[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 82 (Wednesday, June 3, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6020-S6023]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      FAMILY SMOKING PREVENTION AND TOBACCO CONTROL ACT--Continued

  Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, basic instinct in humankind directs so 
much attention to the well-being of our children. We do it in various 
ways. Now you see it creeping into better nutrition. We see it in our 
attention to environmental conditions, to global climate change. We see 
it in our attention to deal with violent behavior against children. We 
do whatever we can to protect our kids, to protect them and do whatever 
it takes to do what we can to make sure they grow up healthy, they have 
long lives.
  One of the ways we can be effective is to protect our kids against 
addiction. I use the word deliberately. ``Addiction'' immediately 
conjures up a view of drugs--prescription drugs, prohibited drugs. We 
are not talking about that addiction. I am talking about a serious 
addiction, an addiction to tobacco--to tobacco--that has such a 
devastating effect on the people who smoke and often on those who are 
around the people who smoke.
  We heard from Senator Dodd earlier about what happens from smoking. 
It kills more than 400,000 Americans each and every year. Many of them 
are of younger ages. In addition to the lethal dose, there is that kind 
of attack on health that disables people--emphysema, conditions that 
affect the heart, all kinds of things. We know lung cancer is among the 
most dangerous.
  Senator Durbin, who was a Member of the House at the time, and I 
decided to take up the fight against big tobacco and their powerful 
special interests more than 20 years ago when we wrote the law banning 
smoking on airplanes. We stood up to big tobacco because smoking on 
airplanes was so unhealthful. We learned the dangers of secondhand 
smoke. Many of the people who were cabin attendants were subjected to 
terrible respiratory discomfort and danger.
  As a matter of fact, there was a study that was done, and it said 
even those who never smoked--people who worked in the cabin of the 
airplane--would show nicotine in their body fluids weeks after they had 
worked a trip. That is how pervasive this was. But big tobacco fought 
back. They fought back ferociously. They unleashed their forces. Money 
flowed to protect their addicted clientele and to keep them there. They 
brought phony science and high-paid lobbyists to squash this assault on 
behalf of public health. They had phony experts testify to Congress, up 
here on television, saying unashamedly that there was no evidence that 
secondhand smoke was dangerous, even though they knew in the tobacco 
companies. In the 1930s they learned that nicotine was so addictive and 
that it would continue to help them earn enormous profits. We fought 
back, and we succeeded in banning smoking on airplanes. It was a tough 
fight because of all of the misinformation that the industry spread. 
That then started a smoke-free revolution, and it did change the world 
culture on tobacco.

  Some years later I authored a law that banned smoking in buildings 
that provided services to children, any building that had Federal 
funds. It could have been a library, a clinic, a daycare center; 
whatever it was, there was no smoking allowed in those buildings, 
except if it was in a separate room that ventilated directly to the 
outside. They fought us on that, but the people won. It is as clear to 
me today as it was then that this industry has not earned the trust to 
regulate itself. That is a plea they make, but no one believes they 
mean it.
  Ten years ago, I was able to gather unpublished, internal reports by 
the tobacco industry showing that so-called

[[Page S6021]]

