[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 16]
[House]
[Pages 22427-22428]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                 CONGRATULATIONS TO CYNTHIA PLASCENCIA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Green) is recognized for 5 minutes.


         Response to Republican's Position on Airline Security

  Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I will respond to my colleague from 
the other side of the aisle. I am not here for that purpose, but just 
to say that it took 3 weeks to get a bill on the floor of the House, 
and we were in a parliamentary situation where we did not have any 
choice but to try to keep it out of conference committee. We lost and 
so it is still in conference committee. It is almost 2 weeks now since 
it went in there.
  I do not necessarily think they all ought to be federalized either, 
but I think we should have moved on it a month ago, and we are not in 
charge. The Republicans are. And it took 3 weeks to get a bill on the 
floor of the House.
  Let me get back to what I really wanted to talk about, Mr. Speaker.
  This last week, last Monday on Veterans' Day, our holiday, I had a 
chance to go to one of our middle schools in my district, Burbank 
Middle School, and I rise to congratulate a young Burbank Middle School 
constituent, Cynthia Plascencia, for winning the Burbank Middle School 
essay contest on why tobacco is not for her. This contest is sponsored 
by the Texas Department of Health; and it is called A Week Without 
Tobacco or, in Spanish, Semana Sin Tobacco. I would like to submit a 
copy of Cynthia's essay for the Record.
  Cynthia's essay gets to the real reasons why she does not smoke and 
why she does not want to let anything come between her and her dreams. 
Cynthia is not swayed by statistics, but I think I need to mention just 
a few because they highlight just what we are up against.

                      Tobacco: Why It's Not for Me

       Tobacco. A pleasant get away for some people, a disgusting 
     habit for others. Now most 13 year old nerds, ahem, I mean, 
     kids would argue that tobacco is bad. I'm cool with that, but 
     when they are asked why it's bad, some would probably 
     respond,'' Uh, I dunno. My dad told me it was.'' At least to

[[Page 22428]]

     me that isn't enough evidence to argue with. But I am not one 
     of those kids who sit there and say, ``Well, 14,000,000 
     people die every day of lung cancer. 7,000,000 die every 
     hour. 100,000 die every minute.'' That may be more evidence, 
     but statistics isn't going to stop a 14 year old from smoking 
     a cigarette. There's more to it than that. Enter my mind, and 
     learn about what goes on in a kid's head; what we think, what 
     we know, what we are. After all, no one knows what a kid 
     thinks, but a kid.
       Maybe the main reason why I don't smoke is because of my 
     family. Everyone thinks they should look out for number 1, 
     but with me it's never been like that. My family has always 
     been my main priority. I needed guidance, it came from my 
     family. I needed family support, it came from my family. I 
     needed money--Well you get the point. My family comes first, 
     and I would never do anything that would disappoint them. By 
     smoking I would make myself feel great for, what, 5 minutes. 
     Then what? Mood swings, head aches, smelly breath, yellow 
     teeth, asthma, and by the time you realize the mistake you've 
     made, it too late. You're at the end of your rope. And I 
     think the biggest devastation for me is seeing my parents 
     mourn the death of their daughter. It pains me to see my 
     family suffer. And for what? A cigarette? It's not worth it.
       My education. A biggie in my life. At times a burden, but 
     it's all right. It's important that I finish my education and 
     get a good career. You see, I come from a big family. I have 
     about 19 cousins. All of my cousins that are older than me, 
     and my brother, haven't succeeded in life. Either they don't 
     have the economic support, or they just don't want to do 
     anything with their lives. There's seven of them. What about 
     the other 11? Who is going to be their role model? In the end 
     I am the one they're going to look up to. And if tobacco ever 
     got involved in my life, I don't think I would be able to 
     carry out my purpose. No one in my family has graduated high 
     school with honor. And I'm not going to let tobacco stop me 
     from being the first.
       Now, I see that I have to be my own person. I'm not my 
     brother. I'm not my father. I am me. If I smoked, I would be 
     less than what I am. And I've never demeaned myself for 
     anyone, or for anything. So, I guess what I'm trying to prove 
     is that tobacco is not going to stop me from the best. And I 
     don't need statistics to tell me that.

                              {time}  1445

  Forty-seven million American adults are smokers. Ninety percent of 
them started smoking before they were 18. Three thousand teenagers will 
become regular smokers each day. So when we finish this day, we can 
count 3,000 more young people that will become smokers. Already this 
year more than 1 million kids, a million children, have become smokers. 
Three hundred forty thousand of those kids will die as a result of 
becoming smokers.
  Mr. Speaker, to look at these numbers, one would think we would never 
be able to win the battle against this dangerous and deadly habit. But 
I believe that Cynthia Plascencia and her friends are smarter than 
that. They know smoking not only causes them to have bad breath, 
stained teeth, and smelly clothes, they know it interferes with them 
achieving their dreams. They know they will not be able to reach for 
the stars if they have to be hooked up to a respirator. They know that 
cancer, heart disease, stroke and asthma will not help them reach their 
goals. They know they will never meet their athletic goals if they 
cannot catch their breath. And they know they will not do well in 
school if they cannot concentrate.
  After reading Cynthia's essay, I believe that teenagers today, when 
armed with the right information, will know better than to start 
smoking.
  We have learned that there are programs that work. Study after study 
have proven that anti-smoking education campaigns significantly reduce 
tobacco use among kids. Community-based programs, public education, 
school-based programs, assistance for smokers who want to quit, 
enforcement of youth access laws are all important components of an 
anti-smoking campaign. But most importantly, we must get to the 
children before they start smoking. We need to work to see that all 
students, like Cynthia Plascencia, know that it is just not worth it to 
start smoking.
  Cynthia is an example of the culture we must create in our children, 
where it is not cool to smoke. Because kids see friends, family, and 
movie stars smoking, they think it is a way to gain social acceptance. 
If that myth disappears, kids will be less tempted to start smoking.
  Everyone must realize that smoking is like crack or heroin, it is 
addictive and it will take a person's life at a much earlier age.
  Mr. Speaker, tomorrow is the Great American Smokeout. Millions of 
Americans will stop smoking for the day. Let us hope that they take it 
a step further and give up smoking for life.

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