[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book I)]
[May 20, 1998]
[Pages 812-813]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 812]]


Remarks on Proposed Tobacco Legislation
May 20, 1998

    Thank you very much. First of all, I'd like to thank Tara and Emily. There's really 
nothing much more to say after their presentations. They weren't so 
muted and shy; I think we all got the point. Didn't you think they were 
terrific? Give them another hand. [Applause] I thought they were great.
    I'd like to thank all the Members of Congress who are here. I think 
they were all mentioned except we missed Congressman Borski who is in the first seat. No minister would do that 
in a congregation. [Laughter] Thank you for being here, all of you. 
Thank you, Reverend Jackson. I thank the 
public health advocates who are here. I thank the young people who are 
here, both behind me and a few out there in the audience. I thank the 
parents of our speakers who came and other parents who are here for what 
they have done.
    I can't thank the Vice President enough 
for his longstanding and absolutely passionate, indeed, all-consuming 
interest in this issue. I think it would be fair to say--he talked about 
how we looked at the issue and all the obstacles to it, and I went 
ahead. The people that had the most influence on me were the Vice 
President, the First Lady, and our 
daughter. And that was three--if there were 
300 million on the other side, the three would have a majority. So I 
thank them all, and especially the Vice President, for years and years 
and years of dedicated work on this issue.
    This morning I was thinking that when I was the age of--even younger 
than most of the people here in the audience, most of the children here, 
the biggest public health threat to us was polio. America went to work 
and conquered the disease, and I was actually part of the first group of 
children to be immunized against polio.
    Today, we all know our greatest public health threat to our 
children, and indeed to all Americans, are all the related things that 
can happen to people who are addicted to tobacco. I was a little older 
than most of the children here when the Surgeon General sounded an alarm 
that has grown louder, clearer, and more difficult to ignore every year, 
the warning that smoking kills.
    For a generation, Americans of all ages and walks of life, including 
young people just like those whom we honor here today, have answered 
that alarm by fighting tirelessly to conquer this deadly threat to 
protect the health of our people. In the face of very powerful 
opposition, our Nation has actually won some victories, both large and 
small, requiring all cigarette packages to carry warning labels, 
prohibiting cigarette advertising on the airwaves, banning smoking on 
domestic airline flights. But today, we stand on the verge of passing 
legislation that will do far more than anything we have ever done to 
stop the scourge of youth smoking.
    This week, as all of you know, the Senate is considering historic, 
comprehensive, bipartisan legislation, proposed by Senator 
McCain and Senator Hollings. Over the last few weeks, we have worked very hard with 
Senators in both parties to strengthen this bill, protecting Americans 
from the dangers of secondhand smoke in public buildings, dramatically 
increasing health research, and funding a nationwide advertising 
campaign to tell young people not to smoke, toughening look-back 
surcharges to make reducing youth smoking the tobacco companies' bottom 
line.
    This bill includes a significant price increase to discourage youth 
smoking and affirms the FDA's authority to regulate tobacco products. I 
hope that in the next few days, the Senate will make sure we do 
everything we possibly can, also, to protect tobacco farmers and their 
communities.
    This bill is our best chance to protect the health of our children, 
to keep them from getting hooked on cigarettes ever. It is a good, a 
strong bill. Congress should pass it and pass it now. Let me also say 
that I believe the presence of the young people here and their active 
support of the Tobacco-Free Kids movement is absolutely critical. There 
are still cynics who say, ``Well, this is not the kind of problem that 
requires this sort of solution. After all, nobody forces these people to 
start smoking.'' The young people here wearing their T-shirts, willing 
to look into the eyes of the lawmakers, are a stunning rebuke to that 
kind of cynicism. I thank

[[Page 813]]

them for saying no to tobacco and yes to their own bright futures.
    And I want to tell you that you may well be able to have a bigger 
impact on Capitol Hill, than all the things that we say here in the 
White House, on the remaining undecided voters. Our lawmakers must not 
let this historic opportunity slip away under pressure from big tobacco 
lobbying. I want you to go and see them. I know you're going to Capitol 
Hill. When you're up there, I want you to ask every Member of Congress 
to go home tonight and think about how they can look you in the eye and 
say no to your future.
    We now know from the release of previously classified documents that 
for years the tobacco companies looked on you as, and I quote, ``the 
replacement smokers'' of the 21st century. But here we have more than 
1,000 unique children who cannot be replaced, the scientists, the 
artists, the teachers, the Olympic champions, the engineers, the 
leaders, perhaps a future President in the 21st century. The rest of us 
have an obligation to see that these children and all their counterparts 
in every community in our country have a chance to grow and live to the 
fullest of their God-given abilities.
    That is what this bill is all about. This is more than just another 
bill in the legislature. This is more than a culmination of a historic 
fight between powerful political forces. We have no higher obligation 
than to give the young people we see here today the brightest, best 
future we possible can. That's what this bill is about, and we must pass 
it.
    Thank you, and God bless you.

Note: The President spoke at 10:25 a.m. on the South Lawn at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Tara Lipinski, 1998 Olympic figure 
skating gold medalist; Emily Broxterman, 1997 midwest regional winner, 
Youth Advocate of the Year Award; civil rights leader Rev. Jesse 
Jackson; and the late Luther L. Terry, former Surgeon General.