[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 81 (Tuesday, June 2, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5918-S5922]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  FAMILY SMOKING PREVENTION AND TOBACCO CONTROL ACT--MOTION TO PROCEED


                             cloture motion

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, pursuant 
to rule XXII, the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

                             Cloture Motion

       We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the 
     provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, 
     hereby move to bring to a close debate on the motion to 
     proceed to Calendar No. 47, H.R. 1256, the Family Smoking 
     Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.
         Harry Reid, Tom Harkin, Edward E. Kaufman, Mark Begich, 
           Bernard Sanders, Michael F. Bennet, Mark Udall, Patty 
           Murray, Claire McCaskill, Carl Levin, Jack Reed, 
           Sheldon Whitehouse, Christopher J. Dodd, Jeff Merkley, 
           Robert Menendez, Charles E. Schumer, Max Baucus.

  Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, today the Senate will vote on cloture on the 
motion to proceed on H.R. 1256, the Family Smoking Prevention and 
Tobacco Control Act.
  Full and fair debate is one of the hallmarks of American democracy 
and the Senate in particular. All we are voting on today is whether we 
are going to get to debate, not whether we are going to have FDA 
regulation of tobacco. But if this vote does not get 60 votes, we will 
not have the opportunity in this Congress to see whether we can take 
real steps to curb tobacco use.
  Whether you are for this bill or against it, I urge you to support 
cloture on the motion to proceed. We cannot get to substantive 
amendments and improvements to the bill until we have cloture on the 
motion to proceed.
  I will have a number of amendments to improve this bill and fight the 
scourge of tobacco use and its deadly health consequences. In order to 
get to offer my amendments, I will support cloture on the motion to 
proceed, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. By unanimous consent, the mandatory 
quorum call has been waived.
  The question is, Is it the sense of the Senate that debate on the 
motion to proceed to H.R. 1256, the Family Smoking Prevention and 
Tobacco Control Act, shall be brought to a close?
  The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Alaska (Mr. Begich), the 
Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Byrd), and the Senator from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Kennedy) are necessarily absent.
  Mr. KYL. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Florida (Mr. Martinez).
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Gillibrand). Are there any other Senators 
in the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 84, nays 11, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 203 Leg.]

                                YEAS--84

     Akaka
     Alexander
     Barrasso
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Bennet
     Bennett
     Bingaman
     Boxer
     Brown
     Burris
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Chambliss
     Cochran
     Collins
     Conrad
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Crapo
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Gillibrand
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Harkin
     Hutchison
     Inouye
     Isakson
     Johanns
     Johnson
     Kaufman
     Kerry
     Klobuchar
     Kohl
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Lugar
     McCain
     McCaskill
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Mikulski
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Nelson (NE)
     Nelson (FL)
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Risch
     Rockefeller
     Sanders
     Schumer
     Sessions
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Thune
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Vitter
     Voinovich
     Warner
     Webb
     Whitehouse
     Wicker
     Wyden

                                NAYS--11

     Bond
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burr
     Coburn
     DeMint
     Hagan
     Hatch
     Inhofe
     McConnell
     Roberts

                             NOT VOTING--4

     Begich
     Byrd
     Kennedy
     Martinez
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote, the yeas are 84, the nays are 
11. Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn having voted in 
the affirmative, the motion is agreed to.
  The Senator from Connecticut.
  Mr. DODD. Madam President, I rise in support of S. 982, the Family 
Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, the matter that is before 
the Senate. This bill would give the Food and Drug Administration the 
authority to regulate the tobacco industry and put in place the tough 
protections for families that for too long have been absent when it 
comes to how cigarettes are marketed to our youngest citizens--our 
children.
  This is an issue that many in this Chamber have worked on for a long 
time. For those who have been here for some time, this issue is not a 
new issue. It has been before the Congress now for over a decade, and 
for various reasons along the way--the other body has adopted this bill 
or we have adopted the bill but not at the same time the other Chamber 
has; the committees have acted but never in the same year or in the 
same Congress--so we have had sort of a disjointed process that has 
never brought the other Chamber and this one together around the 
importance of this legislation.

