    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book I)]
    [May 7, 1996]
    [Pages 695-696]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Teleconference Remarks on Kick Butts Day From Woodbridge,
    New Jersey
    May 7, 1996

    [The President's remarks were joined in progress.]

        The President. ----And we have proposed an FDA regulation to crack
    down on--[inaudible]. We've proposed ways to make it harder for children
    and for teenagers to buy cigarettes by reducing their access to vending
    machines and free samples. But we also need people who are--
    [inaudible]--be more rigorous. We just spoke to three young people here
    who said they had no trouble at all buying cigarettes. Two were 16 and
    one was 13, and they said the overall success rate was something like 74
    percent for the students in the middle and high schools who--
    [inaudible]--to buy cigarettes. So we're going to have to work on that.
        I just want to say that I believe that this is a problem we can
    solve if we work together, if we see young people like these young
    people here working with their parents, their schools, their communities
    to fight against the lure and the availability of smoking for teenagers.
    And we're going to do what we can at the national level to do our part
    as well.
        Mark Green, I want to especially thank you for your role in making
    today happen and for being a critical national leader on this issue; for
    your successful campaign to ban cigarette machines in New York City in
    1990; to your leadership in organizing this national effort. You've
    really been a pioneer, and we're very grateful to you. And I thought you
    might like to give a brief overview of this day.
        Can you hear me, Mark? We may have lost him.

    [Mark Green, New York City public advocate, said that Kick Butts Day is
    an opportunity for kids to talk back and fight back against the tobacco
    merchants and that it is a way to discourage kids from starting to
    smoke. He then described the effectiveness of tobacco ads di-

    [[Page 696]]

    rected at children and praised Kick Butts Day as an effort to educate
    children.]

        The President. Thank you very much, Mark. And I want to say again
    how much I appreciate the work you have been doing. You have been out
    there on this issue a long time, and I think the country is coming
    around. And I think that the young people like those who joined me here
    today are going to play a critical role in helping us to defeat this
    problem.
        I would like to ask Governor Chiles of Florida, if he is on the
    phone, to say a few words. He has had a terrific fight in Florida in his
    efforts to protect children from the dangers of smoking, and I honor him
    for his courage and his determination not to back down in the face of
    intense pressure.
        Governor Chiles?

    [Governor Lawton Chiles said he was with a group of PRIDE children from
    several schools, high school students who put on performances with
    antidrug messages. He added that the Florida Legislature had not
    overridden his veto and the State's lawsuit against tobacco companies is
    going forward. The Governor then introduced student Lamont Tinker who
    indicated that smoking is bad for the whole body and that the Kick Butts
    campaign is a good thing.]

        The President. Thank you.
        Governor Chiles. Mr. President, Lamont and myself and all the kids
    at Pine View and all of our PRIDE young people are just delighted to
    have a chance to join with you today.
        The President. Thank you, Governor. And I want to thank that young
    student. He did a terrific job.
        I want to say again to the young people who are listening on this
    call, you can very often have a lot more influence on your peers than
    the rest of us can. And I'll keep working in Washington to do what we
    should be doing at the national level, but you have to do your part in
    making sure that in your community people don't sell cigarettes to
    minors, that we don't have an excessive exposure to advertising directed
    at young people. And you can do it. You can have an impact on your
    classmates not to start smoking, and we can turn this around.
        So if we all work together, we'll be successful. And again, I want
    to thank you all for being a part of this Kick Butts Day and for being a
    part of a commitment to give your generation a healthy and strong
    future.
        God bless you all, and thank you very much.
        Governor Romer, are you on the phone?
        Governor Romer. Yes, I am.
        The President. Would you like to say a word about your efforts in
    Colorado?

    [Governor Roy Romer introduced Colorado, California, and Texas students
    active in the antismoking campaign. He then introduced a student who had
    participated in a Butt Out Day survey of local stores in which she found
    tobacco products in the same aisle with candy and ice cream.]

        Governor Romer. Mr. President, thank you. I just wanted to give you
    a report from the West. I really appreciate your leadership in this
    effort.
        The President. Thank you. And I want to thank Ageno and the other
    students for the work they did on the survey, and for their reports.
        Keep after it. We'll keep working, and we'll keep moving forward. I
    feel very good about this. The degree of the intensity that so many
    young people in America feel about this issue is the most hopeful thing
    about it, and we just all need to stay in there with them and keep
    working. We can whip this thing.
        Thank you all very much, in all the 11 cities on the phone, thank
    you very, very much.

    Note: The President spoke by telephone at 1:25 p.m. from Woodbridge High
    School to participants across the Nation. In his remarks, he referred to
    Ageno Otii, a student at Morey Middle School, Denver, CO. Due to
    telephone difficulties, the President's opening remarks were inaudible,
    and a portion of the remarks could not be verified because the tape was
    incomplete.