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�THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(Jersey City, New Jersey)
For Immediate Release
May 7, 1996
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AT PARTICIPATION IN KICK BUTTS DAY
Woodbridge High School
Woodbridge, New Jersey
2:00 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Senator Lautenberg, thank you for your
presence here and your tireless efforts to help protect young people from the dangers of smoking.
Mayor McGreevey, thank you for your warm welcome and your strong leadership and the
powerful statement that you made today. I hope all of the citizens who elected you were listening.
And Jennifer Crea, thank you. Didn't she do a terrific job? Let's give her a hand. (Applause.)
I want to thank Bill Hipe (phonetic) from the New Jersey Cancer Institute and Dave Brown
and Harry Carson from the New York Giants for appearing here before me. I thank your
superintendent, Lee Seitz, and your principal, Dave Peterson, for making me feel welcome here
today. (Applause.)
I thank the band for being here today. (Applause.) And I want to thank Professor John
Slade and your peer leader, Pam Chesky, and the students who met with me earlier to talk about
their efforts to stem the tide of teen smoking. I want to thank all of you who came up with these
signs; they're great. I love this -- they're great signs. (Applause.)
In his absence, I also want to recognize one person who is not here, the public advocate
for New York City, Mark Green, who came up with the idea for this National Kick Butts Day,
and organized it in cooperation with the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. He's been working
on this now for about six years, and I really appreciate his commitment.
I want to talk to the young people here a little in the beginning about how this issue of
young people smoking - or hopefully, young people not smoking - fits into my vision for your
lives. There is a reason that I became the first President ever to take on this issue, and it's not
1
�a negative reason. It is true that previous Presidents have not done it, and it may be that the
power of the lobbies on the other side had something to do with that. But I felt that we had no
choice.
The Vice President lost a sister to lung cancer at a very early age whom he loved very
much. My mother, who died of cancer at the age of 70, smoked two packs a day for most of her
life till my eight-year-old daughter talked her out of it, much in the same way Senator
Lautenberg's daughter talked him out of it. But beyond that, I want you to understand that we
are doing what we're doing because I feel we have no choice, and let me explain why.
I want all the young people here to grow up in an America that is stronger and more full
of opportunity for you than any time in our history before. And I believe that in order
for that to happen it is my responsibility, number one, to try to help provide opportunities for all
those who are willing to work for them; number two, to try to help bring the American people
together so that all this diversity - I look out here in this student body and I see the face of
America - we have more racial and ethnic represented in our great, throbbing, thriving
democracy than any democracy in human history. And if we can prove that we can all work
together and help each other and respect each other, that will be an enormous asset in the global
society of the 21st century.
I want our country to be strong and to lead the world for peace and freedom. And in order
for all that to happen, we've got to have strong people. We have to give you the tools to make
the most of your own lives. The first and most important of those is a good education. But you
also need a clean environment and safe streets and communities that work and the opportunity to
be supported in a strong family. All these things require a partnership between people in public
live and private citizens.
But none of this will amount to anything - not the economic opportunities, not the
opportunity for America to come together and bridge our differences and be a stronger
community, not the strength of your country, not even the quality of the educational system or the
fact that we got the crime rate going down and we're continuing to fight for a clean environment
- unless you - unless you make the decision to make the most of your own life.
And it starts with the decision to respect who you are, to respect the resources that God
gave you, and to make the most of them. That's what this anti-teen smoking campaign is all
about. We now know what the health dangers are. We now know that advertising,
notwithstanding, it is not a glamorous thing to risk your health and your life.
The students that I just met with from Woodbridge showed me an incredible collection of
tobacco ads and trinkets, t-shirts, hats and other give-aways, and tobacco products, all of which
were found right here in your community, and all of which your fellow students thought were
enticing young people to smoke. Now you've got a group of students here and we recently -just
before I came out, I talked with students in 11 cities throughout the country, all of whom are
�committed to turning this around. And I know that in many ways the influence of young people
on their peers is far greater than the influence of older people, even the President -- maybe
especially the President. (Laughter.)
So this is very hopeful. But our administration has issued a challenge to people all across
America and especially to our young people to create a groundswell of involvement to protect our
children from the dangers of tobacco.
Those of you who are volunteering in this effort are collecting information about
advertising and availability of cigarettes, which can help to save lives. It can certainly help to
influence business owners to be more vigilant in checking the age of tobacco customers. You may
even do something like young people did in Santa Ana, California, when they got billboard
companies to remove cigarette billboards located close to schools. You can help encourage people
to stay away from tobacco, and you can take on the message of the advertising.
Now, all of these things are profoundly important. You've heard all the statistics, but let
me just tell you the one that grips me the most - 3,000 people under the age of 18 start smoking
every day, and 1,000 of those 3,000 will die sooner because of it. Oh, maybe they'll die at 60
instead of 65. That may seem a long way away to you when you're 18 - it seems right around
the corner to me. (Laughter.) And those five years get a lot more important to you as you go
along. Not only that, you want to be healthy while you're living them if you can.
Now, we can't control our genetic makeup; we can't control what may happen to us in an
unfortunate accident. Some of us will, it's terrible to say, may even become victims of crime.
That is no reason for giving up. We should control those things which we can control about our
lives. Our obligation is to live as long and as well as we can, to do as much as we can with
whatever lot we get in life. We should not be self-destructive, we should do no harm.
That's what this whole thing is about - 3,000 kids start smoking every day; 1,000 will die
sooner because of it. All the other facts are not nearly as compelling as that. Do you want to take
a one-in-three chance that you're going to shorten your life?
Let me tell you something. This is hard for you to believe, but I can actually remember
when I was in high school. (Laughter.) I have never missed one of my high school reunions,
never, not a one. Every five years I show up. Every five years. I have followed the lives of my
classmates, and I am telling you, there are consequences to all the decisions we make.
Your country needs you. We need you to be well-educated. We need you to be able to
raise strong families. We need you to be able to raise good kids yourselves. We need you to be
able to make contributions to communities like this one. We need you to prove all the cynics
wrong when they say we can't adjust to this new society in which we're living, and no country
can be a democracy with as much diversity as we have. We need you for all those reasons.
But you deserve the life you are going to be given. Do not throw it away. One in three
chance that you will end your life sooner - that is a lousy bargain for no benefit. Don't do it.
�(Applause.)
I'll tell you something else we know. And it's already been said today, but I'm want to
say it again. About 90 percent of all new smokers are young people under the age of 18. Almost
a hundred percent of people who are actually addicted to smoking start when they're under 18.
You know, occasionally somebody will try it when they're 21 or 22 or 25. Almost never does
anybody become a regular, addicted smoker if they don't start when they're young.
That's an important thing to know. I want to say to all of you, I know you can't do this
alone. I'm gratified at the willingness of the adults I met today to support you. I'm encouraged
by the statements of the political leaders here today in support of this endeavor. I know that there
are things that we have to do as well, but I also want to encourage more people in this community
to help. Our religious institutions, our churches, our synagogues in America, increasingly our
temples and our mosques - people imparting values to young people to stand up and make the
most of their own lives and to say no. And again I say, we need you young people to influence
one another.
We have, as you know, proposed ways to crack down on advertising — Senator Lautenberg
referred to it - that make - advertising that makes young people think smoking is cool. Last
August, I announced the Food and Drug Administration's proposed regulations to make it harder
for minors to buy cigarettes by reducing their access to vending machines and free samples, and
by limiting ads that appeal to young people.
In January we issued the Synar Regulation, named for the late former Congressman from
Oklahoma, Mike Synar, to demand that in return for the federal money they get, states must do
more to enforce their own laws. The amazing thing is that it is illegal for children to smoke in
every state in America right now, but the laws are not being enforced. Now, we say if you want
the federal money, enforce your own laws and do the right thing. (Applause.)
In March of this year we had a meeting at the White House with over 100 leaders in the
areas of health, religion, sports, business, education and other services to children, to
highlight what they are now doing to help prevent young people from starting to smoke, and to
pledge an even more intense unified effort. We know businesses have a special role, and I want
to talk about this a moment. Businesses, of course, have the legal right to sell cigarettes to adults,
but they also have a legal and moral responsibility to prevent the sale to minors.
I met with a number of your students, as I said before. Three of them told me they went
out to see if they could buy cigarettes. Two were 16. One tried 10 times, the other tried five.
They were 15 for 15 in buying cigarettes and not even being carded -- 15 for 15. One was 13,
and smiled in a way that said " I know I look 13, not 18." He was three for eight. And none of
those three people that sold him those cigarettes thought he was 18 years of age, not a single one.
So there's a responsibility on the part of business to do better.
�I was proud to announce at the White House in March that the Chairman of the A&P
Supermarket chain will recommend to his board this summer that the whole chain discontinue the
use of cigarette vending machines by the end of the year. (Applause.) And you may have heard
that just last week, the 3M Company and the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility
reached an agreement that 3M would no longer accept tobacco advertising for its billboards, and
good for them. (Applause.)
This is the first major national media company to take this step. I want to commend Livio
DeSimone, the Chairman and CEO of 3M, and Reverend Michael Crosby of the Interfaith Center
for this remarkable accomplishment.
And finally, I'd like to say something to the tobacco companies. Of course, the students
have to do their part and ultimately, the decision is theirs. Of course, the rest of us have to do
our part. But you in the tobacco business now surely see the clear emerging consensus in
America that advertising, billboards and promotions should not appeal to the children of this
country. (Applause.)
And so I urge you, be responsible. Do not stay outside of and apart from this debate. Do
not engage in practices the American people have rejected. Agree to the common-sense
restrictions proposed by the FDA last year on advertising that affects children. Join with us. Do
the right thing. Don't do the wrong thing; do the right thing. Do it now and help us. Play your
role in stopping this problem before it starts for millions and millions and millions of young
Americans. (Applause.)
I say again to you in closing, the young people here in this auditorium and throughout this
country, those of us who are my age and older, we've lived most of our lives. Whatever happens
to us, we probably have more yesterdays than tomorrows. This is about you; it's about your
future; it's about the kind of America you will live in. It's the kind of America you will leave for
your children. We are moving into this era of absolutely unimaginable possibilities, and which
if my generation does its job right we will leave to you more security from being destroyed from
without, more harmony of people working together in this country and more opportunity than any
generation of Americans has every known.
But you have to take advantage of the opportunity. And that means you need a good
education. It means you're entitled to good schools and safe streets and a clean environment. But
first, it means you have to decide to do no harm to yourself. Begin with that.
Thank you and God bless you.
END
2:20 P.M. EDT
�THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
March 20, 1996
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
TO ADVOCATES AGAINST YOUTH SMOKING
The East Room
3:50 P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Thank you, Alan. And I want to thank the
Lung Association, the Heart Association, the Cancer Society, all the physicians who are here
today with the various medical groups. Dr. Brisco, it's good to see you. And I thank all of you
for being here.
