[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 38 (Monday, September 22, 1997)]
[Pages 1352-1356]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Announcing a New Initiative To Protect Youth From Tobacco and an 
Exchange With Reporters

September 17, 1997

    The President. Thank you very much. Mr. Vice President, Secretary 
Shalala, Secretary Glickman, thank you for your work. Thank you, Bruce 
Reed. I'd like to say a special word of thanks to David Kessler for the 
work he did--historic work he did at the FDA when he was here. Thank 
you, Dr. Koop, and members of the public community who are here. To 
Members of Congress, the attorneys general, the representatives of 
plaintiffs in the private litigation--and we have one of the injured 
parties here representing all of them--we thank all of them for coming 
today.
    This is a time of prosperity and hope and optimism for America, with 
our economy improving, making progress on our social problems, our 
efforts to lead the world to a more prosperous and peaceful future 
making headway. But I think we all know that this country still has some 
significant challenges, especially in the health field. And if we think 
about what we want America to be like in the 21st century, the health of 
our people and especially the health of our children must be paramount 
in our thinking, in our vision, and in our efforts. That's why, a year 
ago, I worked with the FDA, and we launched this nationwide effort to 
protect our children from the dangers of tobacco by reducing youth 
access to tobacco products, by preventing companies from advertising to 
our children.
    The purpose of the FDA rule was to reduce youth smoking by 50 
percent within 7 years. Earlier this year, a Federal judge in North 
Carolina said that the FDA has the authority to regulate tobacco 
products to protect the health of our children. There have also been 
other examples of litigation progress, as you know, brought by private 
plaintiffs and by the attorneys general. Now, these victories for public 
health drove the tobacco companies to the bargaining table. They 
extracted concessions that would have been literally unthinkable just a 
short time ago.
    I want to say a special word of thanks to the attorneys general and 
the other parties who worked hard to negotiate this settlement. Everyone 
knows we would not be here had it not been for their foresight, their 
determination, and their relentless efforts.
    Now we have this unprecedented opportunity to enact comprehensive 
tobacco legislation, working with all the parties involved, the Members 
of Congress, the attorneys general, the representatives of injured 
parties,

[[Page 1353]]

the public health community, the tobacco farmers, and others. We have 
moved from confrontation and denial and inertia to the brink of action 
on behalf of our children, and that is all to the good.
    Today I want to challenge Congress to build on this historic 
opportunity by passing sweeping tobacco legislation that has one goal in 
mind: the dramatic reduction of teen smoking. In the coming weeks I will 
invite congressional leaders from both parties to the White House to 
launch a bipartisan effort to enact such legislation.
    There are five key elements that must be at the heart of any 
national tobacco legislation. Reducing teen smoking has always been 
America's bottom line. It must be the industry's bottom line. That is 
why I believe the first thing any tobacco legislation must include is a 
comprehensive plan to reduce teen smoking, including tough penalties. 
These penalties should be non-tax-deductible, uncapped, and escalating 
to give the tobacco industry the strongest possible incentive to stop 
targeting children as new customers.
    One of the surest ways of reducing youth smoking is to increase the 
price of cigarettes. Today I call for a combination of industry payments 
and penalties to increase the price of cigarettes by up to a dollar and 
a half a pack over the next decade, as needed, to meet our youth 
reduction targets. And I call upon the House to follow that lead of the 
United States Senate and repeal the provision giving the tobacco 
industry a $50 billion tax credit.
    Second, any legislation must affirm the full authority of the FDA to 
regulate tobacco products. I believe the FDA's jurisdiction over tobacco 
products must be as strong and effective as its authority over drugs and 
devices. In particular, legislation cannot impose any special procedural 
hurdles on the FDA's regulation of tobacco products.
    Third, effective legislation must include measures to hold the 
industry accountable, especially in any efforts to market products to 
children, while insisting on changes in the way it does business. I ask 
the industry again to make a voluntary commitment to stop advertising to 
children. And I call upon Congress to pass legislation providing for 
broad document disclosure so that the public can learn everything the 
tobacco companies know about the health effects of their products and 
their attempts to market to our children.
    Fourth, Federal tobacco legislation must aim not only to reduce 
youth smoking but to meet other health goals as well. These include the 
reduction of secondhand smoke, the expansion of smoking prevention and 
cessation programs, the strengthening of international efforts to 
control tobacco, and the provision of funds for medical research and 
other important health objectives. We must build on the bipartisan 
agreement to fund children's health care in the recent balanced budget.
    And finally, any tobacco legislation must protect tobacco farmers 
and their communities. We know that tobacco farmers are honest, hard-
working people, most of whom live and work on small, family-owned farms. 
In some States, entire communities rely on income from the tobacco crop. 
Any legislation must protect these farmers, their families, and their 
communities from loss of income.
    Let me say in closing, I want to thank the Vice President, 
especially, who cares so passionately about this issue. He's played a 
key role in our efforts to protect our children from the dangers of 
tobacco. I've asked him to take the lead in building broad bipartisan 
support around the country for our plan. I also want to thank Secretary 
Shalala, Secretary Glickman and Bruce Reed, and all those who work so 
hard on our administration's analysis of the proposed settlement and 
where we are.
    And finally, let me say again, we wouldn't be here if it weren't for 
all the people in this room and the countless others they represent 
around the country. To me, this is not about money. It is not about how 
much money we can extract from the tobacco industry. It is about 
fulfilling our duties as parents and responsible adults to protect our 
children and to build the future of this country. We are doing 
everything we can in this administration to give parents the tools they 
need to raise their children, but parents have to be our partners as 
well. If this is not just about money, we have to recognize that even 
beyond the tobacco company and all of us

