Providing for Consideration of H.R. 1256, Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act

Floor Speech

PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 1256, FAMILY SMOKING PREVENTION AND TOBACCO CONTROL ACT -- (House of Representatives - April 01, 2009)

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Mr. POLIS. I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 307 provides a structured rule for the consideration of H.R. 1256, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. The rule makes in order a substitute amendment, if offered, by Representative Buyer of Indiana or his designee.

I rise in support of House Resolution 307, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. I thank Chairman Waxman and my colleagues who serve on the Energy and Commerce Committee for their leadership in this bipartisan effort.

This legislation, which passed this House by a margin of more than 3-1 last July, would at long last give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the FDA, the authority to regulate tobacco products and to take additional critical steps to protect the public health. The bill prevents the tobacco industry from designing products that entice young people. It develops programs that help adult smokers quit, and it funds the efforts through fees to tobacco manufacturers.

America's youth face intense pressure every day from friends, fancy advertisements and irresponsible adults to make bad decisions that will affect their long-term health. A 2006 study conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found that 90 percent of all adult smokers began while they were in their teens or earlier and that two-thirds became regular daily smokers before they reached the age of 19. A shocking number of American children are at least casual smokers before they can even drive a car.

As a cosponsor of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, I am strongly committed to seeing this figure drastically reduced. Congress must work to help make our children's lives safer and their choices easier.

This bill bans flavored cigarettes with names like Mocha Taboo, Midnight Berry and Warm Winter Toffee that clearly attract children as consumers. The history of low-tar cigarettes illustrates the grave danger to public health that's caused by fooling consumers into believing unsubstantiated claims that one kind of cigarette is safer than another. Millions of Americans switched to low-tar cigarettes, believing they were reducing their risk of lung cancer substantially. Many were convinced to switch instead of to quit. It wasn't until decades later that we learned through many deaths that those low-tar cigarettes were just as dangerous as full-tar cigarettes.

Under this legislation, which simply empowers the FDA to regulate tobacco products, we will not have to wait until the deaths of millions of more Americans to learn whether a so-called ``safer'' cigarette is what it claims to be.

The bottom line is we have an interest in making sure our constituents know the facts, all of them, before making potentially deadly choices.

Americans must also be aware of the dramatic health risks associated with smokeless tobacco. Many believe that chewing tobacco and snuff are safe alternatives to smoking cigarettes. That's wrong. This bill would require warning labels that indicate that smokeless tobacco causes mouth and gum cancer, serious oral diseases, and tooth loss. A study by Brown University reveals that just a few weeks of chewing tobacco can develop leukoplakia of the cheek and gums, which is the formation of leather patches of diseased tissue on the mouth.

The American Dental Association strongly supports this legislation, and calls tobacco use the number one cause of preventable disease in the United States. It should be a no-brainer to responsibly regulate such a dangerous product. And the FDA, the only agency charged with food and drug safety, is a logical Federal agency to place with this great and important responsibility.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, the Buyer version is opposed by many credible health organizations, including the American Lung Association, the American Heart Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, among many others who support the Waxman administration because it would protect children from tobacco marketing.

The Buyer bill falls short of banning brands that are potentially targeted to children like Mocha Taboo and Midnight Berry. It does not protect consumers from misleading health claims about so-called reduced-risk tobacco products, and it embraces smokeless tobacco as a means to reduce the harm caused by cigarettes. While certainly there should be sound, scientific investigation, and there is a process under the Waxman bill for doing that, we must not rush to prejudgment of what works and what doesn't.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Mrs. Christensen).

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Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, the Waxman bill does allow something different to be tried. It sets up a scientific process for review to make sure that all technologies that might help wean smokers away are allowed into the marketplace in a manner that makes sure that they don't publish misleading claims regarding their health.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis).

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Mr. POLIS. I would remind the gentleman that the FDA is the primary agency charged with food and drug safety and, as such, to ensure the safety of our Nation's food supply and safety of our Nation's drug supply is the logical place at which to reside the regulation of tobacco products.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel).

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Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Texas mentioned 2 percent decrease in smoking over 10 years. I will say that every cigarette not smoked, every person who never starts is a life saved.

One of my late constituents, Ms. Susan DeWitt of Lafayette, passed away of lung cancer this last year. Posthumously published on her Web site is a very powerful statement which I will submit in its entirety to the Record but would like to quote from as follows, in part.