I thank Secretary Shalala and Commissioner Kessler and CDC Director David Satcher for
their leadership. I want to thank someone who is not here, but who had a lot to do with this effort
- I thank the Vice President, who lost his own beloved sister to lung cancer, for his strength and
leadership in this endeavor.
Normally, I don't think the people of America should give the President an award for
anything, because the President's job is award enough. It is an uncommon gift with a great
responsibility. But, to tell you the truth, I'm kind of tickled about this today. (Laughter.)
Because I admired, indeed, I loved Mike Synar very much. He was a good man and a brave man
who gave the rest of us a great deal of energy and hope and direction. And our country could do
with a few more like him - people that just rear back and stand up and do the right thing. And
if it doesn't work out, they just laugh and go on, and don't expect any kind of a blue ribbon or
award at the end of the day.
When I gave the State of the Union address and spoke about the challenges facing our
country as we move into the next century I said, and I repeat, that our first challenge - not the
government, the people's first challenge - is to strengthen our families and cherish all our
children, and give every single one of our young people the childhood that he or she deserves.
One of the most important things we can do in meeting that challenges is to protect our children
from what is rapidly becoming the single greatest threat to their health - cigarette smoking and
tobacco addiction.
�This is, like other challenges, as Secretary Shalala so eloquently said, a challenge we have
to meet together. To be sure, government has a role to play. I want to acknowledge the presence
of two other members of Congress here today who stood shoulder to shoulder with Mike Synar
- our good friend, Congressman Dick Durbin from Illinois, who run his primary for the United
States Senate last night. Congratulations, Dick. (Applause.) It is a measure of his commitment
to the issue that I talked to him after midnight his time last night, but he suited up and showed up
here today anyway. We thank you. And Congressman Marty Meehan from Massachusetts, thank
you, sir, for being here and for your good work here as well. (Applause.)
I thank the parents of America who have become increasingly sensitive to this issue and
are working hard to teach their children. I thank the young people here who are working hard
to reach out to their peers and who often can have more influence on their peers than their parents
or the President. I thank the athletes and the entertainers who are committed to being role
models, the businesses who control access to tobacco products, the teachers, the coaching, the
advertising executives. I thank the health care professionals and the volunteers.
Because of this great sea of people in America, what was once the work of a few lonely
activists has grown into a national movement to protect the health and the future of our children.
Three thousand young people start to smoke every day, and a thousand of them will have their
lives shortened as a result. It seems to me that, as President, if I say that what I really want is
for every American child who is willing to work for it to have his or her shot at the American
Dream, that cannot be done unless we, first of all, try to guarantee them the existence and the
health necessary to pursue their dreams. And that is also what the rest of us must do.
We have, as all of you know, proposed ways to crack down on advertising that tells young
people smoking is cool. We've proposed ways to make it harder for children and teenagers to buy
cigarettes by reducing their access to vending machines and free samples. We issued the Synar
regulation in January to demand that states in return for the federal money they received do more
to enforce their own laws against the sale of tobacco to minors. It's worth noting here that it is
illegal in every single state of the Union to sell any form of tobacco to minors.
We're working closely with state governments to ensure that the Synar regulations are
implemented quickly and decisively. And I have to say that so far the results on that front have
been quite encouraging to me.
All of you I want to thank for supporting these efforts. All of you who have been fighting
for a long time are now working to bring your experience in new ways to bear on this effort
through the National Center for Tobacco-Free Kids. And I want to welcome especially some of
the people in this room who are new to the struggle in this effort, but who can make all the
difference.
First, let me say I am very glad to announce that two groups of America's athletes heroes to so many young people - have come forward to help. Young women in particular are
bombarded with billboards, which suggest that smoking is cool and glamorous and a good way
�to stay thin. The women of the U.S. National Soccer Team know better. This spring and this
summer, they are going to make America proud when they compete in the Olympics. And just
when thousands of young girls around the country are looking up to them, they are going to make
it clear that smoking is not cool.
Working with the federal government, they have launched a major promotional
advertisement effort called "Smoke-free Kids and Soccer." The effort, including television
advertising, will be centered around the team's matches all across our country leading up to the
Olympics in Atlanta this summer. It will make a real difference in people's lives, and two
members of that team are here today. I would like for them and be recognized. Thank you very
much. (Applause.)
Former Major League baseball players, Joe Garagiola and Bill Tuttle, along with Mrs.
Tuttle, have stepped up to the plate to help get spit tobacco out of baseball. As leaders of the
National Spit Tobacco Education Campaign, they are working to educate players about the
dangers and to help protect the health of young fans who look up to them. In fact, they have just
come back from a trip down to spring training in Florida where they met with team owners and
the players' union, and they are making some very impressive progress as well. I want to ask Joe
and Bill and Mrs. Tuttle to stand and I want to thank them. Thank you so much, and God bless
you. (Applause.)
I also want to thank some businesses who are doing their part. Businesses, of course, have
a right to sell cigarettes to
adults, but they also have a responsibility - a legal one and a moral one - to prevent cigarette
sales to minors. I'm very proud and happy to announce that major United States supermarket
chains are taking decisive steps to curtail the sale of cigarettes and tobacco to young people. A&P
Company, Giant Food, and Pratts supermarkets are instituting mandatory training of all their
cashiers to ensure that they know the
law and understand their obligations to enforce
it. That means requiring identification from all young people who seek to buy cigarettes.
In July, A&P Chairman James Wood will recommend to the Board of Directors that A&P
discontinue the use of all vending machines by the end of the year. Giant is going to eliminate
vending machines in all stores except for their 24-hour stores. Pratts doesn't allow any cigarette
vending machines at all. And in the meantime, A&P and Giant are converting their vending
machines so they only operate with tokens that must be purchased from a cashier.
I urge every supermarket chain and every individual grocery store in America to follow
the lead of these three companies and shut down tobacco sales to minors. I'd like to ask the
people here from those companies to stand to be recognized today. Thank you very much.
(Applause.)
Let me just say one other thing about them. You know, I spend a great deal of my time
as your President trying to find ways to both generate more jobs for America and to help
American businesses make more money, because both those things are very good for our country.
And I'm proud of the fact that our country has produced in the last three years 8.4 million new
�jobs. And unlike the past 15 years, almost all of these jobs have been created in the private sector
as we have downsized the government.
Therefore, any President and any citizen must think seriously before we ask a business to
do something that will cost it money. This decision costs these people money. And they did it
because it was the right thing to do for America. And I thank you for that very much.
(Applause.)
I want to thank all the activists who are here in the room who have been recognized and
those of you who have not. And especially I'd like to say a word of thanks to the former
employees of tobacco companies who have stood up to tell the world the truth.
And I want to recognize one in particular, the late Victor Crawford, whose wife, Linda, is here
today. He was a great champion for our children. We miss him today. We wish he were here,
and we know he's smiling down on us. Thank you, Linda, for being here, and God bless you.
(Applause.)
My friends, we have come a long way in this endeavor; indeed, a long way since our
administration made the first announcement about our efforts to reduce tobacco advertising and
tobacco sales to young people. Now we have supermarket chains, athletes, workers, private
citizens who have recognized the threat tobacco poses. And this movement is producing results.
Just last week there was a major breakthrough when Liggett agreed to settle its lawsuits.
It became the very first tobacco company to acknowledge that tobacco can be deadly. This is the
first crack in the stone wall of denial.
My message to other tobacco companies is, therefore, simple and direct:
responsibility. Sell to adults, but draw the line on children.
Take
I'm happy that Liggett has also agreed to begin changing their own advertising practices
so that they have less influence over young people. That's a good start. And now I want them
and the
other tobacco companies to go the distance. If selling cigarettes to minors is illegal, no good
corporate citizen should be aiming advertising at those minors. (Applause.)
My fellow Americans, we can win this fight. We can save countless lives of our young
people. We can give them the future that we imagine when we look into the bright faces of these
children who are here. But we have to do it together. It is folly to pretend that any one of us,
including the President, can do it alone.
When he graduated from high school in 1968, Mike Synar called on his classmates to quote - "Stand and be counted when the occasion arises." Well, he always did. This occasion
requires us to do it for him, and I am honored that we can do it in his name.
Thank you and God bless you all. (Applause.)
�END
4:10 P.M. EST
�THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
February 28, 1997
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
DURING TOBACCO REGULATIONS ANNOUNCEMENT
The Roosevelt Room
10:47 A.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Anna Santiago, for the power of your example and for
that very fine introduction. I want to thank all the young people who are here, the advocates who
are here, the members of Congress who are here who have championed this battle for so long.
Especially, I thank the Vice President, Secretary Shalala for what they have done. And, of
course, I want to have a special word of thanks to David Kessler. I think he's had a bigger impact
on the lives and health and the future of the American people than any person who ever held the
job of FDA Commissioner before him, and I thank him very much.
Because of David Kessler, we have been able to undertake this initiative to protect our
young people from tobacco. Because of your actions over the last six years, more AIDS and
cancer patients are getting better drugs faster, as well; more people are getting better information
on their food labels; every American can go to bed knowing that the food on their tables, the
medicines in their cabinets are safe. You've left us a great legacy. All Americans should be
grateful to you and we'll do our best to replace you. The Vice President and I would like to be
invited to Yale from time to time to give a speech. (Laughter.)
Let me say that the reason we're all here today is to ensure that Anna and all the young
people behind me, and the young people all across America for whom they stand today, have a
chance to live out their dreams. They can only do that if they choose positive and healthy
lifestyles and if we give them the support they need to make those choices. That's why the
number one goal of the drug strategy we announced earlier this week is to motivate our children
to reject illegal drugs.
Most of us have an instinctive urge to protect our young people from danger. We teach
them to look both ways before crossing the street. We tell them not to touch a hot stove. We
make sure they bundle up before going out in the cold. We should wrap that same protective arm
around them when it comes to resisting smoking and the advertising and marketing of cigarettes.
�More Americans die every year from smoking-related diseases than from AIDS, car
accidents, murders, suicides and fires combined. Today it's estimated that 4.5 million of our
children and adolescents smoke. Another 1 million use smokeless tobacco. The problem is
getting worse. Smoking rates among 8th graders have risen 50 percent in the last six years. One
out of every three young people who picks up this deadly habit will have their lives shortened
from the terrible diseases caused by smoking. As parents, as leaders, as citizens, all of us have a
moral obligation to do what we can to protect them. That's why last August the FDA took bold
action to protect our children from the dangers of tobacco.
We knew it would be a tough battle, but the health and well-being of our children are
worth that. We set a goal of reducing tobacco use by children and adolescents by 50 percent over
seven years. To do that, we initiated the nation's first ever comprehensive effort to restrict access
and limit the appeal of tobacco to children.
