[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 107 (Thursday, June 23, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3103-S3104]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                    E-cigarettes and Vaping Products

  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, if you look at the marketing plan of Big 
Tobacco in America over the last half-century, it is very obvious: 
Tobacco companies sell an addictive product. There is a chemical 
included in the tobacco--nicotine--which is highly addictive. To be 
successful, they have to convince people to take up smoking, even 
though it is dangerous to their health and is a product that is 
difficult to quit. How do they achieve that goal? They prey on 
children, and they always have. Kids start smoking at an early age, and 
if the tobacco companies have their way, it leads to an addiction for a 
lifetime--a compromise on a person's health and even their death.
  Over the years, I have done battle with Big Tobacco. The first, I 
guess, exchange was over banning smoking on airplanes. It seems so long 
ago, but we were successful, and we really changed the national 
conversation on tobacco. More and more people became sensitive to the 
fact that tobacco companies were, in fact, exploiting our children, 
addicting them to their product, and steps were taken at every level--
local, State, and Federal--to stop that from happening, and it worked. 
The number of children in America who are addicted to tobacco-related 
products began to decline precipitously.
  Big Tobacco was in a panic. They were losing their market share. Kids 
weren't taking up tobacco smoking the way they had in the past, and so 
they devised and invented new products. The most obvious one, I want to 
address this morning: e-cigarettes, vaping.
  The nicotine inside these vaping devices is the same nicotine as in 
the tobacco cigarette, and it is just as addictive. Where have these 
companies directed their marketing? To children. Once again, to 
children.
  We believe that 2 million or more children in America are currently 
using vaping products and e-cigarettes. Many of them believe that they 
are harmless, that they cause no damage to you from a health viewpoint. 
These children are wrong.
  The Agency that is responsible for regulating this product--vaping 
products, e-cigarettes--is the Food and Drug Administration. They have 
written a sad and sorry record when it comes to regulation of this 
deadly product.
  Over the years, we have begged them, pleaded with them, argued with 
them over why they didn't show more leadership in banning this product 
from the shelves across America because so many children were becoming 
addicted. It reached the point where a Federal court--after years of 
delay by the Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. District Court for 
the District of Maryland ordered the Food and Drug Administration to 
finally begin regulating these addictive, kid-friendly vaping products, 
giving a deadline of September 9, 2021, to finalize review of e-
cigarette applications.

[[Page S3104]]

  You see, the law requires the company to prove that the product is 
not dangerous to the public health before it can be marketed. The FDA 
really dropped its guard and allowed them to sell the product without 
that proof, and it took a Federal court setting a deadline to get the 
FDA back into the business of regulating this deadly product that was 
addicting millions of children across America.
  I have had my ups and downs with the Food and Drug Administration 
over this issue. I think they could have been much more aggressive. 
They could have protected more children. But, unfortunately, they did 
not. During the entire Trump administration, we backpedaled, came up 
with excuses, did nothing, and so vaping products became more prolific 
across America, and more children became addicted.
  Now we have a new head of the FDA, Dr. Califf. We had our back-and-
forth exchanges over this issue, and I made it very clear to him that 
there was no possible explanation or justification for not regulating 
this product when the lives and health of so many children were at 
stake. As I said, we had our good days and bad days in that exchange.
  I am happy to report that the Food and Drug Administration has 
announced this morning a dramatic, historic step forward to protect the 
children across America from e-cigarette and vaping products. They are 
finally--finally, the FDA is starting actions to remove from the 
shelves products produced by the JUUL company--J-U-U-L, JUUL company--
that, in fact, endanger our children. This is long overdue.
  You won't be surprised to learn that Big Tobacco has a major 
investment in these companies. They believe this is the future, their 
new product that they can addict children with--the nicotine--and hook 
them, perhaps for life, on their products.
  The Food and Drug Administration has taken a bold step today. It is 
going to be a battle royal in court--you can just bet on it--but 
finally they have stood up and said they are ready and prepared for the 
battle. I want to join them in that effort.

  I also want to say that taking these products off the shelves across 
America will invite the possibility of contraband or black market 
sales. We are calling on all those entities which could supply those 
black market products, including internet sources, to stand up for 
children across America and join the FDA in stopping the sale of these 
products.
  We estimated that if the Food and Drug Administration did not take 
action to do this today, did not initiate this effort to stop the sale 
of this product, we know more children would be addicted. As many as 
750,000 to a million children have started since the FDA defied a court 
deadline in September. That just gives you an idea of the reach of this 
product and how serious it is.
  If you don't know the story behind e-cigarettes and vaping, ask a 
high school student in America. If that doesn't work, ask their parents 
when they discover that their kids are addicted to these products. They 
are innocuous-looking little delivery systems that look like they 
belong in a computer, while they end up damaging the health of children 
and people across the United States.
  When I spoke to Dr. Califf this morning and he told me about this 
historic announcement by the Food and Drug Administration, he made it 
clear that tobacco and smoking and nicotine products were a major 
threat to the health of children across this country and to Americans. 
Tobacco regulation, as he noted, is a major step forward in reducing 
the number of cancer deaths in America and heart disease. It is still a 
problem. It is still a challenge. And Big Tobacco and their new Big 
Vaping allies are determined to once again get their hooks in our kids 
at an early age.
  I am heartened by this decision by the Food and Drug Administration. 
They are in for a legal battle, for sure, but it is worth the effort.
  In the end, make sure that you come down on the side of children when 
we are talking about tobacco and nicotine. It is an issue that I have 
been involved in for years. I see the Senator from Oregon on the floor, 
and I know that he was involved in the House of Representatives and in 
the Senate in the same battle. But our efforts against vaping and e-
cigarettes are going to mean that children have a healthier life and 
better future.
  I commend the Food and Drug Administration for this decision removing 
JUUL products from the shelves of America, and I hope we can do more.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority whip.
  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that we begin 
the vote scheduled for 11 a.m. this morning.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.