[[Page S5919]]

  So once again we are here, this time I think with the greatest 
opportunity to do something I believe most Members--I cannot believe 
anyone in this Chamber could be adverse to the notion we ought to do 
everything in our power to limit the 3,000 to 4,000 children who every 
day--every single day--begin smoking in the United States.
  Madam President, 400,000 of our fellow citizens die every year 
because of smoking-related illnesses. We are about to begin, in a few 
weeks, a debate on health care. One of the major provisions of that 
effort will be in the area of prevention. There are a lot of divisions 
I suppose about how we ought to proceed with health care, but as I have 
listened over the last number of months to our colleagues talk about 
health care reform, one issue--one issue--enjoys almost unanimous 
support; and that is, what can we do to reduce chronic illness in the 
country? How do we do a better job of having a health care system, not 
a sick care system? How do we prevent people from acquiring or 
contracting these illnesses that are so debilitating and so costly? One 
of them is, obviously, smoking-related illnesses and the 400,000 who 
die every year.

  The one certain way is to try to limit the number of people who begin 
smoking every day; that is, our youngest citizens, our children. That 
is what this bill is all about. It comes down to simply that. We will 
have a long debate about various provisions in this bill, but in the 
final analysis, we will have to decide in the coming day or two 
whether, for the first time--the very first time--the Food and Drug 
Administration of our Nation will have the power and the capability to 
regulate tobacco products and begin to restrain--to restrain--the 3,000 
to 4,000 who begin smoking every single day. So even in the 2 or 3 days 
we will debate this bill, keep in mind that during those 2 or 3 days, 
close to 10,000 children will begin smoking, 1,000 of whom will become 
addicted every day, and of that 1,000, anywhere from 300 to 500 will 
die. I have 76,000 children in my small State of Connecticut today who 
are going to die because of smoking-related illnesses, because they are 
already hooked and addicted to tobacco products. So there are a lot of 
things we debate and discuss and there is a lot of rhetoric and talk 
about protecting our children and protecting families, but here is an 
opportunity we have, as Democrats and Republicans coming together in 
common cause, to make a difference for literally millions of people in 
our country for years and years and years to come.
  When the Supreme Court struck down the FDA's tobacco rule in 2000, it 
became very clear that legislation was going to be necessary in order 
to protect our children and the public health from deadly tobacco 
products. Eight years ago, I introduced comprehensive children's 
legislation that included, with the help of my good friend Senator 
Harkin, the Kids Deserve Freedom From Tobacco Act to give the authority 
to the FDA over these products. In the 108th Congress, our colleague 
from Massachusetts, who has been a champion on this issue--who has been 
the leader and champion on this issue for literally years and years and 
years, Senator Kennedy, and who is the major sponsor, by the way, of 
this legislation--was able to take this issue to the next level. He 
worked out a bipartisan bill called the Family Smoking Prevention and 
Tobacco Control Act with our colleague from Ohio, Senator Mike DeWine, 
Representatives Henry Waxman, and Tom Davis of the other body and the 
other party, and other members of the HELP Committee on a bipartisan 
basis. The bill we consider today is virtually the same legislation 
that Senator Kennedy and Senator Mike DeWine, Henry Waxman and Tom 
Davis worked on before. It has a long history, having passed each 
Chamber, but never at the same time.
  So allow me to share a little of that history with my colleagues as 
we enter this debate. In July of 2004, the Senate voted 78 to 15 to add 
it as an amendment to another bill; that is, this tobacco bill. 
Unfortunately, the language was removed in conference between the House 
and the Senate. Three months later, Senators Kennedy and DeWine 
reintroduced the legislation and it was passed by unanimous consent, 
but the other body did not consider it at that time. Refusing to give 
