[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 81 (Tuesday, June 2, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S5984]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            TOBACCO CONTROL

  Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I rise to speak on the tobacco 
control act. It has been said over and over--and I want to reassert--
that tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the 
United States. It kills more than 400,000 Americans each year. That is 
staggering. We think of all the deaths by automobiles. Here tobacco is 
killing close to half a million people a year. An additional 50,000 a 
year are dying because of exposure to secondhand smoke.
  I will never forget, when I was a kid, flying on airplanes. It was 
back in the days that people smoked on airplanes. I would come off of 
the airplane, and I would smell the sleeve of my coat, and it would be 
total tobacco smoke.
  Breaking it down for my State of Florida: 28,000 people die each year 
in my State alone from tobacco-related illnesses. Despite the risk 
involved with tobacco consumption, 20 percent of Americans--that is 
almost 40 million people--still smoke cigarettes. It is tough to break 
the habit. Fortunately, I have never been a smoker, but I understand 
people who are. One of them is our President. It is tough to break the 
habit. I was with him a lot during the campaign, because he was in my 
State campaigning. He would break out that pack of Nicorette chewing 
gum. He would go to work on that chewing gum. And more power and more 
credit to the President for breaking this habit. It is tough.
  Here is what is sad. Nearly 90 percent of smokers began as children, 
and they got addicted by the time they were adults. It is estimated 
that 3,500 children try cigarettes for the first time each day, and 
each day 1,000 children become regular smokers. It would really be 
something if we could change that. Look at what it would save us in 
health care costs. We are getting ready to mark up in this month, in 
the Finance Committee and in the HELP Committee, the big health reform 
package. Think how much money we could save if we didn't have all of 
these deaths because of tobacco usage. And of course, the health care 
cost resulting from tobacco use amounts to $96 billion a year, more 
than $54 billion of which is borne by the Federal Government. We can 
see that would be staggering, if we had a magic wand and we could stop 
this health care cost to the country. No wonder our health care costs 
are so high, if you look at that and the addiction to alcohol and all 
of the health care costs.
  Yet tobacco products are largely an unregulated product. It basically 
is exempt from requirements to disclose product ingredients and exempt 
from undergoing product testing. On top of that, manufacturers are able 
to advertise and market products to youth without the necessary 
restrictions. At least we have stopped magazine advertisements and TV 
advertisements. But have my colleagues seen this new kind of candy that 
is being marketed that is basically to addict children to nicotine? 
When are we going to put an end to this?
  There are a bunch of us who are cosponsoring this bill to give the 
Food and Drug Administration the authority to regulate the 
manufacturing, marketing, and sale of tobacco products. This 
legislation would try to restrict youth smoking by restricting access 
to tobacco products and prohibit marketing campaigns that specifically 
target children. If this is such a bad thing and a consequence on the 
financial condition of the country, isn't that something we ought to 
stop, targeting children to get them hooked?
  What we find is, so many adults were hooked when they were children. 
This legislation is also going to try to put a bead on consumer safety 
by requiring full disclosure of the product ingredients--that would 
have to be disclosed to the Food and Drug Administration--and for the 
FDA to mandate the elimination of certain ingredients and additives 
that are going to be put out there for consumers. This bill is going to 
try to make sure we get adequate and accurate information out to the 
public by giving the Food and Drug Administration the authority to 
restrict tobacco marketing, to require stronger warning labels and to 
regulate the manufacturers' claims about certain products having fewer 
health risks.
  Tobacco use costs us billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of 
lives. When are we going to learn? Now is the time for us to step up 
and try to help protect the public from dangerous products and the very 
subtle tactics used to get young people addicted to tobacco.
  I sure hope we are going to be able to pass this bill and pass it 
fairly quickly this week.
  I yield the floor.

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