Today is the first day that some of these rules take effect ~ quite appropriately on David
Kessler's last day on the federal payroll. First, we're making the law of the land what is
already the law in every state: no sale of tobacco products to anyone under age 18. Second,
we're now requiring age verification by photo ID for anyone under the age of 27 for the purchase
of tobacco products.
From now on, in every store in America, our children will be told: No ID, no sale. By
requiring ID checks for people under 27, store clerks and managers will no longer have to guess
the age of those seeking to by cigarettes.
Studies show that minors succeed in buying cigarettes over the counter nearly 70 percent
of the time. That simply must stop. With these new requirements, we'll help to keep cigarettes
out of reach for our young people while giving store clerks and managers a tool they need to
make sure they're not inadvertently violating the law by selling to minors.
Before we came out here. Secretary Shalala asked Anna if all of her efforts and all of
these efforts were having any impact in reducing the tendency of her peers to smoke. And she
said, yeah, a lot of them are quitting because it's too much hassle now. (Laughter.) That's the
idea. (Laughter.) That's good.
Over the last three weeks, we've conducted massive education campaigns to let retailers
know how they can comply with these new rules. We've even prepared this new guide, A
Retailer's Guide to the New Federal Regulations - appealing advertising, multi-color.
(Laughter.) This has been made available to 500,000 retailers around the country. I want every
retailer and every community across our nation to join with us in this important effort.
Parents must continue to be the first line of defense, but all the rest of us have to make
these rules work, and the retailers can play a major role. I honestly believe the overwhelming
�majority of them want to do so, and most of them are parents too. They have children too. We
have a common interest in doing this job together. And we hope this guide will help them to
achieve that goal.
Cigarettes are still legal for adults. If they want to smoke, they can do so. But we have
now clear as a nation drawn a line where our children are concerned. We have done it together.
We are committed together. And now we must make it real together.
Thank you very much. (Applause.)
END
10:54 A.M. EST
�THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
August 23, 1996
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
DURING THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF FOOD AND DRUG
ADMINISTRATION RULE ON CHILDREN AND TOBACCO
The Rose Garden
1:52 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Thank you, Linda, for your courage and your
commitment to carry on Victor's legacy and your own crusade. Thank you, Mr. Vice President,
Secretary Shalala, General McCaffrey. I'd like to say a special word of thanks to Commissioner
Kessler and to Phil Lee, the Assistant Secretary of HHS. In different ways they have a great
triumph today. Thank you, Dick Durbin, for being the first member of Congress ever to talk to
me about this issue. Thank you, Marty Meehan. Thank you to my former colleagues, the
Attorneys General. Mr. Kelly, I know you're retiring this year as the Senior Attorney General
of America, and we served together back in the dark ages and I can't imagine a more fitting
capstone to your career than the fact that you've been a part of this and we thank you. Thank
you, Mark Green.
I thank all the medical professionals who are here. I thank all the young people who are
here, including Anna Santiago and Neal Stewart McSpadden, who came out here with us. I want
to say a special word of thanks to three members of Congress who are not here, but who deserve
to be because of their work on this issue - Senator Lautenberg of New Jersey, Senator Wellstone
of Minnesota, and Congressman Henry Waxman of California. Thank you, Joe Califano, for
beating on me about these issues all these years we've been friends and long before I ever became
President. Thank you, sir. (Laughter.)
Thank you, Dr. Koop, for everything you have done to try to bring some sanity into the
health policy of this country. This has been a great week for you — we had the
Kassebaum-Kennedy bill a couple of days ago and this today. Maybe you can design an encore
for us over the next month or two. (Laughter.) But you have been a great force for good in this
country and we're grateful to you.
If I might, I'd like to say just a couple of personal words to some people who really
deserve an enormous amount of credit for this decision. The Vice President was altogether too
�modest and too restrained, but the first time we began to discuss this was about the time the FDA
opened their inquiry. And he looked at me and I looked at him and I said, well, you know what
this might lead to? And he said, I certainly hope so. (Laughter.) And I said, well, you know
- I shouldn't say this, this is our private conversation - I said, you know, it really isn't an
accident that nobody else has ever tried to do this. (Laughter.) It's not an accident. This is not
going to be one of those freebies, you know. (Laughter.)
And he began to talk about his sister who died of lung cancer, and how much he loved his
sister. We've had so many conversations about his sister that -- not just about this, but about her
life, the fact that she was one of the very first Peace Corps volunteers - that I feel almost that I
know her personally. And I could see in his eyes this determination to redeem the promise of her
wonderful life. And I would also like to thank Nancy Gore Hunger's husband, Frank Hunger,
who now serves as our Assistant Attorney General for the civil division. Thank you for being
here, Frank. I know this is a great day for you.
I'd like to thank my wife, who has been talking to me about this issue for 20 years; and
my wonderful daughter, who convinced my mother to quit smoking on her eighth birthday something I was never able to do.
So each of us has a personal journey here that has brought us to this point. But today we
are here as a nation, to try to help our parents do a better job in raising their children to be strong
and healthy and good citizens, and to do our duty in that regard. We've tried to do a lot of things
to help our kids over the last four years, and to help parents raise their children. We've worked
hard on cultural issues, supporting things like the V-chip and educational television.
We had a big increase in support for anti-drug programs in our schools and for drug
treatment. And we vetoed efforts to reduce those, although we should be investing more. We
have a zero tolerance policy to keep guns out of school; we're requiring our states to enforce
anti-drinking and driving laws; we defended drug testing cases involving student athletes; we've
worked to bring order and discipline into our children's lives by encouraging and giving support
to communities that try things like community-based curfews and school uniforms and tougher
enforcement of truancy laws.
We know, however, that in spite of all the things that are going right in this country - with
the economy up and more jobs, with the crime rate down, with fewer people on welfare and food
stamps, dramatically higher percentage of our young children immunized - that we have
continued to see substantial rises in tobacco and drug use among our young people. We know that
while the scientific evidence is clearly unclear, children who do smoke cigarettes are much more
likely to engage in other risky behavior, including the use of marijuana and cocaine.
So we have to keep pressing forward to deal with these challenges, every one of them.
And I want to thank General McCaffrey for being willing to give up his four stars and magnificent
campaign to take on the drug fight for America's children and America's future. I thank you, sir.
�Today we are taking direct action to protect our children from tobacco and especially the
advertising that hooks children on a product. I hear from time to time politicians say that they
don't really think advertising has much to do with it. And whenever I hear one say that I say,
well, how come we're all spending so much money advertising when we run for office then?
(Laughter.) If it's immaterial, let's just pull it all off and see what happens to us. (Laughter.)
Cigarette smoking is the most significant public health problem facing our people. More
Americans die every year from smoking related diseases than from AIDS, car accidents, murders,
suicides and fires combined. The human cost doesn't begin to calculate the economic costs - the
thing that galvanized the legal claims of the Attorney Generals, the absolutely staggering burdens
on the American health care system and on our economy in general.
But make no mistake about it, the human cost is by far the most important issue. For
every day, even though it's illegal, 3,000 of our young people start smoking, and 1,000 of them
will die earlier than they would otherwise die as a result. The vast majority of people who smoke
in America today started when they were teenagers. If they don't start smoking when they're on
a schoolyard, it's very likely they never will.
This epidemic is no accident. Children are bombarded daily by. massive marketing
campaigns that play on their vulnerabilities, their insecurities, their longings to be something in
the world. Joe Camel promises that smoking will make you cool. Virginia Slims' models
whisper that smoking will help you stay thin. T-shirts and sports sponsorships sends the message
that healthy and vigorous people smoke and that smoking is fun.
A year ago this month, we launched a comprehensive strategy to kick tobacco out of the
lives of our children. We proposed strong restrictions on advertising, marketing and sales of
cigarettes to children. In the year that followed, the FDA received a torrent of comments from
the public - more than 700,000 - by far the largest outpouring of public response in the FDA's
history. The FDA has heard from doctors, scientists, tobacco companies and tens of thousands
of children. We have carefully considered the evidence. It is clear that the action being taken
today is the right thing to do, scientifically, legally, and morally.
So today we are acting. First, young people will have to prove their age with an ID to buy
cigarettes. Second, cigarette vending machines will be banned from anywhere children and
teenagers can go. Third, children will be free of tobacco advertising on billboards near their
schools and playgrounds, and billboards in other locations will be restricted to black and white,
text only messages. Fourth, if a tobacco ad is in a publication children and teenagers are likely
to read, it also has to be black and white with no pictures. Fifth, companies will no longer be
permitted to target young people with marketing gimmicks like T-shirts and gym bags. Sixth,
cigarette companies may no longer use brand names to sponsor tennis tournaments, auto races and
other sporting events.
�Finally, the FDA will soon take steps to require the tobacco industry to educate our
children about the real dangers of smoking. There is abundant evidence of both these troubling
trends that a lot of young people simply don't believe there's any risks to their health.
With this historic action we are taking today Joe Camel and the Marlboro Man will be out
of our children's reach forever. (Applause.)
I want to be clear - we've said it before, let's say it again - cigarettes are a legal product
for adults. They have a perfect right to decide whether to smoke. There are many, many good
people who have been farming, growing tobacco for generations in their families. They have a
right to make a living for themselves and their families, and they will continue to do so. But let's
be honest: We hope that over the long run, if we can dramatically reduce rates of smoking among
children, the overall consumption of cigarettes will decline. If that happens, these good people
who farmed the land and worked hard should not be left behind. And all of us who have sought
this course have a responsibility to help them if they face difficulties. (Applause.)
The cigarette companies still have a right to market their products to adults. But today we
are drawing the line on children, fulfilling our obligation as adults to protect them from influences
that too often are stronger than they are.
As I said before, I want to say again, this action is a tribute to so many of you who are
here today. To the parents, the teachers, the doctors, the public officials. Dr. Bristow, I
particularly want to commend the AM A for its writings in its journal, its relentless efforts to
educate the American people through the physicians of this country. But I'd like to pay special
tribute to the children of America who have joined this crusade, who have organized and led a
massive grass-roots movement throughout America to educate and inform people about the
dangers of tobacco smoking for children.
They've staged teach-ins and "Kick Butts" days all across the country. They have used
positive peer pressure on people who could care less what a lot of us old fogies think to teach their
fellow students that smoking is not cool. So I want to thank these children for the work they have
done to save their generation. (Applause.)
A lot of the work we do around here we know will only be fully manifest in people's lives
in the future. We know we can't guarantee the success of any individual or family, but we have
to guarantee them the tools and conditions that will enable them to make the most of their own
lives. Today we take a real step to make sure that they have those lives in full measure. We have
today met our responsibility to help our country protect its values, protect its children, and ensure
its future.