[[Page 1354]]

in this room, every parent in America has a responsibility to talk to 
their children about the dangers of tobacco, illegal drugs, and other 
things that can hurt them. We know if we have strong parental 
responsibility here, they can make a great deal of difference in 
protecting our children as well.
    If we take responsibility, if we pass this legislation, if we do 
what we should here, if the tobacco industry will work with us, if other 
Members of Congress in both parties will work with us, we will have gone 
a very long way toward creating the state of health for our children 
that will make America an even greater nation in the new century.
    Thank you.

Congressional Action

    Q. Mr. President, what are the chances of the Congress adopting your 
policy? And why is the industry so conspicuously absent?
    The President. Well, first of all, I was encouraged by some of the 
comments that were made by some industry representatives. I think that 
they know that they have to have Federal legislation. They have an 
interest in that as well. And I would hope that they would be willing to 
work with us. But we cannot have the FDA crippled here, and we have to 
have real and meaningful penalties if the targets for youth smoking are 
not met. And so I feel very good about that.
    I think the Congress--I think it's highly likely that they will take 
action. When they take action depends, I think, upon when they can work 
through the issues for themselves and how they decide how to divide up 
the work among the committees. But it's not too soon to start. We could 
have hearings on this fairly soon, and I would hope to work with the 
Congress to develop a bill that would embody these principles.

Tobacco Industry

    Q. Mr. President, you haven't said what you're willing to agree to 
for the tobacco industry. Are you willing to agree to immunity from 
future liability?
    The President. Well, I don't think they've asked for future 
liability, I think they've asked for immunity from liability for past 
suits. And the question there would be, what are they willing to agree 
to? They need to come and meet with us. We need to discuss it, and we 
need to see whether we can embody these five principles. These are the 
things I'm interested in.
    To me, I'll say again, this is not primarily about money. This is 
about changing the behavior of the United States, both the behavior of 
the tobacco companies, the behavior of the American people, the future 
behavior of our children. I'm trying to create an environment here with 
these five principles that I believe would achieve that. And if they 
want to be our partners in it, I think we can get there. And I hope they 
will be.

Price of Presidential Involvement

    Q. Are you willing to put your prestige on the line to ensure that 
this becomes law?
    The President. Well, I think my personal prestige on this has been 
on the line for more than a year now. [Laughter] There for a while, I 
thought more than my prestige was on the line. [Laughter] You know, for 
a person involved in public life in Washington today, personal prestige 
may be an oxymoron. [Laughter] But at least you still have your neck 
most days.
    Q. What do you say to the people----

Tobacco Farmers

    Q. [Inaudible]--protect the well-being of tobacco farmers--sounds 
like you're going to take away their livelihood.
    The President. Well, there are a number of things which can be done, 
and I don't want to get into the details. Secretary Glickman can talk 
about it. But we have had farmers in various sectors in our agriculture 
society facing constricted incomes before, and we have done things which 
helped them. There was a--for example, I remember a few years ago 
something that affected dairy farmers in my State. There was a massive 
buy-out program for dairy farmers, and in a lot of States like Arkansas, 
there were any number of small farmers that were having a very difficult 
time who had a chance to start their life on a different basis.
    I don't want to minimize this. Tobacco has a very high return per 
acre. So it's not a simple thing. You can't just say to a tobacco farmer 
to go plant soybeans, even if the soil will hold them. This is, from an 
agricultural

[[Page 1355]]

point of view, economically complex. But nonetheless, we have a 
responsibility to these people. They haven't done anything wrong. They 
haven't done anything illegal. They're good, hard-working, tax-paying 
citizens, and they have not caused this problem. And we cannot let them, 
their families, or their communities just be crippled and broken by 
this. And I don't think any member of the public health community wants 
to do that. And the Agriculture Department and I am personally very 
committed to this part--to me, this is one of the five things we have to 
do.
    We're trying to change America and make everybody whole. And they 
deserve a chance to have their lives and be made whole and go on with 
the future as well, and I'm determined to see that they're a part of 
this.