``Just prior to being told I suffered from stage IV lung cancer, Dr. Karen Kelly, an oncologist at the University of Colorado Cancer Center, lifted her arms and emphatically exclaimed, `We have to raise the awareness of lung cancer.'

``With those words resonating in my head, I thought back to those high school moments and the few drags I took from my cigarettes. I thought of the precious few years that followed. Years that would include a marriage, a son, my youth and cigarettes. I remembered the day I said, `No more.' That was the day I was given another diagnosis by my doctor, I would again be a mother. That day was 14 years ago .....

``The day I quit, I was 27 years old. Lung cancer was something I understood the elderly suffered from. It was nothing a young mother of two need bother herself with. I was 28 when my daughter was born. I was young, in love, and beginning to walk my path of life ..... At 37, I was given the gift of another daughter.

``Then, standing there listening to this oncologist tell me I have stage IV lung cancer. I was only 39.''

Ms. DeWitt dedicated the remainder of her life to educating people about the danger of cigarettes. I had the opportunity to speak to her husband just yesterday who shared with me the message that she shared with so many Americans. There is no free ride. There is no break. Don't start smoking.

This bill will help prevent children from ever starting to smoke and help prevent many, many cases of lung cancer and many, many deaths that disrupt families and cause a great risk to our public health as well.
[From the Dailycamera, Oct. 4, 2007]

Lung Cancer Educator Dies After Long Battle
(By Cindy Sutter)

Susan DeWitt, a Superior mom who made a widely distributed DVD about her family's struggle with her lung cancer, died Wednesday. She was 43.

``She died at home with her family members holding on to her,'' said DeWitt's husband, Randy.

DeWitt, a Boulder County court reporter for eight years and founder of the Susan L. DeWitt Foundation for Extended Breath, was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer in 2004 at the age of 39. Although DeWitt was a light smoker in her teens and 20s, she quit in 1992. After her diagnosis, she made it her mission to warn young people that even casual smoking can cause cancer. The DVD--``Lung Cancer, Through My Children's Eyes''--begins with this line from her son, Cody, then 19: ``There are some things in life that people shouldn't have to go through.''

Then this from his sister, Gabrielle, then 13: ``I was afraid to go to sleep at night.''

The film, now on You Tube as well as available on DVD through the foundation, has been distributed to school districts in Colorado and around the country. The family has subsequently made music videos about the subject.

Those who knew DeWitt say she touched people, not only with her DVD, but with the grace and courage with which she faced her illness and treatment--which included multiple rounds of chemotherapy and brain surgeries.

Dan Hale, who retired as a Boulder County District judge last fall, called DeWitt's spirit even as she became gravely ill ``truly incredible.''

``Why this happened is one of those great mysteries of life, but despite that, she wanted to see how she could benefit others,'' Hale said.

Rob Harter--lead pastor at Larkridge Church in Erie, where the DeWitts attend--remembers being at the hospital with the DeWitts when Susan was being prepped for a second brain surgery. She was giving Randy last-minute instructions on gifts she had bought for them to open during her surgery.

``Right before they were to wheel her away for three- to four-hour surgery, what she was thinking about was, `Make sure you get the gifts for the kids in the car,' '' Harter said. ``Her idea was to not have them focused on her pain. It's a powerful example of how she was very other-centered in her approach to life.''

Randy DeWitt said she touched many people.

``Her group of friends is very vast,'' he said. ``She had a way of speaking to and treating people with respect. ..... If you had a troubled look on your face, Susie would attend to you.''

The DeWitts' story and clips of the DVD were featured on ``Good Morning America'' and ABC's ``World News Tonight'' in 2006. The DeWitts estimate that at that time about 15 million people had heard of her documentary through those national news sources, articles in local newspapers, features on local TV news, speaking engagements and distribution of the DVD.

Susan, who was born in Wheat Ridge and graduated from Arvada High School, got the idea for the film after seeing a group of teenagers smoking outside the Westminster Promenade shortly after her diagnosis.

With their suburban bedrooms as the simple backdrop, the documentary shows Cody and Gabrielle talking about how their mother's cancer has upended life as they once knew it.

``Now comes the hard part,'' Cody says in the film. ``What if my mom dies?'' The DVD shows footage of him graduating from high school with the sound of his family yelling, ``Woo-hoo!''

``I want her to be there when I graduate from college,'' he says.