Thank you all for what you've done. (Applause.)
END
2:07 P.M. EDT
�THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(Jersey City, New Jersey)
For Immediate Release
May 7, 1996
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
IN TELEPHONE CONFERENCE WITH
KICK BUTTS DAY STUDENT PARTICIPANTS
Woodbridge High School
Woodbridge, New Jersey
1:25 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: (In progress*) - And we have proposed an FDA regulation to crack
down on — (inaudible). We've proposed ways to make it harder for children and for teenagers to
buy cigarettes by reducing their access to vending machines and free samples. But we also need
people who are - (inaudible) -to be more rigorous. We just spoke to three young people here
who said they had no trouble at all buying cigarettes. Two were 16 and one was 13, and they said
the overall success rate was something like 74 percent for the students in the middle and high
schools who - (inaudible) - to buy cigarettes. So we're going to have to work on that.
I just want to say that I believe that this is a problem we can solve if we work together,
if we see young people like these young people here working with their parents, their schools,
their communities to fight against the lure and the availability of smoking for teenagers. And
we're going to do what we can at the national level to do our part as well.
Mark Green, I want to especially thank you for your role in making today happen and for
being a critical national leader on this issue; for your successful campaign to ban cigarette
machines in New York City in 1990; to your leadership in organizing this national effort. You've
really been a pioneer and we're very grateful to you.
And I thought you might like to give a brief overview of this day. Can you hear me,
Mark? We may have lost him.
MR. GREEN: - (in progress) - proposal to keep cigarettes from children. What do you
1
�think, kids? (Applause.)
It doesn't get better than that. Mr. President, Kick Butts Day is basically kids working
with other kids to talk back and fight back against the tobacco merchants. It's really a David and
Goliath story. The Goliaths, of course, are the tobacco companies who spend $6 billion a year
in advertising and promotion to try to recruit new smokers from the minor leagues. And the
David are all of the targeted children, here in Newark and around the country, with their slave
shops being surveys and poster contests and counter ads.
So this is the first annual - I'm an optimist, Mr. President - this is the first annual Kick
Butts Day in a dozen cities. It's kind of a kids version of the Great American Smoke-outs.
There, adults try to stop. With Kick Butts Day, kids know never to start.
And the idea, if I could, came out of two experiences I had six years ago as the city's
Consumer Affairs Commissioner. The first is I was taking my son, Jonah, to kindergarten class;
we drove by a billboard. And unprompted, he said, Daddy, why do some people want other
people to smoke and buy? I was startled and said, well, they say it's a legal product and you're
free to smoke or not. And he said, oh, they make money from death?
Second, a couple weeks later, I spoke on the same day in Queens, this borough, to a 30
six-year-olds in the morning and a separate group of 30 seniors in the evening. I asked each, do
you know what the Joe Camel cartoonfigureis? Only two of the senior citizens, Mr. President,
could identify Joe Camel. But all but two of the students could identify Joe Camel.
And so seeing how that ad pitched particularly and successfully to children, I'm so proud
that we today are educating children about the dangers, as you said, rather than the lures of this
lifelong, if not life-ending habit.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, Mark. And I want to say again how much
I appreciate the work you have been doing. You have been out there on this issue a long time,
and I think the country is coming around. And I think the young people like those who have
joined me here today are going to play a critical role in helping us to defeat this problem.
I would like to ask Governor Chiles of Florida, if he is on the phone, to say a few words.
He has had a terrific fight in Florida in his efforts to protect children from the dangers of
smoking, and I honor him for his courage and his determination not to back down in the face of
intense pressure.
Governor Chiles?
GOVERNOR CHILES: Mr. President, we're very happy to be here today. I'm at
Pineview Grammar School in Tallahassee. I'm here with a great deal of our students. They're
all drug free, and they are having a great time today. And we've got some PRIDE students that
�are here from four of our Tallahassee high schools, and Taylor County PRIDE is here as well.
(Applause.) And they're giving some entertainment and lessons to our kids. We're just delighted
to be on the line with you and to help you celebrate Kick Butts Day.
I want to tell you, Mr. President, the legislature has just adjourned in Florida; they did not
override my veto, so our suit against tobacco companies is still going on. We're all determined
here - we're going to kill Joe Camel, that's what we're going to do. (Applause.)
And we're just - we're very happy to get a chance to join with you in this celebration of
this day. I know you've got a number of other cities participating in the conference call, in
Madison and Milwaukee and in Cleveland. And I want to call on Lamont Tinker (phonetic), a
fifth-grader now, to say a word to you, Mr. President.
LAMONT: Well, President Clinton, first I learned that smoking is extremely harmful to
the body. I thought smoking was just harmful to the lungs. Smoking weakens the body and stops
it from working. I think the Kick Butts Campaign is an excellent way to stop people from
smoking, and I thank you for making it nationwide so people can see the dangers of smoking.
I give the Kick Butts Campaign a thumbs-up. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.
GOVERNOR CHILES: Mr. President, Lamont and myself and all of the kids at Pine
View and all of our PRIDE young people are just delighted to have a chance to join with you
today.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Governor. And I want to thank that young student. He
did a terrific job.
I want to say again to the young people who are listening on this call, you can very often
have a lot more influence on your peers than the rest of us can. And I'll keep working in
Washington to do what we should be doing at the national level, but you have to do your part in
making sure that in your community people don't sell cigarettes to minors; that we don't have an
excessive exposure to advertising directed at young people. And you can do it. You can have
an impact on your classmates not to start smoking, and we can turn this around.
So if we all work together, we'll be successful. And again, I want to thank you all for
being a part of this Kick Butts Day and for being a part of a commiUnent to give your generation
a healthy and strong future. God bless you all, and thank you very much. (Applause.)
Governor Romer, are you on the phone?
GOVERNOR ROMER: Yes, I am.
THE PRESIDENT: Would you like to say a word about your efforts in Colorado?
3
�GOVERNOR ROMER: Yes, I would. In Colorado, I'm speaking to you from the Denver
Career Education Center, Mr. President, where I'm joined by about 70 middle school students
representing six different Denver area schools. They have done some extensive research here on
how the tobacco industry targets kids in its advertising, and they're really serious about this Kick
Butts Day.
Also, out here in the West, at Santa Ana, California, we're joined in Santa Ana by about
200 students at one of their local high schools. The students there are participating in a series of
activities and talking with community professionals about the problems of tobacco use in that area.
In Houston, Texas, we are joined by students in Houston who have initiated a campaign
that has involved the Mayor, Superintendent of Schools, and other local officials to promote
awareness about the harmful side-effects of smoking. I understand those students have put
together a series of activities, speakers, exhibits - all designed to demonstrate the harmful aspects
of tobacco use.
So, you see, we've got a lot going on out here. I have with me a really tremendous
student, Jenna Otee (phonetic), who is 13 years old from Morey Middle School. I'd like to have
her make a comment. Jenna?
JENNA: I was joined by about 10 other students from my school, and we all went to a
grocery store and we did the Kick Butts survey. While we were in the grocery store, we found
tobacco snuff in the ice cream aisle, we found tobacco products sold in a vending machine. In
many magazines that we looked, we found many ads involving young men and women looking
cool while they smoked. At a 7-11 we found an aisle where candy was and we found tobacco
also.
GOVERNOR ROMER: Mr. President, thank you. I just wanted to give you a report
from the West. I really appreciate your leadership in this effort.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. And I want to thank Jenna and the other students for the
work they did on the survey, and for their reports.
Keep after it. We'll keep working and we'll keep moving forward. I feel very good about
this. The degree of the intensity that so many young people in America feel about this
issue is the most hopeful thing about it, and we just all need to stay in there with them and keep
working. We can whip this thing.
Thank you all very much, in all the 11 cities on the phone, thank you very, very much.
END
1:35 P.M. EDT
�* Due to telephone connection difficulties, some of the beginning of the President's remarks
are inaudible.
�THE WHITE HOUSE
O f f i c e o f t h e Press S e c r e t a r y
For Immediate Release
February 12, 1996
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
IN ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION WITH
PTA MEMBERS AND STUDENTS
REGARDING TOBACCO AND PREVENTION
Oval O f f i c e
1:27
P.M. EST
Q
Mr. P r e s i d e n t , you've p r o v i d e d l e a d e r s h i p t o t h e whole
c o u n t r y on t h e i s s u e o f tobacco and c h i l d r e n .
Your p a r t n e r s i n
t h i s e f f o r t a r e PTAs and r e l i g i o u s l e a d e r s and, o f course, t h e
young people themselves. And we have a number o f them here t o t a l k
t o you a l i t t l e about what they've been d o i n g i n t h i s e f f o r t t o
reduce t h e number o f young people t h a t s t a r t smoking i n t h e f i r s t
p l a c e . And I know y o u ' l l be pleased t o hear b o t h t h e s t o r i e s and
t h e work t h a t t h e y ' r e s t a r t i n g t o do.
THE PRESIDENT: I'm l o o k i n g f o r w a r d t o i t . F i r s t o f a l l , l e t
me welcome a l l o f you here t o t h e White House and t o t h e Oval
Office.
As I'm sure you know, t h i s i s an i s s u e t h a t has concerned me
f o r some t i m e , and t h e r e a r e r e a l reasons f o r i t . Three thousand
young people s t a r t smoking every day, even though i t ' s i l l e g a l f o r
them t o do so. A thousand w i l l have t h e i r l i v e s shortened because
of i t . Smoking tobacco i s t h e l a r g e s t s i n g l e cause o f p r e v e n t a b l e
death i n t h e U n i t e d States every year. And w h i l e t h e r e a r e t h i n g s
t h e government can do about i t , we need your h e l p .
When I gave my S t a t e o f t h e Union address I s a i d t h a t o u r
c o u n t r y has seven g r e a t c h a l l e n g e s f o r t h e f u t u r e , b u t t h e f i r s t
and most i m p o r t a n t i s t o s t r e n g t h e n o u r f a m i l i e s and g i v e a l l o f
our c h i l d r e n back t h e i r c h i l d h o o d .
I n t h e case o f t e e n smoking,
t h e Food and Drug A d m i n i s t r a t i o n i s r e v i e w i n g about 700,000
comments from c i t i z e n s b e f o r e d e c i d i n g what t o do t o discourage t h e
m a r k e t i n g , t h e a d v e r t i s i n g , t h e sales o f c i g a r e t t e s t o c h i l d r e n
more.
We j u s t promulgated what i t c a l l e d t h e Synar r e g u l a t i o n ,
named i n honor o f t h e l a t e Congressman from Oklahoma, Mike Synar,
w h i c h r e q u i r e s s t a t e s t o t a k e s t r o n g e r stands t o d i s c o u r a g e t e e n
smoking and t o s e t a g o a l o f r e d u c i n g teen smoking by about 8 0
p e r c e n t over t h e next s e v e r a l years.
