Family Smoking Prevention And Tobacco Control Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. PELOSI. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his generous recognition and rise to say, as a mother and a grandmother, what an important day this is for America's children and to say thank you to Mr. Dingell. Some of the giants of the Congress have worked to help the children of America. Mr. Dingell, Mr. Waxman, and Mr. Pallone on the committee. On the Senate side, this legislation passing also is a real tribute to the leadership of Senator Ted Kennedy. It's really a great day. It's momentous. It's historic. We can't say that all the time about the legislation that we pass here. It would be impossible to exaggerate the importance of what is happening here today.

Today we have an opportunity to protect public health and prevent disease; and today we have an opportunity to honor our responsibility to our children, to protect them from the harm that can come to them from the use of tobacco.

Madam Speaker, tobacco is the number one cause of preventable deaths in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control, it is responsible for about one in five, or 443,000, deaths annually. Again, I want to acknowledge the great work of Chairman Waxman, Chairman Dingell and Chairman Pallone. We passed this bill before Easter. Happily last night, yesterday, it passed the Senate so that we can now pass the bill and send it to the President's desk for his signature.

Mr. Oberstar, in his role on Transportation and understanding how we had to get smoking out of Transportation, spelled out for us what the study told us and how it has been 52 years since we should have taken action. There is so much support on the outside of the Congress as well. A thousand organizations, everyone from the American Cancer Society, which we would suspect, the Campaign For Tobacco-Free Kids, the AARP, and the Presbyterian Church, just to name a few. They believe that passing this bill will save lives.

Every day Americans benefit from the oversight of the FDA on foods that we eat and medicines we take. That's their jurisdiction. Yet despite the fact that tobacco is one of the deadliest products in America, the FDA has had no authority to regulate it. This is just not right, and today we can correct that wrong. Right now tobacco is exempt from standards that apply to a can of soda or a box of pasta. Tobacco makers are exempt from critical and basic consumer protections, such as ingredient disclosure, product testing and restrictions on marketing to children.

This legislation grants the FDA the authority to regulate tobacco products. It also requires detailed disclosure of tobacco product ingredients and restricts tobacco marketing and sales to young people, among other things. And this legislation does all of this in a fiscally responsible way, funding the FDA tobacco activity through a user fee on tobacco manufacturers.

Because of lost productivity and health care expenditures, cigarette smoking costs our Nation more than $193 billion a year, almost $200 billion a year. By reducing the number of smokers, not only will this legislation save lives and reduce chronic disease, it will also reduce health care costs.

Today, approximately 3,500 young people will try a cigarette for the first time and another 1,000 will become addicted and become new regular, daily smokers. One-third of those children will eventually die prematurely because of smoking. We must do all that we can to prevent premature death from smoking, and today we have that opportunity.

Madam Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support the aptly named Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. I hope that the children of America will see a strong bipartisan vote. This legislation deserves it, and then we can send it on to the President to be signed into law hopefully no later than next week.

Again, Mr. Dingell, as a mother and a grandmother, I'm deeply in your debt for what you're doing for America's children. Mr. Waxman, thank you so much for bringing this bill to the floor. We went into session in January. Before Easter this bill had passed the House. Thank you for your leadership. Mr. Pallone was very much a part of it. Again, Mr. Oberstar, thank you for your leadership.

But let's just say about Senator Kennedy, this has been part of his life's work. He's worked on this for a very long time, of itself, discretely, the tobacco and smoking issue and then, of course, just as with Mr. Dingell, the larger health issue for America. Today in passing this legislation, enabling the FDA to regulate tobacco, we are taking a giant step forward in making America healthier. Thank you all for your leadership.

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