up, of course, as he always does--he never gives up--Senator Kennedy 
reintroduced the bill in the 109th and the 110th Congresses. In August 
of 2007, the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, on which 
Senator Enzi and I serve, reported out this bill by a vote of 13 to 8. 
In July of 2008, the House passed a very similar bill by a margin of 
326 to 102. Although the Senate version had 60 cosponsors, there was 
not enough time left in that year for the Senate to pass the House-
passed legislation.
  On April 2 of this year, the other body--the House--once again passed 
its version of this legislation, with very minor changes, by an 
overwhelming vote of 298 to 112.
  The point I wish to make to my colleagues is simply this: Over the 
years, this bill has been reviewed, it has been vetted, it has been 
debated over and over. I think all of us, I would hope, agree that the 
time has come to act with uniformity in both Chambers, with the 
President committed to this issue to protect our Nation's children and 
pass this legislation into law.
  Frankly, we can't afford to wait any longer. Every day, as I 
mentioned at the outset of these remarks, another 3,500 to 4,000 
children are ensnared by tobacco companies that target them with 
impunity as they try smoking for the first time--every single day. One 
thousand of these children who will start today--that close to 4,000 
across our country--will be addicted probably for life as smokers, and 
a third of that number will eventually die--if not more--from smoking-
related diseases.
  The tobacco industry is well aware of these numbers. They know that 
if they can't bring children into the process, then they won't have any 
more smokers. If you lose 400,000 people a year who lose their lives 
from smoking-related illnesses, then you have to replenish those 
numbers somehow. You can't lose 400,000 people every year, year after 
year, from smoking-related illnesses and not replenish the numbers. How 
do you do it? You do it by drawing in children, by getting kids to 
start smoking. That is why they have been so successful. When you get 
3,000 to 4,000 every day--every day starting--40,000 in a 10-day 
period, then do the math yourself and you see what happens very 
quickly. You begin to replenish those numbers. If a quarter of that 
number remains addicted for life, you make up that 400,000 rather 
quickly and that doesn't include, by the way, the foreign sales of 
tobacco products. That is just right here in our country.
  I would suspect that if you have been a smoker or are a smoker--and 
let me say in truth in everything, I was a smoker and I know how 
difficult it is to give up tobacco products. Anyone who tells you it is 
easy doesn't know what they are talking about. It is hard. It is 
difficult. It is extremely difficult. But even people who smoke, I will 
tell my colleagues, the one thing they pray every day is that their 
children will not begin it. In fact, I suspect some of the strongest 
advocates of this legislation are the people who have been hooked on 
tobacco products and they would tell you that the one thing they pray 
and hope is that their children don't become addicted to this product 
because they know how damaging it is. They know what it does to them. 
They know the potential harm to themselves and to their families. So 
this is not an issue, in my view, that ought to cause any division 
among parents and family members when it comes to what happens to their 
children.
  Tobacco companies, as I say, are well aware of all of this. Almost 90 
percent of smokers begin as children, and that is an astonishing 
figure. Equally astonishing is the fact that smoking kills more 
Americans every year than alcohol, AIDS, car accidents, illegal drug 
use, murders, and suicides combined. Take all of those causes of death 
in our Nation, combine all of them, and they don't equal the number of 
people who lose their lives as a result of tobacco-related illnesses.
  In my home State of Connecticut, more than one in five high school 
students smokes. Every year, 15,000 children in my State try cigarettes 
for the fist time and another 4,600 become regular smokers. Absent 
action from our Congress, of course, more than 6 million children who 
are alive today will die from smoking, including the 76,000 I mentioned 
in my small State of Connecticut. This ought to be entirely 
unacceptable to all of us.

