[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 7 (Monday, February 19, 1996)]
[Pages 273-277]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
<R04>
Remarks in a Roundtable Discussion on Tobacco Use Prevention and an
Exchange With Reporters
February 12, 1996
[Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala
introduced the President and thanked him for his leadership on the issue
of tobacco and children.]
The President. I'm looking forward to it. First of all, let me
welcome all of you here to the White House and to the Oval Office.
As I'm sure you know, this is an issue that has concerned me for
some time, and there are real reasons for it. Three thousand young
people start smoking every day, even though it's illegal for them to do
so. A thousand will have their lives shortened because of it. Smoking
tobacco is the largest single cause of preventable death in the United
States
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every year. And while there are things the Government can do about it,
we need your help.
When I gave my State of the Union Address I said that our country
has seven great challenges for the future, but the first and most
important is to strengthen our families and give all of our children
back their childhood. In the case of teen smoking, the Food and Drug
Administration is reviewing about 700,000 comments from citizens before
deciding what to do to discourage the marketing, the advertising, the
sales of cigarettes to children more. We just promulgated what it called
the Synar regulation, named in honor of the late Congressman from
Oklahoma, Mike Synar, which requires States to take stronger stands to
discourage teen smoking and to set a goal of reducing teen smoking by
about 80 percent over the next several years.
So we're working hard, but we know we've got to have your help. We
know this has got to be a partnership. I think the most important thing
I've learned as President is that while Government can't solve all of
our problems, we have no business going back to a time when everybody's
left to fend for themselves. These are things we have to do together.
And I want to compliment the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and, of
course, the National PTA--thank you so much--and the American Cancer
Society and all of those who are going to create this National Center
for Tobacco-Free Kids.
This center is sort of a symbol of how I think America ought to
work, because it will involve the best national experts but, more
importantly, community groups, all kinds of grassroots groups of people
working together to try to deal with this issue.
And I just want to thank you and say that I hope that your presence
here today and your work and your concern, especially the young people,
will be a symbol that will, through the help of all these fine people
here covering us, go out across America so that others will do that.
I mean, the ultimate issue here is to protect our children more and
to give more control of family life back to parents. I don't think many
parents want their children to start smoking. And parents, not
advertising, should control that. Children should have a chance to learn
within the family unit, within the school, within the churches, within
the community, without being bombarded by all kinds of destructive
messages that will knock them off track. So ultimately, this is an
effort that will give some dimension of real control and values back to
the family, which is what we want to do.
Well, I'd like to spend the rest of the time listening to you. We
could start--Donna, how should we do it?
[Two participants described doing a survey in their neighborhood on
tobacco sales to underage children, and they related their experiences
of how easy it was to buy cigarettes.]
The President. Out of the places you went, how many carded you and
how many sold?
[The young people said that about 60 percent of merchants sold them
tobacco. One of the participants said she had surveyed 50 stores.]
The President. Fifty?
Q. Yes.
The President. Wow.
[The young people said that they tried 12 vending machines and got
cigarettes from 11 of them. Secretary Shalala then introduced the
president of the PTA at Robinson High School who discussed their efforts
to have vending machines removed.]
The President. Let me say, all of you are from Virginia. Hasn't the
Virginia--isn't there a new proposal before the Virginia legislature to
take much stronger positions. And I--all I know is what I've read about
them, but it appeared to me that they were really moving in the right
direction.
Q. One is, as far as carding.
The President. What does it do?
Q. You will have to picture photo I.D. in order to purchase. That
one will work. But for all intents and purposes, right now I'm afraid
that the vending machine one is getting watered down.
The President. In Virginia when you get a driver's license, do they
put your picture on it?
Q. Yes, sir.
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[The participants added that they doubted that the Virginia law would do
away with vending machines.]
The President. Well, one of the proposals that we are considering,
that's being considered here by the FDA, is the question of whether
there should be no vending machines in any place that children have
access to. If you're going to have vending machines, maybe they should
just be where only adults can come in.
[A participant said that advertising for tobacco seems to be increasing
and especially in African-American and Latin-American neighborhoods. He
concluded that there were two anti-tobacco initiatives before the City
Council in the District of Columbia and asked for the President's help
in getting them passed.]