``light'' and ``low-tar'' cigarettes were a poor disguise of the true 
harm that these cigarettes brought. The cigarette makers were seducing 
smokers into thinking that these cigarettes were a healthier choice 
than those previously generally sold.
  Real government oversight was essential to protect the public, 
especially our young, from this deadly product. As we know, since the 
1980s, the tobacco industry has continued to engage in one 
sophisticated marketing campaign after another to get youngsters 
addicted to nicotine--just get them started and they are yours--even 
though selling and marketing cigarettes to children is generally 
against the law. It is our obligation, our responsibility to end the 
recruitment of kids as the next generation of smokers.
  If there was ever any doubt about how effective and real this 
unlawful marketing is, just consider that more than 3 million young 
people--people who are under the age of 18--in our society are smokers. 
What is more, currently 3,500 kids every day try smoking. That, for 
many, is the first step to a life of addiction.
  When I served in the Army, we were given an emergency pack in case we 
got in trouble, in case we were isolated from our units, and the 
emergency pack had some food, including a high-nutrition chocolate bar, 
but it also had four cigarettes in a little sleeve. Everybody got 
cigarettes free, even if you didn't use them before. The temptation to 
use them then was great, and it was right down the addiction alley.
  The legislation we are talking about now that is being debated in 
this Chamber would finally grant some supervision and give a Federal 
agency--the Food and Drug Administration--the authority to regulate the 
tobacco industry. The bill, very simply, would give the FDA 
jurisdiction over the content and the marketing of tobacco products, 
and more explicit warning labels would be required. President Obama 
supports this effort, and it is now our turn and our obligation to 
safeguard families and children by passing this critical bill.
  The legislation would give us more and better information about 
cigarettes. The fact is that we still don't know a cigarette's exact 
contents. That means 40 million Americans--the number of people in this 
country who are addicted to smoking--burn and inhale a product whose 
real ingredients are a mystery. Think about it. We see evidence of the 
fact that these people are typically locked in a vice, a vice so 
embarrassing that they sneak into hallways, they stand outside in a 
huddle in the rain, or in all kinds of weather conditions, whatever 
they are, to get the puffs on cigarettes. I know people who work in the 
Capitol here whom I see frequently going down the hall to get outside 
in inclement weather. Why? To smoke. So we have a situation we can't 
deal with. We have to understand what is in these products. The real 
ingredients are a mystery. To lead so many Americans on a dangerous 
path to a debilitating disease, and often lethal, is not simply wrong, 
it is the definition of negligence. If this legislation is successful, 
the FDA would monitor the content of cigarettes and could call for the 
reduction or removal of the toxic substances.
  FDA oversight would also ensure that cigarette makers don't deceive 
Americans through trick advertising and promotional campaigns. History 
has proven how untrustworthy the tobacco companies are. Just think: 
More than 20 percent of twelfth graders said they have smoked in the 
last 30 days--20 percent of kids in the twelfth grade, typically 16, 
17, 18 years old, have had a cigarette in the last 30 days.
  For years, we have set our sights on getting the FDA to regulate 
cigarettes. Why? To protect our kids. No other government agency is as 
qualified to get this job done. In fact, one out of every five products 
that Americans purchase is regulated by the FDA. They watch over all 
kinds of things. Now they are looking at chemicals that are in products 
that very small children have contact with. The agency currently 
oversees prescription drugs, over-the-counter medicines, and medical 
devices, and it already regulates a number of well-known nicotine 
delivery products, such as the Nicorette gum and the patch.
  For the last 45 years, ever since the Surgeon General's office began 
issuing warnings about cigarettes, big tobacco has used every tactic 
imaginable, including sham organizations, influential lobbyists, and 
powerful lawyers, to avoid public scrutiny. It is time to make big 
tobacco accountable to the public. It is time to make it accountable so 
that we can protect our children from the danger that kills more than 
400,000 Americans every year.
  I, too, was a smoker at one time, until over 30 years ago. Many times 
I thought about quitting, but the temptation to light up was always 
there and overcame any decision that could persuade me to stop from 
lighting up and taking a few drags. What happened? One night after 
dinner my third daughter, who was about 7 or 8--she was in maybe second 
grade--said, Daddy, why are you smoking? I said, well, because it makes 
me feel relaxed. It feels good when I am doing it after I have eaten. 
This little kid looked at me and she said, Daddy, today in school we 
learned that if you smoke, you get a black box in your throat. She was 
7 years old. She said, I love you and I don't want you to have a black 
box in your throat. That convinced me. Within days I had my last 
cigarette.
  I will close with another hideous reminder about the woman who 
appeared in front of one of my committees. She had already had an 
operation on her esophagus, I think, but in her throat, she actually 
had a hole in her throat. She admitted that despite the fact that she 
had essentially lost her voice box, she still smoked through the hole 
in her throat. She said her doctor got angry with her when after this 
serious surgery she was asking for a cigarette. The hold on people is 
almost unbreakable. But we can do our part here in the Senate if we 
pass this bill.
  I ask my colleagues to vote yes on this legislation. It is good for 
your constituents, it is good for your families, it is good for 
America's financial well-being. We spend over $100 billion a year as a 
result of premature death and disability from tobacco use.
  With that, I yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. HAGAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Begich). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mrs. HAGAN. Mr. President, we are going to hear a lot this week about 
how the Family Smoking Prevention and Smoking Control Act is going to 
prevent youth from taking up smoking. I fully support that goal. I 
think all of us do. I don't think anybody here believes that smoking 
among our Nation's youth isn't a problem. Every day, over 3,500 youth 
in our country try their first cigarette and another thousand become 
regular daily smokers. Clearly, we must do something to deter our 
children from smoking.
  As I mentioned yesterday, this bill before us goes much further than 
that. It grants the FDA extremely broad authority to take action that 
it considers to be in the interest of public health. I reiterate that 
is an interesting standard--especially when you consider that 
cigarettes, when used as intended, are a dangerous, unhealthy product. 
This bill puts the FDA in an impossible situation.
  My colleague from North Carolina, Senator Burr, is offering a 
sensible alternative to the bill before us that focuses on reducing 
tobacco use among our Nation's youth. I joined Senator Burr in 
supporting this alternative because I believe it balances the need to 
curb teenage smoking while protecting tobacco farmers and, in turn, 
North Carolina's families. Similar to the Family Smoking Prevention and 
Tobacco Control Act, this alternative would be financed through user 
fees assessed on tobacco manufacturers.
  While the bill before us today would place additional burdens on the 
already overtaxed FDA, our alternative instead creates the Tobacco 
Regulatory Agency--a Federal agency within the Department of Health and 
Human Services dedicated solely to regulating the manufacture, 
marketing, and use of tobacco products.
  Unlike the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, this 
alternative bill has a smoking-cessation

