[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 21 (Monday, May 25, 1998)]
[Pages 931-932]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Urging Congressional Action on Tobacco Legislation

May 20, 1998

    Thank you very much. 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. 
I thought they were great. [Applause] Thank you.
    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 in 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

[[Page 932]]

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 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, Olympic figure 
skating gold medalist; Emily Broxterman, 1997 midwest regional winner, 
Youth Advocate of the Year Award; and civil rights leader Rev. Jesse 
Jackson.