The President I didn't know that. Thank you for telling that. I'll
see what we can do about it.
Q. You're a resident.
The President. Let me just say one thing about the advertising. I
have said this before, but I want to reiterate. If anyone doubts the
impact of the advertising on the children, you have only to look at the
evidence that children are much more likely to buy the three most
heavily advertised brands than adults are. Adults are more likely to
shop, buy generic brands, cut their costs, you know. Kids go right to
the advertised brands. I think it's something like 85 percent of all
cigarettes sold to young people are the three most heavily advertised
brands.
[A participant said that people marketing cigarettes claim to be trying
to get smokers to switch brands, but he believed if the ads were strong
enough to overcome brand loyalty, they were strong enough to convince
children to smoke. Another participant said she thought that
advertisement encouraged peer pressure.]
The President. That's what her letter to me says, ``I'm glad you're
trying to stop teens and other people from smoking. There are already
enough people dying from diseases, and I don't want any more people to
die from diseases. I think these are the diseases you die from, like
lung cancer, throat cancer and other diseases caused by smoking. What
I'm trying to say is, please stop young people and teenagers from
smoking. We are tomorrow's future.'' Good for you. Good luck.
[A participant described being caught smoking by the school security
guard who took their cigarettes and gave them a ticket, resulting in a
visit to the court. Her mother described the Smokeless Saturdays program
in which the principal offers the parents of children caught smoking a
choice between a 3-day suspension or participating in the Smokeless
Saturdays program.]
The President. Let me ask you something. Do the young people in your
school who smoke believe that it's dangerous?
[A participant said that they really don't care.]
The President. They just don't think about it one way or the other--
--
Q. No.
The President. I wanted to ask another question, if I might, because
I want to--this is relevant, I think, to the PTA concerns. Do the
schools in your school district, do they have programs like, for grade
schoolers, which show pictures of lungs in people who have smoked for a
long time and all that? Are those programs in the schools?
[A participant said that in Fairfax County they have created coalitions
of businesses, churches, communities, and schools. She described a
meeting with children and parents where they showed graphic slides and
videos on drug abuse and driving while intoxicated.]
The President. The thing that made the biggest impression on our
daughter when she was in grade school was--and Hillary and I talked to
her about this--the thing that made the biggest impression on her was a
class she had where they just showed them pictures of lungs in
progression.
And you know, she saw all these black lungs, and it made this vivid
impression. And my mother had smoked all her life, practically, since
she was a teenager. She started as a teenager, as most people do. And my
daughter kept telling her what her lungs looked like--this 8-year-old
beating up on her grandmother. And for her 8th birthday,
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my mother stopped smoking. That was her gift to her granddaughter for
her 8th birthday.
But that's why I asked you, because I thought it made a real
impression on the children in the class. That's why I asked you that.
[A participant said that with the high drop-out rate in large cities
many children would miss classroom training but still need to be
reached.]
The President. That sort of thing, I think you've got to do that
early.
[Several participants described school programs, and advocated starting
early and making the children aware of the short-term consequences.]
The President. One of the biggest problems we have in our country,
and one problem I have as President, and one problem everybody who's in
a position of any kind of responsibility has--is dealing with the
tension every human being has between thinking about what's happening
right this second, and what's right to do over the long run. And in the
world we live in the wonderful thing about it is that we get some much
information about so many things so fast, in ways we never did before,
we have so many options we never had before. It's a very exciting time
to be alive, but it's also true that people are just being constantly
bombarded with all these things. And I think when you're a young person
it's just harder to believe that every little thing you do has a
consequence over the long run.
And that's a problem for--it's been a problem throughout human
history. It's part of human nature. But I think it's more difficult for
young people today and particularly on this issue, which is why I think
these groups are so important. All of your efforts really count. And I
think that maybe the young people here, maybe that's the most important
thing of all. I mean, I can't--does the peer pressure seem to work? Do
you think you have any influence over your classmates?
Q. It's worth a try.
Q. Us?
The President. Yes. Do they think you're kind of loony, or do they
think you're doing something good?