The foundation will continue its work, distributing the DVD and music videos. The family plans to expand its focus to help people deal with a diagnosis of terminal cancer.

Randy DeWitt said the children are doing well. He and Susan were frank about her illness from the beginning, even with their youngest child, Gianina, now 6.

Cody is attending the University of Northern Colorado part-time. He's in his fourth year. Gabrielle is a sophomore at Monarch High School. Gianina is a first-grader at Superior Elementary.

``The kids are pretty resilient,'' Randy said. ``My 6-year-old is giving us a lesson on how to deal. She's talked to me about this. She gets it. She knows what death is. She knows that Mommy's not coming back, and she's OK.''

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Raising the Awareness and Prevention of Lung Cancer

Just prior to being told I suffered from stage IV Lung Cancer , Dr. Karen Kelly, an Oncologist at the University of Colorado Cancer Center, lifted her arms and emphatically exclaimed, ``We have to raise the awareness of Lung Cancer''.

With those words resonating in my head, I thought back to those high school moments and the few drags I took from my cigarettes. I thought of the precious few years that followed. Years that would include a marriage, a son, my youth and cigarettes. I remembered the day I said, ``No more''. That was the day I was given another diagnosis by my doctor, I would again be a mother. That day was fourteen years ago. That day came after a few precious years clouded by smoke.

The day I quit, I was 27 years old. Lung cancer was something I understood the elderly suffered from. It was nothing a young mother of two children need bother herself with. I was 28 when my daughter was born. I was young, in love and beginning to walk my path of life. At 37, I was living a life some would call a fairy tale. At 37 I was given the gift of another daughter.

Then, standing there listening to this oncologist tell me I have stage IV lung cancer. I was only 39.

I knew at that very moment what God had designed for me. My purpose was to open a Foundation that would focus on raising the Awareness and Prevention of Lung Cancer and save other families of its horrific effects.

The metastasis to my brain would raise its' ugly head at 41. Lung cancer had moved into my brain in September of 2004, which just fueled my passion. The picture attached was taken with my youngest daughter after my first of three brain surgeries. The ``head band'' is actually the incision made by the brain surgeon and sutured shut by 32 staples.

What you need to know is this; nearly a half a million Americans will die from illnesses due to cigarette smoke this year.

A third of those will be lung cancer. As a woman, I need to tell you that women with a smoking history are ten times (10X) more likely to die from lung cancer than they are from breast cancer.

With that, know that the Susan DeWitt Foundation for Extended Breath (SLD Foundation) has a mission to raise the awareness and prevention of lung cancer and related illnesses. Illnesses that endanger tobacco users and non-users. Our focus is to: isolate our children from ETS (Environmental Tobacco Smoke), educate our youth as to the consequences of smoking and to assist ``at risk'' people by resolving addiction, creating a method of early diagnosis and increasing survival rate.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. POLIS. What I stated--I believe in the affirmative--is the Waxman bill prevents false and misleading advertising.

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Mr. POLIS. The gentleman, Mr. Buyer's proposal, rather than using an agency that exists, would create a new agency and then go on not to fund that new agency. It's fiscally irresponsible to create a new regulatory agency but fail to provide it with any new funding to do the job. The FDA is up to the task, given the funding which this bill provides with user fees.

Mr. Speaker, tobacco is the deadliest product on the market today. It kills over 400,000 Americans each year. Despite this grim statistic, tobacco companies have enjoyed a great deal of influence over public policy, avoiding the appropriate oversight of their dangerous business.

By giving the FDA the authority to exercise their proper oversight duties, we strip Big Tobacco of their special privileges and power. We owe consumers the same level of protection with regard to tobacco use as food and drink consumption, prescription and over-the-counter drugs, and even makeup and cosmetics. Why should tobacco, such an obviously harmful product, not be subject to the same scrutiny?

The FDA is more than capable of handling this new responsibility. We entrust the most sensitive regulation oversight to the Food and Drug Administration. We must give this agency the opportunity to succeed, providing the necessary resources, which the Waxman bill does, to get the job done. It's the most appropriate agency to regulate these deadly products.

Tobacco companies have long taken advantage of this vulnerability by promoting their products through cartoon advertisements, tobacco theme merchandise products, and flavored products that appeal to kids.

By barring the sale of fruit, chocolate, and clove-flavored tobacco products, this bill would protect the health of children who are lured to smoking by these candy-like flavors, with little if any impact on adults' enjoyment of tobacco.

Mr. BUYER. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. POLIS. I yield to the gentleman from Indiana.

Mr. BUYER. You have been talking about tobacco companies. I don't have tobacco companies supporting my bill. Are there any supporting the Waxman bill?

Mr. POLIS. Reclaiming my time, we can find that out from the gentleman.

I would read a number of groups that are backing the Waxman bill, including the American Lung Association, the American Association of Respiratory Care, the American College of Preventative Medicine, the Association of Schools of Public Health, the Lung Cancer Alliance, the Oncology Nursing Society, and Oral Health America, among many others.

Mr. BUYER. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. POLIS. No. Let me finish my statement. Opponents ask kids to make grave health-related choices with incomplete information and hold these kids responsible for childhood mistakes as they would a fully aware adult.

When 80 percent of kids smoke the most heavily advertised brands, we can't help but infer that the ads influence the children.

Big Tobacco claims they don't market to kids. Yet, they continue to do a pretty good job of getting kids to use their product. This has got to change.

This legislation will require that tobacco products marketed as safer than other tobacco products are in fact demonstrated to be safer with scientific proof. By providing the Health and Human Services Secretary with authority to regulate tobacco product standards and product testing based on scientific evidence, this legislation will promote and protect the Nation's public health.

Far too long we have not followed doctor's orders, so to speak, with regard to tobacco use. Science tells us a great deal about the causes of disease and the risk of certain behavior. This legislation puts those scientific findings at the forefront of policymaking by the Department of Health and Human Service.

The bill also promotes public health by requiring the Health and Human Services Secretary to consider placing tobacco replacement products on a fast track FDA approval process. If we want Americans to stop smoking, we must provide them the help they need to kick the habit.

By creating the special category of small tobacco manufacturers, the bill ensures that small businesses have the assistance they need for the FDA to comply with the new regulations.

Supported by over 1,000 health and faith groups from across the country, this bill preserves States rights by not preempting State tobacco laws. It's extremely important to respect that many States, including my home State of Colorado, already recognizes the danger of smoking and the role regulation can play in keeping cigarettes out of the hands of kids.

My home State of Colorado is recognized as a national leader in tobacco control, demonstrated by our leadership in enacting a comprehensive smoke-free law that includes casinos and increasing our State tobacco tax to fund health programs.

Even with this legislation in place, health care costs in Colorado caused by smoking every year is over $1.3 billion. Nearly 15 percent of Colorado high school students still smoke. Nearly 6,000 kids in Colorado start smoking every day.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, protecting the health of our Nation's children is of paramount importance to me, personally, to all of us, and to the strength and security of our Nation. We need to work to ensure that children have access to adequate health care, including vaccinations and attention from medical professionals.

Tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of death in the United States, and yet it continues to receive less regulation than a head of lettuce. Indeed, even pet food is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration.

When we pledge to safeguard our children's health, we are investing in where the return is, a generation of healthy, productive Americans. Congress not only has an obligation to provide adequate funding for programs that offer health care access and a healthy start for all children, but also a responsibility to step in and provide meaningful oversight and restore accountability. This bill embodies both of these commitments.

This is a personal issue for many of us. I had the opportunity to talk to another widow of a victim of tobacco from Colorado last night. I spoke to Ms. Kathy Hughes of Loveland, who lost her husband. David succumbed to lung cancer. Again, the latter years of his life were dedicated to combating the dangers of secondhand smoke.

Just as my colleague from California, Ms. Harman, shared her own family experience with this, we too in my family have direct experience. My partner Marlin's late mother, Wendy Klein Reiss, passed away from lung cancer 2 years ago. It was a very painful thing to go through; and, of course, her wish and her dying breaths were that she never started smoking.

Americans across all political, demographic, and geographic lines have expressed overwhelming support for this legislation. The strong endorsement of hundreds of public health organizations for this bipartisan bill sends a powerful message.

The bill simply gives the FDA the long overdue authority to regulate tobacco products and reduce their devastating harm, just as they enjoy today for pet food and lettuce and cosmetics.

Today, we have an opportunity to protect millions of children across this Nation and to safeguard their future and prevent them from starting smoking. We have an opportunity to do the right thing, to save lives and to strengthen American families.

I urge a ``yes'' vote on the previous question and the rule.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

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