Reversing the Youth Tobacco Epidemic Act of 2019
Floor Speech
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Mr. SUOZZI. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, every Democrat and every Republican in this Chamber recognizes there is a youth vaping epidemic in the United States of America. I am sure that every Member of Congress has heard stories about millions of middle school and high school students using addictive vaping products.
I became focused on this issue last year when a group of mothers from Parents Against Vaping e-cigarettes told me about the stories of schools filled with student vaping. I actually spoke to my 16-year-old son, and I learned just how prevalent vaping has become in the school districts in my community and how they are throughout the country.
We have to act, and we must act now.
Madam Speaker, this important bipartisan legislation we are considering today includes my bipartisan bill, the Protecting American Lungs Act, which passed out of the Committee on Ways and Means with bipartisan support.
This bill will establish much-needed tax parity between vaping products and cigarettes. It will tax nicotine, a harmful and addictive substance, at approximately the same rate, whether you get it from an e-cigarette or from traditional cigarettes.
Importantly, this bill includes an exception for FDA-approved nicotine replacement therapies, which means that if a company can prove that its product is a legitimate cessation device, then the nicotine will not be taxed.
This bill has the support of over 50 public health, medical, and educational organizations, including the American Academy of Nursing, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Cancer Action Network, the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, the American Medical Association, and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
These groups agree that one of the best ways we can stop people from using vaping products is to tax them. For young people especially, who have less money and higher price sensitivity, taxes on these products are an effective way to decrease usage. It is proven.
In fact, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, every 10 percent increase in the cost of cigarettes leads to a 4 percent overall smoking reduction and 7 percent less youth smoking.
I know that some people raised their voices against this effort. We have heard it all before when we fought to raise cigarette taxes in my State of New York. Some will say the science is not conclusive yet. Some will advocate for free choice. Others will say this is typical taxing Big Government.
When it is all said and done, however, the opposition will come from those who put their lucrative nicotine interests ahead of our children's health and proven public policy.
In my home State of New York, despite intense industry opposition, we raised cigarette taxes. Because of that, we have some of the Nation's lowest rates of smoking and smoking-related illnesses.
We can save lives with this bill by raising the prices of harmful vaping products and decreasing their usage among teenagers. The opportunity to stop the youth vaping epidemic is one that we must not pass up.
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Mr. SUOZZI. Madam Speaker, before I yield to the chairman of our committee, I just want to note again that the Protecting American Lungs and Reversing the Youth Tobacco Epidemic Act has an exception for FDA- approved nicotine replacement therapies and has over 50 public health, medical, and educational organizations supporting it.
Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Neal), the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee who is just a fantastic chairman.
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Mr. SUOZZI. Madam Speaker, I just want to point out to my good friend from Georgia that the tax does not exempt premium cigars in any way whatsoever.
Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer), a senior member of the Ways and Means Committee and chair of the Trade Subcommittee.
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Mr. SUOZZI. Madam Speaker, I just want to note again that the bipartisan Protecting American Lungs Act, again, has over 50 public health, medical, and educational organizations supporting it.
Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Danny K. Davis), another senior member of the Ways and Means Committee, the chairman of the Subcommittee on Worker and Family Support, and my good friend.
Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from New York for yielding and for his leadership on this issue.
You know, I have never appreciated being discriminated against, but I have always been told that if you fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.
And there is one thing that we do know. We know from evidence-based research that tobacco products that are smoked, inhaled, or chewed, have no measurable health benefits. Tobacco product usage is still one of the leading causes of preventable death in the United States, resulting in an estimated 480,000 lives each year.
Cigarette usage is still declining in the United States. Some analysts have reported that 34 million American adults smoke cigarettes on a regular basis, and there are 1.2 million American middle and high school students who smoked cigarettes in the last 30 days. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 8.1 million American adults used e-cigarettes every day or some days in 2018, and about 5.4 million American middle and high school students have used an e- cigarette in the last 30 days.
I support H.R. 2339, Protecting American Lungs and Reversing the Youth Tobacco Epidemic Act of 2020. This bill would stop the manufacturing and use of fruity and flavored tobacco products in all electronic nicotine delivery systems that are battery operated containing nicotine and other chemicals.
In addition, this legislation would provide grants to community health workers and educational awareness to cessation programs for tobacco.
Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote for this bill.
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Mr. SUOZZI. Madam Speaker, I include in the Record an analysis by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, showing that e-cigarette use is dramatically higher among high school and middle school students than amongst adults. Action Needed: E-Cigarettes
Since their introduction in 2008, e-cigarettes have become both ubiquitous and an increasing source of public policy concern and debate. This concern stems primarily from drastic increases in youth e-cigarette use. The most recent data show that 27.5% of high schoolers are using these products--a rate of youth tobacco product use not seen in nearly two decades. The public health community, parents and educators are shocked and worried to find their children and students using these products at home and even in class. Young people are reporting severe signs of dependence, including using e-cigarettes when they first wake up, inability to concentrate in the classroom without using an e-cigarette, and even waking in the night to get a nicotine fix.
We have known for decades that youth in particular should not be exposed to nicotine because it changes brain chemistry to create a stronger addiction, can lead to memory and concentration problems, and can make youth who use it more susceptible to addiction to other substances. Research also suggests that young people who use e-cigarettes are four times more likely to go on to smoke combustible cigarettes.
