234 communities across America have 
     strong smoke-free workplace laws. Seven states--California, 
     Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New York and 
     Rhode Island--have smoke-free laws that require all 
     workplaces, including restaurants and bars, to be smoke-free. 
     Three states--Florida, Idaho and Utah--have smoke-free laws 
     that include restaurants, but not bars. Such laws now cover 
     more than a third of the nation's population.
       State Tobacco Prevention Programs--In 1996, only three 
     states--Arizona, California and Massachusetts--had well-
     funded tobacco prevention programs. Today, 13 states do.
       National Public Education Campaign--Another key factor in 
     youth smoking declines has been the American Legacy 
     Foundation's national truth ' youth smoking 
     prevention campaign. A study published in the March 2005 
     issue of the American Journal of Public Health found that 
     declines in youth smoking accelerated after the launch of 
     this campaign in 2000 and that there was a significant dose-
     response relationship between exposure to the truth 
     ' campaign's anti-smoking advertising and declines 
     in youth smoking between 2000 and 2002, the period of the 
     study.

                  Despite Progress, Challenges Remain

       While our nation has made significant progress in reducing 
     youth smoking, our work is far from done:
       Tobacco use is still the nation's leading preventable cause 
     of death, killing more than 400,000 people every year and 
     sickening millions more.
       Tobacco use costs our nation more than $89 billion in 
     health care bills and $88 billion in productivity losses each 
     year.
       About 25 percent of high school seniors still smoke.
       Every day, another 2,000 kids become regular smokers, one-
     third of whom will die prematurely as a result.
       The tobacco industry is spending record amounts to market 
     its deadly and addictive products. Since 1996, total tobacco 
     marketing expenditures have increased by 144 percent to a 
     record $12.7 billion a year--more than $34 million a day, 
     according to the Federal Trade Commission's most recent 
     annual report on cigarette marketing (for 2002). The 
     tobacco companies spend more than $23 to market cigarettes 
     and other tobacco products in the U.S. for every dollar 
     the states spend on programs to protect kids from tobacco. 
     More than two-thirds of all tobacco marketing dollars is 
     spent on cigarette price discounts and free cigarette 
     giveaways that make cigarettes more affordable to kids, 
     who are very price sensitive.
       While the tobacco companies have increased their marketing, 
     the states have cut funding for tobacco prevention programs 
     by 28 percent in the last three years (from $749.7 million in 
     Fiscal 2002 to $542.6 million in Fiscal 2004). These cuts 
     decimated some of the nation's most successful tobacco 
     prevention programs, including those in Florida, 
     Massachusetts and Minnesota. While more states have well-
     funded tobacco prevention programs today than 10 years ago, 
     the bad news is that 37 states and DC are funding prevention 
     programs at less than half the CDC's recommended minimum 
     amount or providing no funding at all.
       The progress of the past decade has shown that we have 
     proven solutions to reduce tobacco use, including cigarette 
     tax increases, well-funded tobacco prevention programs and 
     smoke-free air laws. These solutions are the equivalent of a 
     vaccine that protects kids from tobacco addiction and its 
     deadly consequences. But like other vaccines, this vaccine 
     must be administered to every generation of children. 
     Otherwise, the tobacco epidemic will explode again, at great 
     cost in health, lives and money.

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