[[Page S6022]]

component which would require the administrator to develop 
recommendations to reduce smoking and reduce the harm of tobacco use.
  The alternative contains language similar to the amendment I offered 
in the committee to ensure that the technology is available to meet the 
standards and that the Tobacco Regulatory Agency does not have the 
authority to regulate tobacco growers. In fact, the alternative 
explicitly states that the new Tobacco Regulatory Agency would not have 
authority over the actual tobacco growers and tobacco cooperatives. It 
takes this protection one step further by prohibiting any changes to 
traditional farming practices, including standard cultivation 
practices, the curing process, seed composition, tobacco type, 
fertilization, soil, record keeping, or any other requirement affecting 
farming practices.
  The alternative also prescribes requirements for cigarette and 
smokeless tobacco labels and warnings, and it requires the 
administrator of the new agency to publicly disclose the ingredients in 
each brand of tobacco.
  Finally, as I mentioned, this alternative requires some thoughtful 
changes that will reduce teen smoking rates. It prohibits fruits and 
candy branding on cigarettes. None of us want that. It also reduces the 
utilization of any character cartoons in advertisements. It prohibits 
providing any free samples, sponsoring sports events, and any 
advertising on television and radio in order to sell cigarettes. Stiff 
penalties are imposed for distributing tobacco products to minors and 
for minors possessing tobacco products.