E-cigarettes are now threatening to undo all the progress that the public health community and government have made over decades to reduce cigarette smoking. Indeed, the surgeon general raised the alarm by issuing an advisory declaring a youth e-cigarette epidemic in December 2018. Since then, data show that more and more youth continue to use e-cigarettes. And this isn't just experimental or occasional use--it's regular use likely driven by addiction. The most recent National Youth Tobacco Survey data show that 34.2% of current high school e-cigarette users use them on 20 days or more per month.
Conversely, as the youth e-cigarette epidemic has continued unabated, we have seen adults, and especially older smokers, simply reject the product. In 2014, the first year that the National Health Interview Survey measured adult use of e- cigarettes, 3.7% of adults used the product in the last 30 days. In 2018, the adult usage remained low, at 3.2%, and was largely driven by young adult users (7.6%), who have matured during the youth e-cigarette epidemic. While some adults have switched completely to e-cigarettes from combustible cigarettes, the predominant pattern among adult users continues to be e-cigarette use in conjunction with smoking. This ``dual use,'' however, provides no reduction in the harms associated with smoking.
As youth use continues to rise, the science around the potential harms of e-cigarettes has grown. Studies show that e-cigarettes produce lower amounts, but are not free from the toxins found in cigarettes. At the same time, flavoring compounds and other ingredients may be producing their own unique harms. Recent studies demonstrate the harms e- cigarettes pose to the respiratory system. Similarly, new studies show e-cigarettes may present unique threats to cardiovascular health. It continues to be nearly impossible to make generalized statements about the potential harms and benefits of the overall category of e-cigarettes due to the incredible variation in hardware design and ingredients. Moreover, as industry executives themselves have acknowledged, we simply do not know the long-term health impacts of e-cigarette use. It took us many decades to understand the toxicity of cigarettes, and, even today, we are discovering new ways in which they harm health.
Simply put, the data show that e-cigarettes as they are currently sold and regulated in the United States are overwhelmingly a vehicle for youth initiation, not adult cessation. E-cigarettes expose kids--who otherwise never would have been--to nicotine and put them at risk for both long- and short-term health consequences. THE POSITION OF TRUTH INITIATIVE
Truth Initiative has maintained that there may be some possible public health benefit from properly regulated e- cigarettes, provided manufacturers can demonstrate that the products can help adults quit smoking combustible cigarettes safely and completely. However, no e-cigarette has been approved for smoking cessation and no e-cigarette has gone through the rigorous scientific review necessary to determine whether it actually does help smokers to quit. Furthermore, any public health benefit from e-cigarettes for smokers must be weighed against the incredibly high youth use of e- cigarettes and the fact that there are currently no significant marketing restrictions on these products. Without a significant change in regulatory approach, it is unlikely that e-cigarettes will contribute to the overall benefit of public health.
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Mr. SUOZZI. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Cox), a good friend and leader on this important issue to reduce cost for Americans with chronic lung disease and asthma.
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Mr. SUOZZI. Madam Speaker, I just want to mention again that the Protecting American Lungs Act had over 50 public health, medical, and educational organizations sponsoring it.
Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Shalala), a very good friend, a real leader on health issues, and the former Secretary of Health and Human Services in the United States of America.
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Mr. SUOZZI. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from Florida.
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Mr. SUOZZI. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone), the chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, a good friend and a leader on this issue.
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Mr. SUOZZI. Madam Speaker, I just want to clarify, again, that premium cigars are already subject to a Federal excise tax, and there is no carve-out for the taxes on premium cigars.
Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney), a good friend, the chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform.
Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support, and I thank Chairman Pallone for his incredible leadership on this.
Madam Speaker, I also want to thank Congressman Krishnamoorthi, who has been a leader on the youth vaping epidemic as the chair of the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy on the Oversight Committee. He has led a months' long investigation into e-cigarette companies, which revealed mountains of evidence that these companies are illegally targeting children in advertising campaigns.
And the way they target children is by selling flavored tobacco products with kid-friendly flavors like mango and mint. This is despicable and will cause long-term damage to countless children's lives.
This bill is very important because it will ban the manufacture and sale of all flavored tobacco products, which will make it much more difficult for companies to target children. This is extremely important. It will save lives.
I strongly support the bill and urge my colleagues for a ``yes'' vote.
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Mr. SUOZZI. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Madam Speaker, every Democrat, every Republican in this House knows there is a problem with youth vaping in the United States of America. Every single one of us recognizes that something must be done, and today we are taking important action.
I want to point out that this is not a new debate. It is pretty much the same debate we went through with smoking years ago.
I used to serve as the Nassau County Executive in New York State when the smoking issue was a massive debate in this country, and we heard the same arguments about Big Government. We heard the same arguments about taxing. We heard the same arguments about choice. And we can't fall for it again.
We saw it happen in this country with smoking, that for so many years we ignored the fact that smoking was the number one killer in this country, and it took us decades to act.
Now that we see youth vaping growing in this country every single day, efforts that are being made to market specifically to young children every single day, we must act to try and protect our families and to try and protect our children.
Again, I want to point out that the Protecting American Lungs Act, which is part of this bill, has the support of over 50 public health, medical, and education organizations, including the American Academy of Nursing, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, the American Medical Association, and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
Madam Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Neal. I want to thank Chairman Pallone. I want to thank all of the leaders, such as Donna Shalala, former-Secretary Shalala, and Raja Krishnamoorthi and all of my colleagues who have spoken here today.
I urge my colleagues, both Democrats and Republicans, to act now on behalf of the children of our country.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
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