[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book II)]
[November 9, 1996]
[Pages 2105-2106]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 2105]]


The President's Radio Address
November 9, 1996

    Good morning. Today I want to talk with you about what we can do as 
a nation to help parents as they try to raise their children. This week 
the American people came together to say that we are on the right track 
to the 21st century. They said we must continue to make real our vision 
to create an America where we offer opportunity to all, demand 
responsibility from all, and build a stronger American community of all 
Americans where everyone has a role to play.
    At the heart of this mission has been our effort to strengthen 
America's families. This is work I am determined to build upon these 
next 4 years. We will continue to strengthen families by creating 
economic opportunity so that hard-working parents can provide for their 
children. To do that, I ask Congress to join with me to finish the job 
of finally balancing the budget in a way that protects our values. We 
will continue to strengthen families by helping parents to succeed at 
work and at home, by giving families safe streets to walk on and 
communities free from gangs and guns and drugs, and by expanding 
educational opportunity so that literacy is a given and college is 
within reach of all Americans.
    We will continue to strengthen families by helping parents to 
protect their children from bad influences that come from outside the 
home. American parents are working overtime to set good examples only to 
have the full force of popular culture make their work harder. That's 
why we gave parents the V-chip and a television rating system so they 
can keep televised violence and explicit sexuality out of their young 
children's lives. And that's why we'll continue our efforts to help 
parents protect their children from the corrosive, dangerous influences 
of tobacco and alcohol.
    We know the power of tobacco advertising to reach out to children 
every day and to get them hooked on a habit we know is deadly. Every day 
nearly 3,000 young people start to smoke in this country, even though 
it's illegal to sell cigarettes to them. This week we received further 
chilling evidence why we must remain vigilant in our efforts to protect 
our children from tobacco. According to a report released by the Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 5 million Americans under 
the age of 18 who smoke today will eventually die prematurely from 
smoking. The CDC estimates that today's teen smokers will run up an 
estimated $200 billion in projected health care costs from tobacco-
related illnesses. Their premature deaths will cut approximately 64 
million years off the lives of Americans.
    That's why my administration has taken tough, unprecedented action 
to stop advertising and marketing of cigarettes that can persuade 
teenagers to smoke. We're banning tobacco advertising on billboards near 
schools, ending cartoon characters in ads that children will likely see, 
restricting the cigarette machines that make it easier for children to 
illegally buy cigarettes.
    The CDC report shows that when parents, teachers, doctors, and 
government work together we can stop people from smoking. The CDC 
studied two States that have put in place strong antismoking 
initiatives, California and Massachusetts. Both now have smoking rates 
lower than the national average, and both have seen smoking drop 
dramatically--15 percent in California and 20 percent in Massachusetts.
    These reports tell all of us, keep up the fight to protect our 
children's health. It's worth it, and it works. We've worked so hard 
here to warn our children about the dangers of drugs, to tell them drugs 
are illegal, drugs can kill them, drugs can ruin their lives. We've 
worked hard to protect funding for safe and drug-free schools so the 
community can help parents. We must not weaken in this fight to protect 
our children from the dangers of tobacco.
    We also have a duty to protect our families from the consequences of 
alcohol abuse. In the last year alone, 2,200 young people between the 
ages of 15 and 20 died in alcohol-related car crashes. We've worked hard 
to keep our children away from alcohol. Just last month I issued a rule 
telling the States they could lose some of their Federal highway funds 
if they did not make it illegal for anyone under 21 to drive with 
alcohol in their blood--zero tolerance.
    Now the American liquor industry has made a decision that will make 
this hard work even harder. For a half-century now, liquor compa-


[[Page 2106]]

nies have agreed not to advertise their products on television and radio 
for the simple reason that it was the right thing to do. This week, 
however, the liquor industry announced it would break its ban and put 
liquor ads on the air, exposing our children to such ads before they 
know how to handle alcohol or are legally allowed to do so. That is 
simply irresponsible.
    I commend the four major broadcast networks for saying they'll 
continue to honor the ban and keep liquor ads off the air. I urge all 
other broadcasters to follow that example. Parents have a hard enough 
time raising good kids these days, and all of us have a responsibility 
to help them to make those jobs easier, not harder.
    To tobacco companies we should all say, ``Sell your products to 
adults, but draw the line on kids.'' And to liquor companies we should 
say, ``You were right for the last 50 years when you didn't advertise on 
television. You're wrong to change your policy now. This is no time to 
turn back. Get back on the ban.'' That's the best way to protect all our 
families.
    Our goal must be to help parents pass on their values to their 
children, help our children act responsibly, and teach them to take 
charge of their own lives. If we do this, America's days--best days are 
still ahead.
    Thanks for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 5:30 p.m. on November 8 in the Oval 
Office at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on November 9.