[[Page S5920]]

  Here we are soon to begin a debate, as I said a few minutes ago, on 
health care, with the common cause of trying to create a health care 
system, not a sick care system, where prevention is going to be a major 
focus of our attention. I can't think of a more significant step we 
could take on the eve of dealing with the health care debate than 
having this Congress stand up with an overwhelming vote and say we are 
going to begin an effort here to reduce that 90 percent who end up 
beginning smoking over a lifetime--that is our children--and that is 
what this bill is designed to do.
  If ever there was a moral obligation to act, I think it is at this 
moment. No one suggests that any law is going to stop every child--of 
course it won't--from lighting a cigarette or beginning that process. 
Obviously, parents have to do their part in educating their children, 
as do others. But we shouldn't be making it harder on them than it 
already is, which is precisely what we are doing every second that we 
fail to act on a bill such as this.

  So the purpose of this historic public health legislation is very 
simple: It is to protect our children and give them a longer, healthier 
future--the future they deserve. It will give the Food and Drug 
Administration the authority to prevent the sale and marketing of 
tobacco to children, require changes to cigarettes to make them less 
harmful, and protect the public health, and to prevent tobacco 
companies from using misleading marketing practices to encourage 
tobacco use. It would accomplish this by prohibiting outdoor 
advertising within 1,000 feet of a school or playground. Parents ought 
not to live in fear that their children are being marketed cigarettes 
when they are at school every day. It would limit advertising in 
publications with significant youth readership to a black-on-white, 
text-only format; no pictures, mascots, or other eye-catching logos. It 
would restrict promotions that appeal to children and adolescents, and 
stop illegal sales of tobacco products to children and adolescents. 
Lastly, it would prohibit tobacco product vending machines except in 
adult-only facilities.
  For this first time, the bill would regulate tobacco products, 
requiring all tobacco product manufacturers to register with the Food 
and Drug Administration and to provide that agency with a detailed 
product list. The legislation would assess user fees on manufacturers 
to pay for the cost of the FDA tobacco regulation. And it would mandate 
larger and far more informative health warnings on tobacco products, 
including prohibiting misleading terms such as ``light'' and ``mild'' 
on products that offer no health benefits whatsoever, and instead are 
intended to kill.
  This bill is supported by over 1,000 organizations, including every 
major public health group in the United States: the Campaign for 
Tobacco Free Children, the American Cancer Society, the American Lung 
Association, the American Heart Association, and many others. Thirty 
national faith organizations and over 800 State and local organizations 
support this bill. In addition, former Secretaries of Health and Human 
Services, both Democrats and Republicans, including Tommy Thompson and 
Donna Shalala; former Surgeon Generals, Republicans and Democrats, 
David Satcher and Richard Carmona; David Kessler, the former FDA 
Commissioner; and Julie Gerberding, the former CDC Director, have all 
expressed their support of the legislation now before us.
  In its 2007 report, ``Ending the Tobacco Problem: A Blueprint for the 
Nation,'' the Institute of Medicine urged Congress to: ``Confer upon 
the Food and Drug Administration broad regulatory authority over the 
manufacture, distribution, marketing and use of tobacco products.''
  That is precisely what we give them in this bill. It deals with the 
manufacture, the distribution, and the marketing of tobacco products, 
particularly to our children.
  Again, I hope my colleagues will gather behind this.
  Lastly, let me say we would not be here on the cusp of winning this 
fight without the tireless efforts of our committee chairman, Senator 
Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, who has made the public health the cause 
of his lifetime. It has been his passion over the past 40 years that he 
has been involved in his public career. This bill is but one more 
example of good policy he has shepherded through the Congress which 
puts children and their families and the public first. All of us ought 
to thank him for his leadership on this issue.
  Passing this bill will be a historic victory for our Nation's 
children--protecting children from aggressive marketing by tobacco 
companies and establishing sound manufacturing practices of tobacco 
products. It will be an historic step for parents who have enough to 
worry about in today's day and age without having to be concerned that 
cigarettes are being marketed directly to them, or tobacco products 
designed in ways to be specifically appealing to the youngest of our 
citizens in this country. Parents deserve peace of mind when it comes 
to how dangerous tobacco products are being marketed. With this 
legislation, that is precisely what we are trying to do.
  I will emphasize again, this is not going to stop all of the problems 
of children starting smoking every day, but if we can make a difference 
and cut those numbers down. Then we will have achieved a great deal for 
our Nation. This is an opportunity to do so.
  I should point out as well, I am not unsympathetic at all to the 
tobacco States--the States that grow tobacco where literally thousands 
of farms, their livelihood, and jobs depend upon this industry. This 
bill takes into account the needs of those small family farmers to 
provide help to them as they transition. All of us know what it is like 
to be in a State where there are certain things that occur, products 
that are made, services provided where they could be adversely affected 
by changes through no fault of their own. This bill tries to 
accommodate, to the extent possible, the industries and the businesses 
in those States that would be adversely affected, obviously, by the 
reduction in the use of tobacco products by our citizenry as a whole. I 
think all of us here, and again particularly parents, whether you are a 
smoker or a nonsmoker--you ask any parent in this country whether they 
would like to see their children begin smoking--ask them that simple 
question. I don't care where you live, the last thing you want to see 
is your child begin a lifetime of use that you know is going to put 
their life in jeopardy from the moment they start. So if nothing else, 
as you think about this bill and you think about these amendments 
coming along, many of which may be appealing on a certain level, 
remember, we have tried for 10 years and we have failed. Think about 
how this bill might have made a difference 10 years ago, if it had been 
adopted, and how many young children might not have started because of 
the inclusions and the provisions in this bill.
  We cannot wait for another Congress, another 2 or 4 or 5 years to get 
back to this again. This is the moment. This is the hour. This is the 
time when we can accomplish that kind of achievement. We have a chance 
to do something in a meaningful way, and I urge my colleagues to join 
us in this effort.
  Let me also say this to my friend and colleague from Wyoming, who is 
a champion on this issue and cares deeply about it. We had a very good 
and extensive markup of the bill a couple of weeks ago. There are some 
outstanding amendments Senator Enzi has raised, and our staffs are 
working together to try to resolve those matters, as I promised we 
would, before we get to offering a substitute that may include some of 
the provisions we are in the business of trying to resolve. I thank him 
for his cooperation, and also the members of the committee, who stayed 
2 days to mark up this legislation.
  I commend my friend from Wyoming for his diligence in all of this, as 
he always demonstrates, and our colleagues on both sides of the 
committee, who worked on this legislation; I am grateful to them as 
well. I look forward to a good, healthy, and vibrant debate, with the 
final conclusion being strong support for this bill.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wyoming is recognized.
  Mr. ENZI. Madam President, I rise today to talk against the deadly 
scourge of tobacco. Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of 
death in the United States. We have to take some dramatic steps to 
reduce smoking.