�So we're w o r k i n g hard, but we know we've got t o have y o u r
h e l p . We know t h i s has got t o be a p a r t n e r s h i p .
I t h i n k the most
i m p o r t a n t t h i n g I've l e a r n e d as President i s t h a t w h i l e government
can't s o l v e a l l of our problems, we have no business g o i n g back t o
a t i m e when everybody's l e f t t o f e n d f o r themselves.
These are
t h i n g s we have t o do t o g e t h e r . And I want t o compliment t h e Robert
Wood Johnson Foundation and, of course, the N a t i o n a l PTA.
Thank
you so much. And the American Cancer S o c i e t y and a l l o f those who
are g o i n g t o c r e a t e t h i s N a t i o n a l Center f o r Tobacco-Free K i d s .
T h i s Center
t o work, because
more i m p o r t a n t l y ,
of people w o r k i n g
i s s o r t of a symbol o f how I t h i n k America ought
i t w i l l i n v o l v e the best n a t i o n a l e x p e r t s b u t ,
community groups, a l l k i n d s of grass r o o t s groups
together t o t r y t o deal w i t h t h i s issue.
And I j u s t want t o thank you and say t h a t I hope t h a t your
presence here today and your work and your concern, e s p e c i a l l y the
young people, w i l l be a symbol t h a t w i l l , t h r o u g h t h e h e l p o f a l l
these f i n e people here c o v e r i n g us, go out across America so t h a t
o t h e r s w i l l do t h a t .
I mean, t h e u l t i m a t e i s s u e here i s t o p r o t e c t our c h i l d r e n
more and t o g i v e more c o n t r o l of f a m i l y l i f e back t o p a r e n t s .
I
don't t h i n k many p a r e n t s want t h e i r c h i l d r e n t o s t a r t smoking.
And
p a r e n t s , not a d v e r t i s i n g , should c o n t r o l t h a t .
C h i l d r e n should
have a chance t o l e a r n w i t h i n t h e f a m i l y u n i t , w i t h i n t h e s c h o o l ,
w i t h i n the churches, w i t h i n the community, w i t h o u t b e i n g bombarded
by a l l k i n d s o f d e s t r u c t i v e messages t h a t w i l l knock them o f f
track.
So, u l t i m a t e l y , t h i s i s an e f f o r t t h a t w i l l g i v e some
dimension of r e a l c o n t r o l and values back t o the f a m i l y , which i s
what we want t o do.
We
W e l l , I ' d l i k e t o spend the r e s t of the time l i s t e n i n g t o you.
c o u l d s t a r t -- Donna, how should we do i t ?
Q
Ricky and Yasi and C h r i s t y d i d a survey. They checked -t h e y a c t u a l l y t e s t e d the s t o r e s i n t h e i r neighborhood.
And I
thought t h e y might t e l l you a l i t t l e about what they found out when
t h e y t r i e d t o buy c i g a r e t t e s .
Ricky, you want t o s t a r t ?
Q
--
Sure.
Q
that
When I went t o buy
Ricky, t e l l us how
o l d you
cigarettes,
usually
I
found
are.
Q
W e l l , f i r s t , I'm 17.
I'm a s e n i o r i n h i g h s c h o o l .
And
I found t h a t most of the people, t h e i r argument was t h a t I looked
18.
And people came up -- i t came t o the p o i n t where I was -- I
l e f t t h e s t o r e and the c l e r k came out of the s t o r e and came and
s t a r t e d y e l l i n g a t the person I was w i t h , t e l l i n g us t h a t -- about
d e b r i e f i n g and how I looked 18 and s t u f f l i k e t h a t .
And o t h e r s
would j u s t t r y and p l a y i t o f f , l i k e one l a d y i n a G i a n t , she
v o i d e d -- t h e r e ' s a place where t h e r e supposed t o w r i t e t h e date of
�b i r t h of the person who i s buying the c i g a r e t t e s f o r t h a t law.
And
she overrode t h a t on the r e g i s t e r because she j u s t f i g u r e d i t was
unnecessary, and s o l d me the c i g a r e t t e s anyway, whole b i g c a r t o n of
them.
Q
C h r i s t i n e , why
don't you t e l l a l i t t l e
--
Q
Yes.
J u s t around -- l i k e , I d i d about 20 s t o r e s i n one
day, and we would go i n -- okay, l i k e gas s t a t i o n s and 7 - l l s , and
we would go up t o the counter and t r y t o buy c i g a r e t t e s o r any k i n d
of tobacco p r o d u c t .
And i f t h e y s o l d i t t o us, l i k e , i f t h e y
a c t u a l l y rung i t up and e v e r y t h i n g , we gave them a "Gotcha" c a r d .
I t was these l i t t l e cards t h a t s a i d t h i s i s a g a i n s t t h e law and
we're j u s t d o i n g a survey.
And i f t h e y carded us, we would g i v e
them a "Thank you" c a r d saying, you know, thanks f o r a b i d i n g by the
law.
Q
Q
Now,
you had an a d u l t back-up, r i g h t ?
Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: Out
you and how many sold?
of the places you went, how
many
carded
Q
More than h a l f a c t u a l l y would s e l l t o us, l i k e , because
we c o u l d n ' t l i e , so when they d i d ask us our age, we had t o say 17,
so p r o b a b l y a l o t more would have s o l d i t t o us. But, yes, i t was
l i k e p r o b a b l y 60 p e r c e n t s o l d i t t o us.
Q
Yes, about 60 percent, depending on how o l d you were, and
t h a t ' s how we d i d the survey.
From how many s t o r e s I d i d
-- I mean, my f r i e n d and I d i d 50 s t o r e s a l t o g e t h e r .
THE
Q
THE
PRESIDENT:
Fifty?
Yes.
PRESIDENT:
Wow.
Q
And about h a l f of them a c t u a l l y would have
s o l d t o us. We d i d 12 vending machines i n the whole survey.
And 11 out of those 12 vending machines we were a b l e t o -we would have been a b l e t o get out the c i g a r e t t e s w i t h o u t
anyone s t o p p i n g us.
The one t i m e t h a t we c o u l d n ' t do -- I mean, we
c o u l d n ' t get t h e c i g a r e t t e s out was when -- I f o r g e t which
s t o r e i t was, but you had t o have a t o k e n f o r i t . So you
had t o go up t o t h e cash r e g i s t e r , show them your I.D. and
t h e n get a t o k e n .
So you can put t h a t i n t h e r e , and t h e n
get t h e c i g a r e t t e s .
Q
Mr.
President,
t o g i v e you
a sense of
how
�- 4 -
tough t h i s i s , Bernie i s t h e PTA P r e s i d e n t a t Robinson High
School. And you t r i e d t o g e t r i d o f vending machines?
Q
We d i d .
I n '94 we t r i e d t o g e t r i d o f
v e n d i n g machines; i t was connected w i t h elementary s c h o o l s
-- t h e p y r a m i d t h a t leads i n t o Robinson.
We d i d a comment
c a r d back t o G i a n t and asked them i f t h e y would p l e a s e
remove t h e vending machines, because t h a t was one p l a c e you
j u s t cannot s u p e r v i s e c h i l d r e n .
And i t d i d n ' t work.
We
were u n s u c c e s s f u l .
THE PRESIDENT: L e t me say, a l l o f you a r e from
V i r g i n i a . Hasn't t h e V i r g i n i a -- i s n ' t t h e r e a new p r o p o s a l
b e f o r e t h e V i r g i n i a l e g i s l a t u r e t h a t takes much s t r o n g e r
p o s i t i o n s than that?
A l l I know i s what I've read about
them, b u t i t appeared t o me t h a t they were r e a l l y moving i n
the r i g h t d i r e c t i o n .
Q
One i s , as f a r as c a r d i n g .
THE PRESIDENT:
What does i t do?
Q
You w i l l have t o have p i c t u r e photo I.D. i n
o r d e r t o purchase.
That one w i l l work.
But, f o r a l l
i n t e n t s and purposes, r i g h t now I'm a f r a i d t h a t t h e v e n d i n g
machine one i s g e t t i n g watered down.
THE PRESIDENT:
I n V i r g i n i a when you g e t a
d r i v e r ' s l i c e n s e , do t h e y p u t your p i c t u r e on i t ?
Q
Yes, s i r .
Q
But you're
afraid
p r o p o s a l i s g e t t i n g watered down?
Q
the
vending
machine
That's t h e o n l y one r i g h t now.
Q
That i s , I'm sure, i f they pass t h a t b i l l , i t
w i l l h e l p , b u t I was hoping t h a t t h e y would j u s t do away
w i t h v e n d i n g machines a l t o g e t h e r because, I mean, I don't
see t h e use o f , I mean, I don't see t h e need f o r them,
though t h e y a r e c o n v e n i e n t .
You can always go up t o t h e
cash r e g i s t e r and buy i t t h e r e .
THE PRESIDENT: W e l l , one o f t h e p r o p o s a l s t h a t
we a r e c o n s i d e r i n g , t h a t ' s b e i n g considered here by t h e FDA,
i s t h e q u e s t i o n o f whether t h e y s h o u l d be no v e n d i n g
machines i n any p l a c e t h a t c h i l d r e n have access t o . I f
you're g o i n g t o have vending machines, maybe t h e y s h o u l d
j u s t be where o n l y a d u l t s can come i n .
Q
You know Reverend Brown can t e l l you i t ' s n o t
j u s t v e n d i n g machines, i t ' s t h e a d v e r t i s i n g .
And t h i s
weekend he l e d a p r o j e c t .
MORE
�- 5 -
Q
Yes, Mr. P r e s i d e n t , we have been t r y i n g t o
remove a l l o f t h e tobacco s i g n s t h r o u g h o u t t h e c i t y .
A l c o h o l i s moving o u t , tobacco -- tobacco seems t o be on t h e
i n c r e a s e . The tobacco manufacturers seem t o be g e t t i n g more
a d v e r t i s i n g o u t . Some of the brands -- Newports and o t h e r s ,
and t h e Camel s i g n s a r e n ' t coming down. And c h i l d r e n have
-- would you show the P r e s i d e n t some of t h e Joe Camel s i g n s
t h a t are s t i l l a v a i l a b l e , s t i l l up?
These ads are everywhere. U n f o r t u n a t e l y , we
find
them more i n t h e A f r i c a n American
and
Latino
communities i n t h e n a t i o n ' s c a p i t a l .
But any g i v e n s c h o o l
m i g h t have 20, 25 ads up on t h e o u t s i d e . You may f i n d 10,
15, 2 0 ads on t h e i n s i d e .
