[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 11872]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      TOBACCO ESCAPES HUGE PENALTY

  (Mr. UDALL of New Mexico asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. President Bush, your Justice Department 
legal team is failing you, and failing you miserably. Tobacco companies 
have bilked the consumer for hundreds of billions of dollars. I am 
proud to say that State attorneys general recovered $215 billion for 
their States. We find out today in The Washington Post the Justice 
Department has given away the ranch. The headline says it all: 
``Tobacco Escapes Huge Penalty.'' Even the tobacco attorneys are 
mystified.
  They said, ``They've gone down from $130 billion to $10 billion with 
absolutely no explanation. It's clear the government has not thought 
through what it's doing.''
  President Bush, there is still time. Call your Attorney General and 
tell him to put on a real case. Otherwise, you are throwing in the 
towel to Big Tobacco.

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