[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 47 (Monday, November 23, 1998)]
[Pages 2321-2323]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on the Tobacco Settlement

November 16, 1998

    Thank you very much. To Attorney General Gregoire and all the others 
who are here, and the attorneys general of North Carolina and 
California, who are not here but who are part of this initial group, I 
want to congratulate you. Bruce Reed, who spoke first and is my Domestic 
Policy Adviser, and I, and the rest of us have been at this for quite a 
long time, and we are very pleased by your success.

Situation in Iraq

    Because this is my only opportunity to appear before the press 
today, I'd like to begin by making a few comments about the situation in 
Iraq.
    I am pleased that the weapons inspectors will return to Baghdad 
tomorrow to resume their work. As I've said from the start, the best 
outcome is to get the inspectors back on the job, provided they have 
unfettered access and full cooperation.
    We know what the inspectors can accomplish. Since the system was 
created and the inspections began, Iraq has been forced to declare and 
destroy, among other things, nearly 40,000 chemical weapons, nearly 700 
tons of chemical weapons agents, 48 operational missiles, 30 warheads 
especially fitted for chemical and biological weapons, and a massive 
biological weapons plant equipped to produce anthrax and other deadly 
agents.

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    The weapons inspectors, in short, have done a remarkable job. They 
must be permitted to finish their work. The burden of compliance is 
where it has always been--on Iraq. Baghdad has an affirmative obligation 
to comply with the U.N. resolutions that require it to disclose and 
destroy its weapons of mass destruction and the capability of delivering 
those weapons.
    Governments all over the world today stand united in sharing the 
conviction that full compliance, and nothing short of full compliance, 
is needed from Iraq. The world is watching Saddam Hussein to see if he 
follows the words he uttered with deeds. Our forces remain strong and 
ready if he does not.

Tobacco Settlement

    Now, let me join the others in once again saying that today is a 
milestone in the long struggle to protect our children from tobacco. 
This settlement between the State attorneys general and the tobacco 
companies is clearly an important step in the right direction for our 
country. It reflects the first time tobacco companies will be held 
financially accountable for the damage their product does to our 
Nation's health.
    Again, let me thank Attorney General Gregoire, the others who are 
here, and those who are not. And I believe there were four States who 
previously signed individual settlements with the tobacco companies. All 
of them deserve the thanks of the country.
    With this very large settlement which every other State has the 
opportunity to join, we are moving forward. But we have a lot more to 
do, for only the National Government can take the full range of steps 
needed to protect our children fully from the dangers of tobacco. So it 
is still up to Congress to act, to rise to its responsibility to pass 
national tobacco legislation.
    Our administration began this effort nearly 4 years ago, with the 
strong leadership of Vice President Gore and the then-Commissioner of 
the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA then put in place a strong 
crackdown on tobacco advertising aimed at teenagers, the broadest and 
most significant effort to date to protect our children from the dangers 
of tobacco.
    It has been challenged, as all of you know, in court by tobacco 
companies from the beginning. Today I want to report that the Solicitor 
General will ask the Supreme Court to resolve this matter. But let us be 
clear: When it comes to protecting our children from tobacco, 
ultimately, it is up to Congress to finish the job.
    The past Congress began with strong momentum toward action, only to 
see national tobacco legislation derailed by partisanship and special 
pleading. In the new Congress, I am determined that all of us will 
choose progress over partisanship. I think that's what the voters were 
saying to us on election day.
    Comprehensive national tobacco legislation must include many things, 
but especially it must clarify the jurisdiction of the FDA. And because 
of the cost inherent in this settlement and any further action by 
Congress, it should also include appropriate protections for tobacco 
farmers, as I have said from the beginning. It should be, it must be, 
one of the top priorities for the new Congress. I will work hard to see 
that it becomes law.
    We should always remember what the real stakes are. Let me say them 
one more time: Every day we fail to act, more than 3,000 children start 
to smoke, even though it is illegal to sell them cigarettes. More than 
1,000 will die earlier than they would have as a result. Our children 
continue to be targeted by multimillion-dollar marketing campaigns 
designed to recruit what the industry has called in its confidential 
documents ``replacement smokers.'' With strong legislation, working with 
what the attorneys general have already done, we can save a million 
lives in the first 5 years.
    Our duty to our children, therefore, is clear. We should give them 
the future they deserve. We can do it.
    This is a good day for our country, and I thank all of you who have 
helped to bring it about.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 4:12 p.m. in the Roosevelt Room at the 
White House. In his remarks, he referred to State attorneys general 
Christine Gregoire of Washington, Daniel Lungren of California, and Mike 
Easley of North Carolina; and President Saddam Hussein of Iraq.

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