  Again, I think this alternative offers a better approach to curb teen 
smoking. It helps adults to quit smoking, and it ensures that the 
Federal Government can adequately regulate tobacco and protect the 
12,000 tobacco farmers and 65,700 employees in tobacco-related 
industries in North Carolina.
  Finally, I say this to my colleagues. I have no doubt they would view 
an amendment to this bill supported by two Senators from North Carolina 
with suspicion. But if they will look at the amendment that Senator 
Burr has offered, I think they will agree this is a serious amendment 
that actually addresses the issues with which this underlying bill 
purports to deal. I hope my colleagues will consider the Burr amendment 
with an open mind.
  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, I am here to add my voice to 
the strong bipartisan support for the bill before us today. I also 
thank Senator Ted Kennedy for his tireless effort to shepherd its 
success. While this legislation is long overdue, I think it is 
especially timely and appropriate that we have the opportunity to see 
it signed into law in the midst of a historic health reform debate.
  We have known for some time that one of the biggest obstacles we face 
in reforming our broken health care system is the nearly exponential 
rise in health care costs. An enormous contributor to these costs is 
the price tag for treating chronic disease and preventable illness, 
particularly the pulmonary disorders and throat and lung cancer that 
come with smoking.
  What better way to help lower health care costs and promote wellness 
and prevention than by going after the No. 1 cause of preventable death 
and disease in this country? Coloradans currently pay taxes to cover 
over $1 billion per year in smoking and tobacco-driven costs. That is 
nearly $600 per Colorado household.
  As we are struggling to find ways to pay for a revamped health care 
system that provides quality care to everyone who needs it, let's have 
part of that pay-for be this bill by preventing millions of American 
children and teens from becoming addicted to a product that is really a 
one-way ticket to disease, cancer, and many times death.
  While I have been disturbed by so many of the sobering facts, 
figures, and statistics we have heard throughout this debate, there is 
one in particular that I think really drives home the underlying issue 
here: 90 percent of current adult smokers were addicted by the age of 
18.
  That means that, in order to maintain its bottom line, big tobacco 
isn't finding new customers in our age range. The only way for them to 
continue making big profits is to target what they have, in the past, 
deemed ``their base'': our children. As a father, it terrifies me to 
know that tobacco companies view our children as ``replacement 
smokers.''
  As tobacco companies continue to find more creative ways to get kids 
to join their customer base through deceptive marketing and other 
tactics, parents must continue to educate their children about the 
dangers of smoking. But we can give them a helping hand by ensuring 
that youth magazines aren't full of colorful ads tailored specifically 
to make them the new generation of smokers--tailored to encourage 
addiction. We can help them by ensuring that the convenience store 
across the street from their kids' high school doesn't have an 
advertised ``back-to-school'' special on newly introduced fruit-
flavored tobacco products, displayed prominently next to their shelves 
of gum and candy products. As we have heard from my colleagues who have 
spoken before me, practices like these have been documented, and they 
are horribly unacceptable.
  In addition to many important tools this legislation would give to 
the FDA to protect children and consumers, this bill will allow the 
agency to restrict tobacco advertising, especially to children; prevent 
sales to youth; improve and strengthen warning labels on products; 
prevent misleading marketing and misrepresentation; regulate and remove 
many of the hazardous chemicals and ingredients used to make tobacco 
products more addictive--and many times more deadly.
  Because this bill is, at its root, about people, I would like to 
share the story of a Coloradan who knew firsthand the effects of 
cigarette smoke and spent many years fighting to keep kids safe.
  First diagnosed with throat cancer in 2002, David Hughes was a 
musician, Colorado outdoorsman and cave explorer, father, and husband. 
Having begun his smoking habit as a teenager, he quit cigarettes upon 
diagnosis and bravely endured 70 radiation treatments, chemotherapy, 
and successful surgery. Feeling as if he had a new lease on life, David 
went back to school and started a woodworking business, spent even more 
time with his wife Kathy and son Nathan, and volunteered with the 
Loveland Alliance on Smoking and Health to fight for smoke-free air for 
his family and community. He worked especially hard to keep cigarettes 
out of the hands of children, knowing firsthand the lifelong addiction 
that can come from being exposed to tobacco early on.
  Unfortunately, 4 years later, the cancer returned--this time to his 
lungs--eventually taking his life on June 4, 2008, but not without a 
spirited fight fueled by an infectiously positive attitude and love for 
his family and friends.
  David's wife Kathy has called 2009 her and Nathan's year of 
``adventurous recovery.'' I hope getting this bill signed into law will 
help, if even in just a small way, give them the energy to continue 
their adventure and give them the peace of mind of knowing that their 
father and husband's powerful advocacy on behalf of this cause will 
help prevent other families from experiencing similar heartache and 
loss.
  David's story underscores the importance of this legislation to real 
people and the affect it can have on real lives.
  The time to act on this bill is now. The idea for the Family Smoking 
Prevention and Tobacco Control Act has been around for over a decade, 
and the provisions contained in this version have been debated and 
polished by countless capable policymakers. The FDA is the only agency 
that combines the scientific know-how and regulatory authority to get 
the job done. This bill is fiscally responsible and fully paid for 
through user fees to tobacco companies.
  Given the current rate of tobacco use, it is estimated that 92,000 
Colorado kids alive in my home State today could ultimately die of 
smoking. While the long-term goal is to shrink this figure to zero, 
let's pass this legislation this week and put a significant dent in 
such an overwhelming and unacceptable number.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the 
quorum call be rescinded.

[[Page S6023]]

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                Amendment No. 1256 to Amendment No. 1247

     (Purpose: To modify provisions relating to Federal employees 
                              retirement)

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, under the previous order, on behalf of 
Senator Lieberman, I call up his amendment, which is at the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from New York [Mr. SChumer], for Mr. Lieberman, 
     for himself, Ms. Collins, Mr. Akaka, and Mr. Voinovich, 
     proposes an amendment numbered 1256 to amendment No. 1247.

  (The amendment is printed in today's Record under ``Text of 
Amendments.'')

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