And c h i l d r e n o f t e n go t o these
convenience s t o r e s . I t ' s a s e r i o u s problem here because we
added a thousand new l i q u o r l i c e n s e s , a l c o h o l l i c e n s e s , most
of which were convenience s t o r e s . So tobacco was one o f t h e
major p r o d u c t s t h a t t h e y would s e l l .
And t h e s i g n s are
everywhere. The c h i l d r e n see i t , t h e y r e c o g n i z e t h e brands
and c a n ' t s p e l l o r d i f f e r e n t i a t e words l i k e "church" and
"children."
And i t ' s a sad s t a t e o f a f f a i r s f o r t h e
nation's c a p i t a l .
Sometimes I t h i n k i t ' s v e r y m i s l e a d i n g t h a t t h e
A f r i c a n American c h i l d r e n i n t h e n a t i o n ' s c a p i t a l are s a i d
to have t h e l o w e s t i n c i d e n c e o f tobacco smoking.
That's a
m i s l e a d i n g s t a t i s t i c when you look a t the p r e v a l e n c e o f t h e
dope problems and you l o o k a t a number o f o t h e r f a c t o r s
there.
But we thank you and we thank Dr. S h a l a l a and Dr.
K e s s l e r f o r moving these regs ahead. We want them and we
would hope t h a t you count t h i s as your c i t y and h e l p us t o
get
t h e two b i l l s --we have two tobacco b i l l s t h a t are
s i t t i n g i n c i t y c o u n c i l , b u t we need t o get h e a r i n g s on
them. And i f you'd make a c a l l f o r us o r something, h e l p us
somehow, you know, we want these -for
THE PRESIDENT: I d i d n ' t know t h a t .
Thank you
t e l l i n g that.
I ' l l see what we can do about i t .
Q
You're a r e s i d e n t .
THE PRESIDENT: Let me j u s t say one t h i n g about
the
advertising.
I have s a i d t h i s b e f o r e , b u t I want t o
reiterate.
I f anyone doubts t h e impact o f t h e a d v e r t i s i n g
on t h e c h i l d r e n , you have o n l y t o look a t t h e evidence t h a t
c h i l d r e n are much more l i k e l y t o buy the t h r e e most h e a v i l y
a d v e r t i s e d brands t h a n a d u l t s a r e . A d u l t s are more l i k e l y
to shop, buy g e n e r i c brands, c u t t h e i r c o s t s a l i t t l e .
Kids
go r i g h t t o t h e a d v e r t i s e d brands. I t h i n k i t ' s something
l i k e 85 p e r c e n t o f a l l c i g a r e t t e s s o l d t o young people are
the t h r e e most h e a v i l y a d v e r t i s e d brands.
Q
And,
MORE
Mr.
President,
one
other
thing
about
�- 6 -
ads, a l o t o f times t h e ad makers o r people who p u t them up
say t h a t t h e y r e a l l y don't e n t i c e people, make people smoke,
t h e y ' r e t h e r e t o h e l p people s w i t c h brands. W e l l , i f an ad
can h e l p someone s w i t c h a brand as p o w e r f u l as brand l o y a l t y
i s , t h o s e ads a r e t o o p o w e r f u l t o be i n t h e paths o f o u r
children.
We j u s t have t o keep a d v o c a t i n g and remove them
wherever t h e c h i l d r e n walk o r p l a y .
One o f t h e t h i n g s t h a t I found -- I'm a l s o a
t h e r a p i s t -- i s , t h r o u g h t h e years w i t h tobacco as w e l l as
some a l c o h o l i s s u e s , when you ask -- one o f t h e t h i n g s you
c o n s i s t e n t l y f i n d among t h e younger -- i f you have younger
c l i e n t s o r p a t i e n t s , t h e y have mixed t h o u g h t s i n t h e i r
heads. They may know t h a t i t causes cancer, b u t t h e y don't
connect i t w i t h t h e i r own use, and t h e y f e e l t h a t i f t h e
government l e t t h e ad be up t h e r e -- you wouldn't l e t i t be
on t e l e v i s i o n , you wouldn't l e t i t be on t h e b u i l d i n g i f i t
r e a l l y was h a r m f u l .
Q
Keia, what do you t h i n k ?
Q
I t h i n k t h e y s h o u l d t a k e down t h e p i c t u r e s ,
because c h i l d r e n who go around and t h e y see' t h e p i c t u r e s and
t h e y t h i n k i t ' s okay t o buy c i g a r e t t e s from s t o r e s . And I
t h i n k t h a t t h e people i n t h e s t o r e s , t h e c l e r k s who s e l l
them t o t h e c h i l d r e n under a c e r t a i n age should be t a l k e d t o
w i t h a person who t r i e s t o convince people t o s t o p smoking,
t o t a l k t o t h a t c l e r k and t e l l them how i t harms t h e
c h i l d r e n who buy t h e c i g a r e t t e s .
Q
What do you t h i n k ?
Q
I t h i n k t h e y s h o u l d s t o p -- k i d s , I t h i n k
t h e y s h o u l d s t o p p u t t i n g up t h e ads and s e l l i n g c i g a r e t t e s
and s t u f f , because i t does i n f l u e n c e k i d s and people's
p a r e n t s t h a t smoke, does i n f l u e n c e t h e i r k i d s t o smoke, t o
peer p r e s s u r e , t o p r e s s u r e . S t u f f l i k e t h a t .
That's why
people smoke sometimes i n t h e ads. And t h e y see o l d e r
people, l i k e 18-year-olds smoking, so t h e y t h i n k i t ' s a l l
r i g h t f o r them t o do i t .
THE PRESIDENT:
That's what h e r l e t t e r t o me
says:
"I'm g l a d you're t r y i n g t o s t o p teens and o t h e r
people from smoking. There are a l r e a d y enough people d y i n g
from diseases, and I don't want any more people t o d i e from
diseases.
I t h i n k these a r e t h e diseases you d i e from -l i k e l u n g cancer, t h r o a t cancer and o t h e r diseases caused by
smoking.
What I'm t r y i n g t o say i s , please s t o p young
people and teenagers from smoking.
We a r e tomorrow's
f u t u r e . " Good f o r you. Good l u c k .
not
Q
Lucinda, who i s s i t t i n g next t o you, i f she's
t o o embarrassed, g o t caught smoking.
And do you want t o t a l k a l i t t l e
MORE
about how you
�- 7 -
were caught and what k i n d o f -- maybe your mother w i l l t a l k
a l i t t l e about t h e program a t your school -- t h i s i s
H a y f i e l d Secondary School i n A l e x a n d r i a , r i g h t ?
Q
Yes.
There's a 7-11 r i g h t next t o o u r
s c h o o l , and k i d s go over t h e r e a l l t h e time and smoke and
hang o u t and buy c i g a r e t t e s t h e r e . And then a t Giant across
t h e s t r e e t , t h e r e ' s a l i t t l e p l a z a , and t h e r e ' s a Chinese
p l a c e where t h e r e ' s a vending machine, and you can buy
c i g a r e t t e s t h e r e , a l s o . G i a n t , we used t o be a b l e t o , b u t
t h e y made t h e c o i n s so we can't use t h e vending machine
t h e r e anymore.
Q
So a r e t h e y u s i n g tokens?
Q
Yes.
Q
You have t o buy t h e tokens,
check you a t G i a n t .
because
they
Q
Yes, a t G i a n t .
And one day a f t e r school I
was w i t h one o f my f r i e n d s , smoking, and t h e school
s e c u r i t y , t h e p o l i c e o f f i c e r t h e r e caught us over t h e r e . He
does a good j o b a t c a t c h i n g k i d s who are t h e r e , and we have
to go t o c o u r t and e v e r y t h i n g .
Q
What d i d he do then?
Q
He made us g i v e him t h e r e s t o f o u r
c i g a r e t t e s , and he wrote our names on i t .
And t h e n he
w r i t e s y o u r name on a l i s t , and he gave a t i c k e t and
everything.
Q
D i d you g e t a t i c k e t ?
Q
Yes.
Q
How much d i d i t c o s t you?
Q
Nothing.
I t was a warning.
Q
I t was a warning.
She g o t i t waived. You
g o t i t waived i n c o u r t . But your mother, t h e n , has been
w o r k i n g on a program a t your s c h o o l .
Q
Yes.
Q
Each h i g h school i n F a i r f a x County has a
s e c u r i t y o f f i c e r , policeman on d u t y . And one o f t h e i r j o b s
i s t o s t o p k i d s from smoking because i t ' s a g a i n s t t h e law.
And i n a c o n v e r s a t i o n w i t h him a f t e r my daughter g o t caught,
we wanted t o s t a r t some k i n d o f a c l a s s t h a t would g e t them
to s t o p smoking, a smoking c e s s a t i o n c l a s s . But he wanted
to used what t h e c o u r t s -- i f you g e t caught drunk d r i v i n g ,
you go t o drunk d r i v i n g s c h o o l .
We want i f t h e k i d s g e t
MORE
�- 8-
caught smoking, t h e y go t o s t o p smoking school.
But t h e i n c i d e n c e o f k i d s who a r e sent t o these
schools doesn't work r e a l w e l l because t h e y have t o want t o
s t o p smoking b e f o r e you do i t . So we a r e now implementing
a program c a l l e d "Smokeless Saturdays."
I t ' s a program
where i f t h e y g e t caught a t school -- t h i s i s a t s c h o o l , n o t
w i t h t h e policeman -- t h e p r i n c i p a l c a l l s your p a r e n t s and
says, I caught your student smoking. Would you l i k e t o have
them suspended f o r t h r e e days so t h e y can s t a y home and
smoke those t h r e e days? (Laughter.) Or would you l i k e them
t o go t o t h i s Saturday school?
Now, i f they go t o t h e Saturday s c h o o l , you as a
p a r e n t have t o be t h e r e . You spend t h e f i r s t two hours i n
another room w h i l e they t a l k t o you about what t h i s i s d o i n g
to your c h i l d .
And t h e n you're c h i l d i s i n another room
w i t h a r o u n d t a b l e d i s c u s s i o n o f k i d s t a l k i n g about tobacco
a d v e r t i s i n g and why t h e y s t a r t smoking and what makes -what t h e i r t r i g g e r s a r e -- t h e byword t h e y use. Do t h e y
s t a r t smoking when t h e y ' r e w i t h t h e i r f r i e n d s ? Do t h e y do
i t when t h e y ' r e s t u d y i n g ?
Do t h e y smoke i n t h e bathrooms?
Things l i k e t h a t . And then i f they go t h r o u g h t h e Saturday
c l a s s and t h e y want t o s t o p smoking, then we have t h e
smoking c e s s a t i o n c l a s s t h a t t h e y can go t o .