[One participant said that they had no friends who smoke but that she
could convince them to quit. Another participant indicated that it is
not that easy.]
The President. To convince people?
[A participant said he tried to find out how people started. He then
started working with elementary school-age children, teaching about the
harmful effects of tobacco products.]
The President. Let me ask a question. Why did you get into this? Why
do you care so much about this?
[The participant said that his godmother died of a smoking-related
illness and that made him decide to stay away from drugs and to try to
help his friends avoid having to deal with what he had to deal with.]
The President. What about you?
[A participant said that she got involved because she found smoking
really disgusting, especially since it kills so many people.]
The President. You were great, all of you. This is very encouraging.
I'll do what I can to support you. We'll keep working on it. We'll do it
together.
1996 Election
Q. Mr. President, can we have your thoughts on the Iowa caucuses
today? This is an historic day, obviously, for the American people. One
specific thought: Did you think a year ago you would be unopposed for
the Democratic Presidential nomination?
The President. I don't know what I thought a year ago. I don't know
if I thought about it. I hope I'll win tonight. [Laughter] That's my
thought on the Iowa caucuses. I hope, as I told--you know, 4 years ago,
there was effectively no campaign in Iowa because Senator Harkin ran
and, as he well should have, he got almost all the votes there. And
today, because there appears to be effectively no race in the Democratic
caucus primary, I don't know how many people will go tonight. But I hope
that the trip over the weekend made an impact. And I believe it did.
I was, frankly, astonished by the size and the enthusiasm of the
crowds and by the response to just a serious discussion of the is-
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sues facing the country and my determination to not let this election
divide the American people and also, not to let the citizens of this
country off the hook by saying, ``Oh, I'm cynical. It doesn't make any
difference.''
Look at these kids. These children here--especially this young lady
who was brave enough to come--[inaudible]--they are a stunning rebuke to
the idea that it does not matter what ordinary citizens do in this
country. It does matter what ordinary people do. These kids wrote a
letter to the President, they get to come in here and talk about it. And
it shows you what people can do if they work together. And so that's
what I think people in Iowa responded to.
I was exuberant about the weekend, I thought it was very good. I
don't know what's going to happen in the Republican caucus. I don't have
any idea. As you all know, the nature of the rules and the size of the
turnout has a lot to do with that. So I really don't have a clue what's
going to happen.
Peace Process in Northern Ireland
Q. Mr. President, are you concerned that the British are no longer
going to deal with Mr. Adams of Sinn Fein?
The President. Well, let me say this, I think that all the parties
are probably assessing and reassessing where they are and what is
necessary to do now, but I intend to do whatever I can on behalf of the
United States to try to restore the cease-fire and try to get the peace
process going again.
I can tell you this: I believe if you let the Catholics and
Protestants in Northern Ireland have a say in this, it wouldn't be
close. They do not want to go back to violence. They want to go forward
to peace, and they expect the people who are representing them to be
disciplined and mature and to peacefully work this out. That's what they
expect to be done. And I just hope and pray it can be done.
And I've been working--actually, I did some work last week before
the cease-fire was broken, and I intend to do some more work this week
on it. We will do everything we can to try to get the process back on
track.
Q. Do you think Gerry Adams can still be trusted after what happened
in the last few days?
The President. I said what I thought about what happened the last
few days. We're going to look at all the evidence. We're going to see
what we know and what we can do, and I'm going to do what I think is
best to try to promote peace there. That's what I'm going to do. And
that's all I can do.
Thank you.
1996 Election
Q. Are you curious about what Republican candidate is going to
emerge?
The President. [Laughter] Well, I expect I'll know something by what
happens in Iowa tonight. At least if the results are clear before
bedtime. I'm just like you; I honestly don't know what's going to
happen. And I have found it's not very fruitful to spend your time
speculating on things over which you have no influence. And I have no
intention of participating in the Republican primary. I'll let them
decide who they want to run.
Q. Do you like watching them fight it out among themselves.
The President. Well, I don't know how to answer that. [Laughter]
Thank you.
Note: The roundtable began at 1:27 p.m. in the Oval Office. In his
remarks, the President referred to Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams.