American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 - Conference Report

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD
SENATE
Oct. 10, 2004

AMERICAN JOBS CREATION ACT OF 2004-CONFERENCE REPORT

Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that during my discussion this morning I be able to display several packs of cigarettes and a container of macaroni and cheese which I have in front of me.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I urge my colleagues today at 1 o'clock to vote no on the cloture vote. The conference committee stripped out from this bill the FDA regulation of tobacco. I think it was a serious mistake. It really represents a missed opportunity-a greatly missed opportunity-for us to cut health costs in this country and to save lives.

All of us come to this floor so many times and talk about saving lives. We come all the time talking about what has happened with health care costs in this country.

There is nothing we could do which would be more important than to pass the FDA regulation of tobacco. There is nothing we could do that would be more important to save lives and to cut health care costs in this country. Yet, unbelievably, the conference committee stripped this provision out of the bill.

How long are we going to allow the tobacco companies to remain above the law and outside the law?

What am I talking about? I talked about this a little bit on the floor yesterday, but I want to explain it again.

When I say "above the law," I really mean above the law. Macaroni and cheese-everyone knows macaroni and cheese. Kids eat a lot of macaroni and cheese, at least mine do. The side packet has every piece of information anyone would want to know about it and a lot more: calories, fiber, sugar, dietary fiber, saturated fat. It is all on here. It includes citric acid, sodium phosphate; everything is listed. But the same company that makes the macaroni and cheese also makes Marlboros. Guess what. Pick up a pack of Marlboros and there is no information about the contents. Why? Because there is a loophole in the law; Marlboros are outside the law.

How about claims made by tobacco companies? Marlboro Lights-it means nothing. When you have yogurt and it says "light yogurt," it means something. You read on here "one-third less calories." It is regulated by the Government. Not tobacco.

What about the other claims by the cigarette companies? When they make a claim, it doesn't mean anything, unlike every other product in the stream of commerce today. Take Advance Premium Lights. The back says "All the taste, less of the toxins." One would assume that means they are safer. Who knows there are less toxins? No one checks this. The Government does not regulate it. It is a dangerous product, and the Government does not regulate it. How crazy is this? How long are we going to put up with this?

Eclipse, another product. I read from the back what they claim:

Scientific studies show compared to other cigarettes Eclipse may present less risk of cancer, bronchitis, possibly emphysema, reduces secondhand smoke by 80 percent, leaves no lingering odor in hair or clothes.

More health claims, yet nothing to back it up.

The worst thing the tobacco companies do, the worst thing we allow them to do, the worst thing this Congress continues to allow them to do is to target kids.

Skoal, a pinch better. Apple blend. Does anyone think longtime Skoal users are using apple blend? Give me a break. Who is using this? Who are they targeting? Entry-level users. They are after kids with apple blend.

Cigarettes: Liquid Zoo, vanilla flavor. Give me a break. Kool, Mocha Taboo. Who is that after? Kids. Camels, Beach Breezer. Or this one: Kauai Kolada. Do you think a 60-year-old longtime tobacco consumer of Camels is using this? Obviously not. Who is using this and who the tobacco companies are targeting is kids. That is who they want to use this entry-level drug. They want to get them hooked. They get them hooked on something like this: Mandarin Mint Camels. That is what they do.

We allow this to continue. The FDA regulation bill would have stopped it, the bill the conference committee inexplicably stripped out of this bill, a bill the Senate passed overwhelmingly and sent to the conference committee. The conferees turned their backs on children's health, turned their backs on public health, and stripped it out. That is the reason we all should vote no on this conference report.

We come to the Senate many times and we talk about health costs. We say we need to do something about health costs. Let me state the figures from my home State of Ohio. If we do not think the passage of this bill would have done a lot, the annual health care costs in Ohio for smoking, our annual health care costs, what it costs in Ohio, is $3.4 billion, and that is just my home State of Ohio alone. Our Medicaid costs, much paid for by taxpayers-Federal, State-$1.1 billion. That is not even talking about the cost in human life. The cost in human life, adults in Ohio who die each year prematurely because of tobacco, 18,900; kids 18 years of age and younger in Ohio who ultimately die prematurely from smoking, 314,000.

I have today with me letters from the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, the Ohio Children's Hospital Association, the American Thoracic Society, and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids which I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the RECORD.

There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:
BREAK IN TEXT

Mr. DeWINE. They all make the point that the FDA provision that was in this bill would have saved lives, would have made a difference, would have protected our society.

Members may say: There are good things in this bill-I have to vote for this bill-good things for my State. I simply point out to them at some point we have to say enough is enough. At some point we have to say the status quo is not acceptable. At some point we have to look at the bigger picture than what is going on in this bill. Yes, there are good things for Ohio, there are good things for your State, but the statistics I cited, the tremendous health care costs in dollars and cents and human cost, have to be considered. At some point we have to take a stand.

We may not win this battle today, but we will be back. We will be back to finally regulate this one product that is escaping the law, the one product we are not regulating today, a product which, even when it is used as intended, is a dangerous product that kills many Americans. It must be regulated. It must be brought under the law. We must stop the tobacco companies from targeting our kids. We must stop them from going after children every single day, trying to make more children addicted, trying to kill more children. It is wrong. It is morally wrong.

This Congress, some day I hope in the not-too-distant future, will say we have had enough; we are not going to stand for it anymore; we are going to do what we have to do to save our children. The fringe benefit, besides saving lives, is going to be that we will dramatically slash health care costs in this country. I urge a "no" vote.