THE PRESIDENT: L e t me ask you something. Do t h e
young people i n your school who smoke b e l i e v e t h a t i t ' s
dangerous?
Q
They r e a l l y don't care.
They don't pay
a t t e n t i o n t o t h e -- t h a t you can cancer o r a n y t h i n g . I t
j u s t goes p a s t t h a t .
They smoke w i t h t h e i r f r i e n d s , l i k e
she s a i d , i n t h e room. You're j u s t s i t t i n g down o u t s i d e and
you're bored so you j u s t -- one person l i g h t s up a c i g a r e t t e
and everybody e l s e does, t o o .
of
THE PRESIDENT:
t h e o t h e r -Q
They j u s t don't t h i n k about any
No.
THE PRESIDENT: I wanted t o ask another q u e s t i o n ,
i f I might, because I want t o -- t h i s i s r e l e v a n t , I t h i n k ,
t o t h e PTA concerns.
Do t h e schools i n y o u r school
d i s t r i c t , do t h e y have programs l i k e f o r grade s c h o o l e r s ,
which show p i c t u r e s o f lungs i n people who smoked f o r a l o n g
time o r whatever? Are those programs i n t h e schools?
Q
We have community c o a l i t i o n s now i n F a i r f a x
County t h a t a r e -- t h e y ' r e c o a l i t i o n s o f businesses,
churches, communities, everybody t h a t work w i t h i n each
school pyramid? And we had a drug and a l c o h o l meeting where
t h e k i d s came w i t h t h e i r p a r e n t s and we showed v i d e o s ; we
showed s l i d e s o f k i d s , you know, what happens when t h e y
MORE
�- 9 -
d r i n k and d r i v e and t h i n g s l i k e t h a t , t h a t they a l l came t o .
And these were v e r y g r a p h i c t h i n g s t h a t t h e k i d s have seen.
And I don't know i f i t ' s done a l l over, but I know we're
trying.
THE PRESIDENT: The t h i n g t h a t made t h e b i g g e s t
i m p r e s s i o n on our daughter when she was i n grade s c h o o l was
-- and H i l l a r y and I t a l k e d t o her about t h i s -- t h e t h i n g
t h a t made t h e b i g g e s t impression on her was a c l a s s she had
where
they
just
showed them p i c t u r e s o f
lungs
in
progression.
And, you know, she saw a l l these b l a c k lungs, and
i t made t h i s v i v i d impression. And my mother had smoked a l l
her l i f e ,
p r a c t i c a l l y , s i n c e she was a teenager.
She
s t a r t e d as a teenager, as most people do. And my daughter
k e p t t e l l i n g her what her lungs looked l i k e -this
e i g h t - y e a r - o l d b e a t i n g up on her grandmother. And f o r her
e i g h t h b i r t h d a y , my mother stopped smoking.
That was her
g i f t t o her granddaughter f o r her e i g h t h b i r t h d a y .
But t h a t ' s why I asked you, because I thought i t
made a r e a l impression on the c h i l d r e n i n the c l a s s . That's
why I asked you t h a t .
Q
I n the l a t e r grades, l i k e j u n i o r h i g h s c h o o l
and h i g h s c h o o l , i n c i t i e s l i k e the n a t i o n ' s c a p i t a l , we
have a 45 p e r c e n t dropout r a t e , j u n i o r h i g h and s e n i o r h i g h .
And so what goes on i n the classroom w i l l o f t e n be missed by
a l o t o f t h e c h i l d r e n who s t i l l need t o be reached by
programs.
THE PRESIDENT:
That
you've got t o do t h a t e a r l y .
sort
of
thing,
I
think
Q
I was j u s t going t o add t h e r e , Ginny can t a l k
a l i t t l e -- we're g e t t i n g much more s o p h i s t i c a t e d by t h e
p r e p a r a t i o n o f m a t e r i a l s . Schools are d e v e l o p i n g t h e i r own
programs.
I a c t u a l l y t r a v e l with a rubberized black lung
t h a t t h e y wouldn't l e t me b r i n g today, Mr. P r e s i d e n t -( l a u g h t e r ) -- and d i r t y t e e t h , f o r t a l k i n g t o elementary
schools, which i s v e r y g r a p h i c . I ' l l b r i n g i t by some day.
Q
Very much so. One of the i n t e r e s t i n g t h i n g s
t h a t we t h i n k i s r e a l i m p o r t a n t i s the change t h a t ' s been
happening i n comprehensive school h e a l t h e d u c a t i o n programs
overall.
And even though a number o f s t u d e n t s do indeed
drop o u t , we know t h a t i f t h a t ' s a comprehensive e d u c a t i o n
t h a t s t a r t e d i n K and 1 and 2 grades, we're b e g i n n i n g t o
make some d i f f e r e n c e .
Yes, the b l a c k lungs -- I s t i l l
remember those when I was a h e a l t h t e a c h e r a t t h a t l e v e l ,
too.
t h a t we
The o t h e r t h i n g I t h i n k i s r e a l s i g n i f i c a n t i s
need t o b e g i n t o p r e s e n t teenagers, p a r t i c u l a r l y ,
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�- 10 -
even t h e s h o r t - t e r m consequences, because they do indeed g e t
t o t h a t age where t h e y b e l i e v e t h e y ' r e l i v i n g f o r e v e r , and
those s t a t i s t i c s a r e happening t o someone o t h e r t h a n t h e i r
f r i e n d s and themselves.
So even t h i n g s l i k e you don't smell good, and you
w i l l , indeed, have y e l l o w t e e t h and what n o t , a r e v e r y
s h o r t - t e r m f o r them, and t h e y do b e g i n t o l i s t e n t o those
kinds of t h i n g s .
As you know, t h e n a t i o n a l PTA has been i n v o l v e d
i n tobacco awareness f o r our own p a r e n t s s i n c e t h e e a r l y
'60s, and i n f a c t , r i g h t a f t e r t h e f i r s t Surgeon General's
r e p o r t , t h a t became a v e r y b i g p a r t o f what we were d o i n g
w i t h o u r own h e a l t h e d u c a t i o n f o r l o c a l u n i t s . We're r e a l
e x c i t e d t h a t we're able t o be p a r t o f t h e Foundation and t h e
Center, because we b e l i e v e t h a t i f we can g e t i n f o r m a t i o n t o
our grass r o o t s people, t h a t we w i l l make a d i f f e r e n c e .
We know t h a t i f young people don't s t a r t smoking
b e f o r e t h e y ' r e 18 w e ' l l , f o r t h e most p a r t , p r o b a b l y save
those young people, because o n l y about 10 p e r c e n t o f t h e
smokers s t a r t a f t e r t h a t .
So we know t h a t we need t o g e t
them e a r l y on i n grade school, middle s c h o o l , p a r t i c u l a r l y ,
we need t o be d o i n g a v e r y c o n c e n t r a t e d e f f o r t .
Parents, however, need h e l p , and we know t h a t .
I t i s very d i f f i c u l t
t o combat t h a t $ 6 - b i l l i o n - a - y e a r
a d v e r t i s i n g campaign and p r o m o t i o n a l e f f o r t by t h e tobacco
industry.
So we a r e , indeed, p u t t i n g m a t e r i a l s t o g e t h e r .
We w i l l be c e l e b r a t i n g o u r 1 1 t h annual a l c o h o l and o t h e r
substance abuse awareness week i n another month, and tobacco
and i t s uses, indeed, i s t h e focus t h i s year -- and t a l k i n g
t o p a r e n t s about l i m i t i n g t h e access o f tobacco p r o d u c t s ,
and l o o k i n g a t t h e promotion and t h e a d v e r t i s i n g t h a t you've
heard today.
T h i s group has been a t e r r i f i c testament t o how
easy i t i s f o r young people t o g e t those k i n d s o f p r o d u c t s .
So we a p p r e c i a t e your s u p p o r t .
Q
Plus t h e a d d i c t i o n s t a r t s when you're young.
I mean, my Mom, I s a i d b e f o r e , s t a r t e d when she was 13, and
s t i l l today she smokes.
And I -- me and my Dad have been
on h e r f o r I don't even know how many years and s h e ' l l t r y
f o r us f o r maybe a couple o f months. A c t u a l l y , t h e l o n g e s t
was a y e a r she a c t u a l l y d i d go w i t h o u t , b u t i t came r i g h t
back. She g o t r i g h t i n t o i t .
Q
C h r i s , wave a t t h a t
s t o p smoking."
(Laughter.)
camera and say,
"Mom,
Q
Mom, s t o p smoking.
(Laughter.)
I don't
know, i f t h e y don't s t a r t when t h e y ' r e young, t h e n you know
-- I mean, i t ' s more l i k e l y t h a t they w i l l never s t a r t .
So
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�- 11 -
i f we can s t o p teenagers from s t a r t i n g ,
l i k e l y t h a t t h e y ' l l be l e s s smokers i n our
then i t ' s more
society.
THE PRESIDENT: One of the b i g g e s t problems we
have i n our c o u n t r y , and one problem I have as P r e s i d e n t ,
and one problem everybody who's i n a p o s i t i o n of any k i n d of
r e s p o n s i b i l i t y has i s d e a l i n g w i t h the t e n s i o n e v e r y human
b e i n g has between t h i n k i n g about what's happening r i g h t t h i s
second, and what's r i g h t t o do over the l o n g run.
And i n
the w o r l d we l i v e i n , the w o n d e r f u l t h i n g about i t i s t h a t
we get some much i n f o r m a t i o n about so many t h i n g s so f a s t ,
i n ways we never d i d b e f o r e , we have so many o p t i o n we never
had b e f o r e . I t ' s a v e r y e x c i t i n g time t o be a l i v e , but i t ' s
a l s o t r u e t h a t people are j u s t b e i n g c o n s t a n t l y bombarded
w i t h a l l these t h i n g s .
And I t h i n k when you're a young
person i t ' s j u s t harder t o b e l i e v e t h a t every l i t t l e t h i n g
t h a t you do has a consequence over the l o n g r u n .
And t h a t ' s a problem f o r -- i t ' s been a problem
t h r o u g h o u t human h i s t o r y .
I t ' s p a r t of human n a t u r e .
But
I t h i n k i t ' s more d i f f i c u l t f o r young people today -- and
p a r t i c u l a r l y on t h i s i s s u e , which i s why I t h i n k these
groups are so i m p o r t a n t . A l l of your e f f o r t s r e a l l y count.
And I t h i n k t h a t maybe the young people here, maybe t h a t ' s
t h e most i m p o r t a n t t h i n g of a l l . I mean, I can't -- does
the peer p r e s s u r e seem t o work? Do you t h i n k you have any
i n f l u e n c e over your classmates?
Q
Q
I t ' s worth a t r y .
Us?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
Do t h e y t h i n k you're k i n d
of l o o n y or do t h e y t h i n k you're doing something good?
