[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 25 (Monday, June 26, 2000)]
[Page 1407]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Congressional Action on the Tobacco Settlement Lawsuit

June 19, 2000

    Last year the Department of Justice filed a civil lawsuit against 
the tobacco companies to recover the billions of dollars the Federal 
Government spends each year on tobacco-related health care costs. 
Tobacco-caused diseases kill more than 400,000 Americans each year and 
cost billions in health care costs, including more than $20 billion in 
Federal payments under Medicare and other programs. The Justice 
Department's suit would simply hold the tobacco industry financially 
responsible for reimbursement of these costs.
    The suit is based on overwhelming evidence, much of it from the 
tobacco industry's own documents. This evidence shows that the tobacco 
companies have conspired over the past 50 years to defraud and mislead 
the American public and to conceal information about the effects of 
smoking.
    The Congress, in its appropriations bills, is undermining this 
lawsuit by preventing the agencies that have been harmed and that could 
recover billions--the Defense Department, the Veterans Administration, 
and the Department of Health and Human Services--from providing any 
support. If Congress cuts off funding for this lawsuit or interferes 
with the Justice Department's pursuit of the lawsuit, Congress will be 
capitulating to the tobacco industry once again at the expense of 
taxpayers and their children.
    It would be wrong for Congress to undermine the authority of the 
Department of Justice and block this lawsuit rather than allow it to be 
decided on its merits in court. I call on Congress to support rather 
than undermine these efforts and allow the Justice Department to keep 
working to give taxpayers their day in court.