[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 145 (Wednesday, September 11, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S5431]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              E-Cigarettes

  Mr. President, I would like to change topics for just a moment to 
another important issue that has risen today and I believe is worthy of 
comment.
  Just a few hours ago, the White House, the President, the First Lady, 
the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Commissioner of the 
Food and Drug Administration made a historic announcement when it comes 
to vaping and e-cigarettes.
  They just finished the 2019 National Youth Tobacco Survey. What they 
have found is that in a 1-year period of time, the number of our kids 
who are using these vaping products and e-cigarette products has gone 
up from 20 percent to 27.5 percent. In the previous year, it had gone 
up by 80 percent, and it is continuing to skyrocket because it is an 
addiction which is so popular with children.
  Our kids don't know any better. They are being told by JUUL and other 
companies that somehow this vaping is really a healthy alternative to 
tobacco cigarettes. That has yet to be proven, and the Food and Drug 
Administration challenged JUUL and the other companies to come up with 
clinical proof of that statement before they repeat it again and again 
and again.
  In the course of the last several years, the sale of these e-
cigarettes and vaping products has mushroomed dramatically in the 
United States. Just ask any school principal, teacher, and many 
parents, and they will tell you what is happening. Kids don't 
understand that these flavors they are buying--flavor pods like Unicorn 
Milk, Gummy Bears, Bubble Gum--sound like some sweet candy treat, but 
when you inhale it into your lungs, you run the risk of real damage.
  So far, over 450 American kids have been admitted to hospitals 
because of lung problems from vaping. Six have died. These young people 
do not understand how risky this is.
  Have you walked down the street and seen somebody with a big cloud of 
white smoke over their head as they exhale from one of these vaping 
devices? They don't realize that what they are ingesting in their lungs 
could be deadly.
  The Food and Drug Administration and the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services made an announcement today that is significant. They 
announced that the e-cigarette device and flavors that are now being 
sold are going to be taken off the market, out of retail stores, off of 
online sales. Then, come May of next year, those who want to bring 
these flavors back have to justify them as being consistent with being 
good for public health.
  I ask that the Record note that Senator Murkowski and I have joined 
in a bill we introduced last year, a bill which went after these flavor 
pods. I want to thank her. There weren't a lot of Senators who were 
willing to step up, and she did. On a bipartisan basis, we set out to 
ban any of these flavor pods that were dangerous to children and 
couldn't be proven to be harmless. I thank her for that leadership. I 
believe our legislation and our constant pressure on this 
administration came to this moment today where we are stepping forward.
  We are making it clear in the United States of America that we know 
vaping targets kids. We know these targeted kids are risking their 
health and their life by continuing to use e-cigarettes and vaping. 
With this administration today, on a bipartisan basis, we are banning 
these flavor pods once and for all. We are going to try to move 
forward.
  The last thing I will say is this: I hope the Surgeon General or one 
of the other leaders in public health in our government will step up 
now and notify every school principal in America to call an assembly, 
to gather the parents, and let them know about this danger. There are 5 
million kids in this country vaping today. Let's hope they can stop, 
and stop soon, before they harm themselves.
  I salute the administration for its leadership on this matter. I 
worked on it for quite a few years. It is a good moment in our history 
that we are moving together on a bipartisan basis.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cotton). The Senator from Maine.