[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Pages 11849-11850]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              E-CIGARETTES

  Mr. NELSON. Madam President, I wish to show us these innocent-looking 
small bottles with an eye dropper of three types of liquid. This is 
liquid nicotine. The eye droppers are used to put that into the 
cartridges for electronic cigarettes, otherwise known as e-cigarettes. 
There are some versions that look the size of a cigarette that already 
have the liquid nicotine contained in them, but there are many flavors 
that are otherwise contained in these kinds of dispensers.

[[Page 11850]]

  When our commerce committee had a hearing on e-cigarettes, I asked 
the question: Are these childproof? The answer was: No.
  I asked the question: If these are not childproof, is the 
concentration of nicotine in these sufficient that it could harm a 
child? The answer was: Yes.
  As a matter of fact, there are varying degrees of concentration of 
liquid nicotine in these bottles, but some of them are as concentrated 
as 540 milligrams of liquid nicotine. If a small child got into these 
bottles, which are not childproof, and ingested this, that child would 
either be deathly ill or dead. If that child gets into it and it spills 
on that child, it will be absorbed through the skin and likewise, 
according to the concentration of the nicotine, the child will be very 
ill.
  Obviously, when we had the commerce committee hearing on e-
cigarettes, I asked the question--once they said these are not 
childproof--of the e-cigarette industry, which was represented at the 
witness panel: Do you have any objection? They said: No.
  So last Thursday a group of Senators filed a bill that will require 
the Consumer Product Safety Commission to start and adopt a rule that 
will cause these to be sold in childproof containers. This is a no-
brainer. This is common sense.
  Why hasn't it been addressed before? It defies common sense because 
of the danger to children. Already, in this year 2014, between January 
and the end of May, there were almost 2,000 calls for liquid nicotine 
poisoning to the poison centers around the country--just in that 5-
month period. We already have a recorded incident 1 year ago or so of 
one child having been killed. This ought to be not only a no-brainer, 
it ought to fly through this Congress and get the CPSC to get on with 
regulating it administratively.
  What is another reason? Well, look what this one is called, with a 
picture, Banana; this one is Naked Peach; this one is Juice E Juice. 
Appealing to kids? How about Banana Split or Cotton Candy or Kool-Laid 
Grape or Skittles or Sweet Tart or Gummi Bear or Fruity Loops or Rocket 
Pop or Hawaiian Punch? That is what is going on.
  There happens to be a part of government that is supposed to try to 
protect the public from danger. This is obviously something that ought 
to be done.
  There is a larger question, and that is the question of e-cigarettes. 
That is not the subject of this legislation. With all due haste, the 
CPSC--and, oh, by the way, why the CPSC instead of the Food and Drug 
Administration? Because the Consumer Product Safety Commission is 
vested with the authority to create container packaging and safety 
packaging. So if Tylenol is childproof in its packaging, if Drano is, 
if any other obvious item that you want to childproof is, then we best 
have this done and done fast. The Consumer Product Safety Commission is 
the way to do it.
  I hope by the attention this received in the hearing 2 or 3 weeks 
ago, plus the fact of a group of Senators now coming together and 
filing this legislation, the CPSC isn't going to wait around until we 
pass it, but it will get on with the problem.
  There is a larger question. This is on an additional but related 
issue, and that is the advisability of e-cigarettes and the way they 
are being marketed.
  As a matter of fact, on e-cigarettes there is some packaging where it 
looks like a white cigarette. Guess what is happening. It is now like 
we have seen this movie before. This is a rerun of what went on 20 
years ago when, finally, because of tobacco products, the advertising 
on television and radio was banned by law because it was geared at 
getting young people hooked on tobacco. There were very attractive 
young models who were shown smoking cigarettes, wonderfully beautiful 
backgrounds on the television and the beautiful music on radio, and, 
indeed, there were advertisements with cartoons aimed at what? It came 
out in all of the tobacco wars that these were aimed at young people, 
getting them hooked on tobacco so they would be lifelong tobacco 
smokers and it would be tough to kick the habit. So a couple of decades 
ago we went through that fight and we banned the television and radio 
advertising of tobacco.
  Well, guess what is happening now--beautiful and handsome models with 
the e-cigarette, cartoons aimed at young people with e-cigarettes. So 
another question this Senate should consider is banning the advertising 
that is obviously directed at young people to try to get them hooked on 
this nicotine product so that it is so hard for them to get off of the 
nicotine addiction over the course of time.
  I can tell you that the commerce committee is going to stay on this, 
and the first thing we can do is give a little sweet talk to the CPSC 
to get moving on the regulatory process of a rule to require the 
childproof packaging of this liquid nicotine. The next thing down the 
road is to stop the advertising that is being aimed directly at young 
people on the whole issue of electronic cigarettes.
  I yield the floor and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. NELSON. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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