[[Page S5921]]

  Smoking killed my dad, my mom, and my mother-in-law, and secondhand 
smoking conclusively affected me. This isn't political; this is about 
the health of all Americans. This bill comes out of the Health, 
Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. The Senator from Connecticut, 
Mr. Dodd, mentioned that we don't want kids to start. We don't want 
anybody to start. There is enough information out there that can tell 
you that this will kill you. So don't do something that will kill you. 
Yes, it is a slow death; it may take a number of years, but it will 
kill you. Cancer is one of the big results of smoking.
  I wish to share a little bit from a contract that an oncologist--a 
person who deals strictly in solving cancer and providing cancer 
treatment--makes his patients sign before he will treat them because if 
they keep smoking, they are adding to the problem, causing recurrences 
of the problem. It starts off this way:

       Tobacco is a dangerous substance. It contains 50 
     carcinogens (cancer-causing substances) and is a Group A 
     Carcinogen in the same class as asbestos and radon. It has 
     many toxic substances besides cancer-causing agents; among 
     these are insecticides which are used on the tobacco plant. 
     In some parts of the country, tobacco is used as an 
     industrial insecticide because of this composition. Tobacco 
     use is considered the number 1 preventable cause of death in 
     the world. On average, tobacco users live 35 years less than 
     non-tobacco users.

  I go on to quote:

       Tobacco has been found to cause a multitude of cancer 
     types, whether it is smoked or used in a smokeless fashion. 
     Tobacco is the number one cause of cardiovascular disease 
     leading to heart attack and strokes. Emphysema, chronic 
     bronchitis, and many other diseases are a consequence.
       When I care for patients, I expect them to be involved in 
     the healing process, no matter what disease they are 
     afflicted by. If they continue to smoke, they do not want to 
     improve their health. Because of this, they can either 
     discontinue tobacco and continue under my care, or find 
     another health care provider.
       Any tobacco user followed in our clinic will be given the 
     opportunity for tobacco cessation (quitting the habit).

  They work with them on that.

       Tobacco users must discontinue tobacco use within 2 weeks 
     of the initial consultation.

  I ask unanimous consent that the entire contract be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                             Tobacco Policy

                      (By Philip C. McMahill M.D.)

       Tobacco is a dangerous substance. It contains 50 
     carcinogens (cancer causing substances) and is a Group A 
     Carcinogen in the same class as asbestos and radon. It has 
     many toxic substances besides cancer causing agents; among 
     these are insecticides which are used on the tobacco plant. 
     In some parts of the country, tobacco is used as an 
     industrial insecticide because of this composition. Tobacco 
     use is considered the number 1 preventable cause of death in 
     the world. On average tobacco users live 35 years less than 
     non tobacco users.
       Tobacco has been found to cause a multitude of cancer 
     types, whether it is smoked or used in a smokeless fashion. 
     Tobacco is the number one cause of cardiovascular disease 
     leading to heart attacks and strokes. Emphysema, chronic 
     bronchitis, and many other diseases are a consequence.
       When I care for patients, I expect them to be involved in 
     the healing process, no matter what disease they are 
     afflicted by. If they continue to smoke, they do not want to 
     improve their health. Because of this, they can either 
     discontinue tobacco and continue under my care, or find 
     another health care provider.
       Any tobacco user followed in our clinic will be given the 
     opportunity for tobacco cessation (quitting the habit). 
     Tobacco users must discontinue tobacco use within 2 weeks of 
     the initial consultation.
       Random urine nicotine testing is used to monitor patients. 
     If a patient is positive on 3 urine nicotines, they must find 
     another health care provider. If someone refuses nicotine 
     testing on any given day, that counts as a positive urine 
     nicotine. If a patient has a positive urine test and is on 
     treatment, the treatment will be delayed for one week. Do not 
     use nicotine products, such as patches or gum that may cause 
     a positive urine test.

