[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 668-669]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


          FIRST SURGEON GENERAL'S REPORT ON SMOKING AND HEALTH

  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, on January 11, 1964, 50 years ago this 
week, Dr. Luther Terry released the landmark Surgeon General's report--
the first of its kind--on smoking and health. The report established 
conclusive links between smoking and lung cancer, chronic bronchitis, 
emphysema, coronary heart disease, low fetal birthweight among women 
who smoked during pregnancy, and an overall 70 percent increase in the 
early mortality rate of smokers over nonsmokers. Today I would like to 
acknowledge the invaluable contribution of Dr. Luther in issuing that 
report. I want to applaud the historic, life-saving accomplishments 
that stemmed from it. And yes, I want to call attention to the work we 
have remaining in front of us to end the scourge of tobacco use once 
and for all.
  Mr. President, this 50th anniversary gives us an opportunity to 
reflect on one of the monumental public health successes of our time. 
New research released just last week reports that, from 1964 to 2012, 
at least 8 million premature, smoking-related deaths were prevented. 
That's eight million Americans who otherwise may not have lived long 
enough to see their kids graduate from high school, to meet their 
grandchildren, or to enjoy retirement. In fact, among these 8 million 
people, they lived an extra 20 years, on average.
  Successful tobacco prevention programs have led to dramatic 
reductions in smoking rates. In 1964, about 42 percent of all American 
adults smoked tobacco on a regular basis. By 2012, that number 
plummeted to 18 percent.
  The Surgeon General's report also served as an important catalyst for 
new research at Federal agencies on the effects of smoking--agencies 
including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Substance 
Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the National 
Institutes of Health.
  Thanks to this research, we now know that smoking can damage almost 
every organ in the body; is implicated in at least 18 different types 
of cancer; is a major contributor to heart disease; can cause 
complications with pregnancy and prenatal development; and contributes 
to and exacerbates a host of other medical conditions. We also better 
understand the addictive nature of tobacco, and how to support our 
friends and loved ones who want to quit--because we also know that 7 
out of 10 current smokers want to quit.
  Because the Surgeon General's report brought into the American 
consciousness just how dangerous smoking really is, we have made great 
strides in elevating smoking prevention as a national priority. Thirty 
states, as well as Washington, DC, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin 
Islands, plus hundreds of cities and counties, have enacted strong 
smoke-free laws that include restaurants and bars. At times, the days 
of smoky airplanes and conference rooms seem a blessedly distant 
memory.
  In 1998, I was proud to introduce the first comprehensive, bipartisan 
bill to give the FDA authority to regulate tobacco--the precursor to 
the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which finally 
gave FDA that critical authority in 2009, along with banning candy and 
fruit-flavored cigarettes, and misleading health claims such as 
``light'' and ``low-tar.'' Tobacco companies are now required to 
disclose the contents of tobacco products, and the FDA is empowered to 
require changes in tobacco products. There is perhaps nothing that will 
more significantly amplify our efforts to reduce tobacco use than FDA's 
full implementation of this historic legislation.
  The Affordable Care Act marked another turning point in the fight 
against tobacco, guaranteeing all Americans access to cost-free tobacco 
cessation services, and creating the Prevention and Public Health 
Fund--which has already supported more than $200,000,000 in lifesaving 
tobacco prevention and control work. I am proud of the work I did to 
include those provisions in the health reform law, and I am confident 
that we will continue to see decreases in the rates of smoking for 
years to come as a result.
  Yet even as we celebrate the success of these efforts, we cannot 
forget that our work is not done. In the last 50 years, at least 17.6 
million deaths in this country were attributable to smoking, and 
440,000 lives are claimed by smoking each year. In fact, smoking 
cigarettes kills more Americans than alcohol, car accidents, suicide, 
AIDS, homicide, and illegal drugs combined. Furthermore, more than 
3,000 kids in the United States try their first cigarette every day, 
700 of whom will become daily smokers into adulthood. In total, this 
results in more than 250,000 new underage daily smokers in the U.S. 
annually. The numbers are clear: the battle against the harm caused by 
tobacco use is far from over, and we need to do more to protect 
vulnerable youth from becoming addicted to tobacco.
  With these remaining challenges in front of us, it's never been more 
important that we continue to make strides in tobacco prevention 
through innovative approaches, bold policies and programs, and a 
strengthened and sustained investment in public health. Today, in both 
the public and private sectors, we are continuing to make progress by 
expanding the number of smoke-free environments, supporting cutting-
edge research on the effects of smoking, cracking down on unethical

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marketing practices, and using technology and social media to help 
people quit smoking. Tobacco prevention simply must remain a top public 
health priority.
  As we reflect on these accomplishments on this 50th anniversary of 
the first Surgeon General's report on smoking and health, I urge my 
colleagues to continue this fight, so that 50 years hence, Americans 
will be able to look back on a full century of amazing progress in the 
fight against smoking and tobacco-related illnesses.

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