Full Text: Statement of HHS Secretary Shalala on 'Healthy Kids Act'

March 11, 1998

STATEMENT /*/

[1] I want to thank Representative Fazio, Democratic Leader Gephardt, Senator Conrad, Senator Durbin, and all the members of the Tobacco Working Group for their commitment to protecting our children.

[2] It's really distressing to hear, once again, how the tobacco industry has studied, and analyzed, and targeted even our youngest children for their products. But it breaks your heart to see a child taking a drag from a cigarette . . . a child snared by tobacco ads that promise grit, glamour, excitement and liberation . . . a child sneaking off for a smoke between classes . . . a child sitting at his desk having a nicotine fit . . . a child struggling to quit . . . a child hooked on a product that she's not old enough to buy legally.

[3] As President Clinton has said, teen smoking is a national epidemic. A deadly threat. A national tragedy. One in four high school seniors now smoke every day. Three-quarters of them will still be smoking five or six years later, even though they planned to stop.

[4] Tobacco is truly a teenage wasteland.

[5] And so, on behalf of America's children, I applaud Representative Fazio and his colleagues for their courage and leadership in sponsoring comprehensive tobacco legislation to protect our children. Like the legislation introduced by Senator Conrad last month, and the bipartisan bill that Senators Harkin, and Chafee, and Graham will introduce tomorrow, Fazio legislation steps up to a critical challenge that the President has posed to Congress.

[6] That challenge is to adopt comprehensive tobacco legislation this year that meets his five key principles for strong, EFFECTIVE legislation. That includes re-affirming the FDA's full authority to regulate children's access to tobacco, a major increase in the price of tobacco -- because we know that works, and protection for farmers and their communities -- because we know that's right.

[7] Bipartisan support is growing in Congress for comprehensive tobacco legislation. We've now reached a critical milestone in our marathon effort to protect our children from the leading preventable cause of death. It's a race against the clock -- only 68 working days are left in the session. It's a race against the calendar -- every day, another three thousand children will become regular smokers -- and a thousand of them will have their lives cut short from smoking. It's a race that calls out to every member of Congress from across the country and across the aisle.

[8] It calls on Congress to stand up to tobacco . . . to stand up for children . . . and to stand out in history.

[9] The clock is ticking. The finish line is in sight. Think about the children sitting in class, craving a cigarette. Think about the young people trying to resist the siren call of the billion- dollar tobacco marketing campaigns. Think about the young people -- like those here today -- who are standing up to tobacco to protect themselves -- and their peers. And think about cutting teen smoking in half in five years, about stopping almost three million children from taking that first drag -- and preventing almost 1 million premature deaths.

[10] That is what Congress can do this year by enacting comprehensive tobacco legislation that meets the President's five key principles. Here's our message to Congress: For the sake of millions of children across America -- don't go home without passing comprehensive tobacco legislation. Don't go home without passing comprehensive tobacco legislation. Don't go home without it.

FOOTNOTE

/*/ This text is the basis of Secretary Shalala's oral remarks. It should be used with the understanding that some material may be added or omitted during presentation.

END OF FOOTNOTE