       Patient Signature
       Date

  Mr. ENZI. Madam President, I did notice that in the last couple of 
weeks, a Federal appeals court has even looked at a landmark ruling 
that found that the Nation's top tobacco companies were guilty of 
racketeering and fraud for deceiving the public about the dangers of 
smoking. A three-judge panel of U.S. courts of appeals in Washington 
unanimously upheld requirements that manufacturers change the way they 
market cigarettes. The requirements, which have been on hold pending 
appeal, would ban labels such as low tar, light, ultra light, or mild, 
since such cigarettes have been found to be no safer than the others. 
That is one of the requirements in this bill--that they cannot use that 
kind of false advertising.
  I wish to share some facts with you. The Senator from Connecticut 
shared some with you. These are from the Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention. Among current U.S. adult smokers, 70 percent report 
they want to quit completely. In 2006, an estimated 19.2 million adult 
smokers had stopped smoking for at least 1 day during the preceding 12 
months because they were trying to quit. That is more than 44 percent 
of the smokers. Think about it--70 percent of smokers want to quit, and 
44 percent of them are trying each year. Unfortunately, not enough of 
them succeed. I know what a terribly addictive thing it is. I watched 
my parents deal with it. The numbers are even more shocking when we 
consider youth smokers. Nearly one in five young people smokes, but 
more than 54 percent of current high school smokers in the United 
States tried to quit smoking during the preceding year.
  We need to get people to stop smoking or, better yet, never start. I 
support incentives to quit smoking--for example, offering incentives to 
lower health insurance premiums for those who stop smoking or, better 
yet, who never start. That becomes a continuing cost to us. The cost of 
health care is out of control. There seems to be support in the context 
of health care reform.
  Full, fair, and open debate is critical to the democratic process. I 
am pleased to have the opportunity this week to offer amendments to 
this bill to help lessen the toll tobacco takes on our society. Senator 
Dodd mentioned the committee action. We have a committee that works a 
little differently from some of the others. We look at that opportunity 
of the committee process to see what the key concerns are and to see 
how they can be incorporated into making a better bill. That is what 
Congress is about. That is why we have 100 people here and 435 on the 
other end of the building, so that we get a lot of backgrounds, 
opinions, and ideas, so that can avoid unintended consequences and 
tighten up processes so that what we are trying to do can actually get 
done.
  I appreciate the way this bill has been worked on. One of the things 
we did, of course, was leave about six amendments to be worked on in 
the interim, before we actually get to amendments on this bill. I am 
hopeful those can be worked out so they will tighten up the bill a 
little bit more.
  This Congress does have a unique opportunity to have an impact on 
smoking and health consequences. My record is clear when it comes to 
tobacco. I am no friend of big tobacco. I have never taken a dime of 
tobacco company money for my campaigns, and I don't intend to start 
now. I have ideas to make a real impact on the public health and win 
the war on tobacco.
  I thank the Senator and all those on the other side of the aisle for 
the serious consideration they are giving the bill and the opportunity 
now to have the floor debate. I am hoping we will stick to germane 
issues so that it will stay a tobacco bill. That is the only way we 
will actually reach a conclusion on it.
  I hope the ideas presented with the goal of making this a better bill 
will get serious consideration. I am sure they will. I encourage people 
to bring those ideas forward and, if they will, talk to us a little bit 
before they put them in to see if they are already under consideration 
as opposed to already in the bill.
  I am thankful for this opportunity. I am glad that the bill is being 
brought to the floor and that it went through the regular process. I 
hope something good can come out of this. We need to make sure what we 
are doing will stop smoking.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Connecticut is recognized.
  Mr. DODD. Madam President, I thank my colleague from Wyoming for his 
eloquent comments and his commitment to the issue.
  Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

[[Page S5922]]

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DODD. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. DODD. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that during 
today's session the recess time for the caucus luncheon period and any 
period of morning business be counted postcloture.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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