[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000, Book I)]
[March 21, 2000]
[Page 506]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Statement on the Supreme Court's Decision on Tobacco Regulation
March 21, 2000

    Since we took office, Vice President Gore and I have worked hard to 
protect our children from the dangers of tobacco. Five years ago, the 
FDA put forward an important proposal to protect children from tobacco 
by eliminating advertising aimed at children and curbing minors' access 
to tobacco products. Today's Supreme Court opinion, while holding that 
Congress has not given FDA the authority to regulate tobacco products, 
does affirm our view that tobacco use by young people ``poses perhaps 
the single most significant threat to public health in the United 
States.''
    If we are to protect our children from the harms of tobacco, 
Congress must now enact the provisions of the FDA rule. Fortunately, 
those protections have strong bipartisan support: in 1998, 57 Senators 
supported a bill negotiated by Senators Bill Frist and John McCain containing 
provisions comparable to those included in the FDA regulation.
    So today I call upon the leadership of Congress to take up the 
bipartisan Frist-McCain legislation. Nearly 4 million children under the 
age of 18 smoke cigarettes, 3,000 more start each day, and 1,000 will 
have their lives cut short as a result. Every year, more than 400,000 
Americans die of tobacco-related diseases; nearly 80 percent of them 
started smoking as children. Even some in the tobacco industry--after 
fighting the FDA rule in court--now say they support regulation of 
tobacco. I believe that by working together across party lines, we can 
protect our children and save lives.