Tobacco Agreement

    Q. What do you say to the attorneys who thought this was a good deal 
and very proudly proclaimed it?
    The President. Well, first of all, they were a part of all these 
ongoing reviews. Everybody was heard in this review process. And 
secondly, they all recognize, too, that this agreement has to be 
ratified by Congress. The tobacco companies recognize that. That means 
that all of us who are part of that process are, in effect, parties to 
this case, too. And that's the way you need to look at this. We're 
building on their deal. We're not rejecting their agreement. We're 
building on it. We're not rejecting what the attorneys general did. 
We're building on it. Look, if it hadn't been for what they did, we 
wouldn't be here.
    I realize that there were two great things that started this. One is 
what Dr. Kessler and what we did at the FDA, and the fact that our 
administration was the first one ever willing to take this on. The other 
was the actions by the attorneys general and the private lawsuits that 
got the disclosure of the documents that created a total change in the 
public attitude and the public efforts here.
    And then long before that, there were the efforts of all of these 
people here from the public health community who have been telling us 
all this for years. And they had the public primed for it. Then, the 
lawsuits brought about the disclosures, and then the FDA was moving. 
Those three things together, I think--and of course, now there have been 
a lot of congressional hearings. Representative Waxman had a full head 
of hair when he came to Congress before he started. [Laughter] And so I 
think you've got to give--to me, we're building on this progress, and 
that's the way you have to look at this. We are trying to do the best 
thing for the country in a way that is consistent with the agreement 
they made. We're building on the agreement. We're not tearing it down. 
We're building on it. And I think we can get legislation that will 
reflect it.
    Thank you.

Military Air Crashes

    Q. What do you think about the string of air crashes, Mr. President, 
that have happened--Bosnia, the German representative that was killed?
    The President. It's a terrible thing. We don't have all the facts 
yet. I was briefed early this morning on it, and obviously, I'm 
profoundly concerned for the diplomat and the people that were on the 
aircraft and their families. But I can't comment on the facts of it 
until we absolutely know what the facts are.
    Q. What about the other crashes?
    The President. I must say, we're making--on balance, we're making 
some progress in Bosnia again. The events of the last several weeks are 
hopeful for the peace process and the Dayton Accord.
    Q. What about the other air crashes here in this country, this 
string of air accidents? What do you have to say about the air safety, 
and what are you going to be doing about that?
    The President. I had a talk with the Secretary of Defense about them 
the day before yesterday, and I think we have to, first of all, analyze 
each and every one to see whether there is some pattern that would 
require some kind of review by the Air Force or whether it's just an 
unfortunate stream of coincidences that they all happened at the same 
time. I noted one that I learned about this morning involved Air 
National Guard planes, for example. That may or may not have anything to 
do with any problem with planes or anything like that.

[[Page 1356]]

    I wouldn't over--jump to conclusions about this. Remember, every 
year--I try to say this once a year, so I want to say it now--it is easy 
for the American people to forget the risks that our men and women in 
uniform undertake. Every year we lose a couple hundred people serving 
the United States in the military in peacetime. It is dangerous work. 
They have to be well-trained. They have to be skilled. They have to be 
brave. It is a difficult thing. I am heartsick about the plane we are 
missing off the coast of Africa that took a demining team in there to 
continue our work against landmines.
    But I don't want you to jump to a conclusion that there is something 
wrong because all these things occurred within a short space of time 
because, if you look over the course of a year, we may go months and 
months and months and nothing happens, but over the course of a year, we 
lose a significant number of people every year who serve our country in 
uniform because of the inherent risks involved in what they do.
    We will do everything we can to make sure that they're as safe as 
possible, and if there is a pattern here that has to be looked into on 
air safety, you can be sure that the Air Force will do that.
    Thank you.

Chelsea

    Q. Are you dreading Chelsea leaving home tomorrow?
    The President. Yes. This morning--the first thing I did this morning 
was go look through the boxes and make sure we had all the right things 
in the right boxes. [Laughter] But there's nothing I can do about it 
now. [Laughter] That's what you raise them for. I'm happy and sad at the 
same time.

Note: The President spoke at 10:55 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House.