Q
No.
Well, none of my f r i e n d s smoke, not t h a t
I know o f , but they a l l agree w i t h me on the i s s u e . So I'm
sure t h a t i f I had f r i e n d s t h a t smoked, I c o u l d convince
them t o s t o p .
But I don't r e a l l y have any f r i e n d s t h a t
smoke.
Q
I t ' s not t h a t easy r e a l l y .
THE
PRESIDENT:
It's really
not
t h a t easy.
To convince people?
Q
Yes,
because a l o t of my f r i e n d s or the
p e o p l e I know, t h e y smoke. And u s u a l l y I t r y t o -- I f i n d
out how t h e y s t a r t so I can s t a r t t h e r e , and go t h e r e and
t r y and s t o p those people from s t a r t i n g t o smoke. And I
found t h a t most of them s t a r t e d a t v e r y young ages because
t h e y t h o u g h t i t was c o o l .
And, yeah, t h a t was the most
common answer.
So
I joined
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the
Students A g a i n s t Tobacco Power
�- 12 -
Team a t my s c h o o l , and we u s u a l l y t a l k t o elementary
school-age c h i l d r e n about t h e h a r m f u l e f f e c t s o f tobacco
p r o d u c t s and s t u f f l i k e t h a t . And t h a t seems -- I c o u l d n ' t
r e a l l y t e l l you any numbers o r a n y t h i n g l i k e t h a t , b u t from
what I hear from t h e s t u d e n t feedback, t h a t i t seems t o
leave a l a s t i n g i m p r e s s i o n on them.
THE PRESIDENT: L e t me ask a q u e s t i o n . Why d i d
you g e t i n t o t h i s ? Why do you care so much about t h i s ?
Q
W e l l , my godmother d i e d o f a s m o k i n g - r e l a t e d
i l l n e s s and t h a t j u s t was i t f o r me.
I j u s t -- I d e c i d e d
from t h e n on t h a t I wouldn't do drugs o r ar\y s o r t o f t h i n g
because I d i d n ' t want t o s u f f e r t h a t same f a t e , and I d i d n ' t
want o t h e r s l i k e my f r i e n d s o r anybody e l s e t o have t o d e a l
w i t h what I d e a l t w i t h .
THE PRESIDENT:
What about you?
Q
W e l l , I j u s t g o t s t a r t e d because I r e a l l y
t h i n k smoking i s r e a l l y d i s g u s t i n g .
And e s p e c i a l l y s i n c e i t
k i l l s so many people, i t r e a l l y annoys me how people can -most people know what t h e y ' r e doing when t h e y smoke and t h e y
can s t i l l do i t . I mean, t h a t r e a l l y b o t h e r s me. So when
I j o i n e d I j u s t wanted t o -- w e l l , f i r s t I wanted t o s t o p
teenagers and k i d s from smoking. That was my main purpose
at f i r s t .
THE PRESIDENT: You were g r e a t , a l l o f you. T h i s
i s v e r y encouraging.
I ' l l do what I can t o s u p p o r t you.
W e ' l l keep w o r k i n g on i t . W e ' l l do i t t o g e t h e r .
Q
Mr. P r e s i d e n t , can we g e t your t h o u g h t s on
the
Iowa caucuses today?
T h i s i s an h i s t o r i c day,
o b v i o u s l y , f o r t h e American people. One s p e c i f i c thought -d i d you t h i n k a year ago you would be unopposed f o r t h e
Democratic p r e s i d e n t i a l nomination?
THE PRESIDENT:
I don't know what I t h o u g h t a
year ago. I don't know i f I thought about i t . I hope I ' l l
win t o n i g h t .
(Laughter.)
That's my thought on t h e Iowa
caucuses.
I hope t h a t , as I t o l d -- you know, f o u r years
ago, t h e r e was e f f e c t i v e l y no campaign i n Iowa because
Senator H a r k i n r a n and, as he w e l l s h o u l d have, he g o t
almost a l l t h e v o t e s t h e r e . So -- and today, because t h e r e
appears t o be e f f e c t i v e l y no race i n t h e Democratic caucus
p r i m a r y , I don't know how many people w i l l go t o n i g h t . But
I hope t h a t t h e t r i p over t h e weekend made an impact. And
I believe i tdid.
I was, f r a n k l y , a s t o n i s h e d by t h e s i z e and t h e
enthusiasm o f t h e crowds, and by t h e response t o j u s t a
s e r i o u s d i s c u s s i o n o f t h e issues f a c i n g t h e c o u n t r y , and my
d e t e r m i n a t i o n t o n o t l e t t h i s e l e c t i o n d i v i d e t h e American
people.
And a l s o , n o t t o l e t t h e c i t i z e n s o f t h i s c o u n t r y
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�- 13 -
o f f t h e hook by saying, oh, I ' m c y n i c a l , i t doesn't make any
difference.
Look a t these k i d s .
These c h i l d r e n here -e s p e c i a l l y t h i s young l a d y who was brave enough t o come i n
the middle -- they a r e a s t u n n i n g rebuke t o t h e idea t h a t i t
does n o t m a t t e r what o r d i n a r y c i t i z e n s do i n t h i s c o u n t r y .
I t does m a t t e r what o r d i n a r y people do. These k i d s wrote a
l e t t e r t o t h e P r e s i d e n t , t h e y g e t t o come i n here and t a l k
about i t . And i t shows you what people can do i f t h e y work
together.
And so t h a t ' s what I t h i n k people i n Iowa
responded t o .
I was exuberant about t h e weekend, I thought i t
was v e r y good. I don't know what's g o i n g t o happen i n t h e
Republican caucus. I don't have any idea. As you a l l know,
t h e n a t u r e o f t h e r u l e s and t h e s i z e o f t h e t u r n o u t has a
l o t t o do w i t h t h a t .
So I r e a l l y don't have a c l u e what's
g o i n g t o happen.
Q
Mr. P r e s i d e n t , a r e you concerned t h a t t h e
B r i t i s h a r e no l o n g e r g o i n g t o d e a l w i t h Mr. Adams o f Sinn
Fein?
THE PRESIDENT:
W e l l , l e t me say t h a t I t h i n k
t h a t a l l t h e p a r t i e s are p r o b a b l y assessing and r e a s s e s s i n g
where t h e y a r e and what i s necessary t o do now, b u t I i n t e n d
t o do whatever I can on b e h a l f o f t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s t o t r y
t o r e s t o r e t h e c e a s e - f i r e and t r y t o g e t t h e peace process
going again.
I can t e l l you t h i s -- I b e l i e v e i f you l e t t h e
C a t h o l i c s and P r o t e s t a n t s i n N o r t h e r n I r e l a n d have a say i n
t h i s , i t wouldn't be c l o s e -- they do n o t want t o go back t o
v i o l e n c e , t h e y want t o go f o r w a r d t o peace, and t h e y expect
t h e people who a r e r e p r e s e n t i n g them t o be d i s c i p l i n e d and
mature and t o p e a c e f u l l y work t h i s o u t . That's what t h e y
expect t o be done. And I j u s t hope and pray i t can be done.
And I ' v e been w o r k i n g -- a c t u a l l y , I d i d some
work l a s t week b e f o r e t h e c e a s e - f i r e was broken, and I
i n t e n d t o do some more work t h i s week on i t . We w i l l do
e v e r y t h i n g we can t o t r y t o g e t t h e process back on t r a c k .
Q
Do you t h i n k Gerry Adams can s t i l l be t r u s t e d
a f t e r what happened i n t h e l a s t few days?
THE PRESIDENT: I s a i d what I thought about what
happened t h e l a s t few days. We're going t o l o o k a t a l l t h e
evidence.
We're g o i n g t o see what we know and what we can
do, and I'm g o i n g t o do what I t h i n k i s best t o t r y t o
promote peace t h e r e .
That's what I'm g o i n g t o do. And
t h a t ' s a l l I can do.
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�- 14 -
Thank you.
Q
Are you c u r i o u s
c a n d i d a t e i s g o i n g t o emerge?
about
what
Republican
THE PRESIDENT: (Laughter.) W e l l , I expect I ' l l
know something by what happens i n Iowa t o n i g h t . A t l e a s t i f
the r e s u l t s a r e c l e a r b e f o r e bedtime.
I'm j u s t l i k e you, I
h o n e s t l y don't know what's g o i n g t o happen.
And I have
found i t ' s n o t v e r y f r u i t f u l t o spend your time s p e c u l a t i n g
on t h i n g s over which you have no i n f l u e n c e . And I have no
i n t e n t i o n i n p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n t h e Republican p r i m a r y . I ' l l
l e t them decide who t h e y want t o r u n .
Q
Do you l i k e watching them f i g h t
i t o u t among
themselves?
that.
THE PRESIDENT:
(Laughter.)
W e l l , I don't know how t o answer
Thank you.
END
2:00 P.M. EST
�THE WHITE HOUSE
O f f i c e o f t h e Press S e c r e t a r y
For
Immediate Release
August 12, 1995
RADIO ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT
TO THE NATION
The Oval O f f i c e
10:06 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. T h i s week I d i r e c t e d t h e Food
and Drug A d m i n i s t r a t i o n t o propose s t i f f r e s t r i c t i o n s on t h e
a d v e r t i s i n g , marketing, and sales o f c i g a r e t t e s t o c h i l d r e n , a f t e r
a 14-month FDA study, an e x h a u s t i v e study which found tobacco
a d d i c t i v e , h a r m f u l and r e a d i l y a v a i l a b l e t o young Americans. I d i d
so because sometimes we must a c t s t e r n l y and b o l d l y t o f u l f i l l o u r
most fundamental moral o b l i g a t i o n -- our d u t y as a d u l t s t o ensure
t h a t o u r c h i l d r e n grow up h e a l t h y and s t r o n g .
The g r i m f a c t i s t h a t every s i n g l e day i n America 3,000 new
teenagers l i g h t up f o r t h e f i r s t time. Most are d e s t i n e d t o become
a d d i c t e d , and a thousand o f them w i l l d i e b e f o r e t h e i r t i m e from
diseases caused by tobacco.
Teenagers don't j u s t "happen" t o smoke. They're t h e v i c t i m s
of b i l l i o n s o f d o l l a r s o f m a r k e t i n g and p r o m o t i o n a l campaigns
designed by t o p p s y c h o l o g i s t s and a d v e r t i s i n g e x p e r t s .
These
campaigns have one i n e v i t a b l e consequence -- t o s t a r t c h i l d r e n on
a l i f e t i m e h a b i t o f a d d i c t i o n t o tobacco. And i f you don't s t a r t
smoking as a teen, chances are v e r y good y o u ' l l never s t a r t a t a l l .
Somebody has t o s t o p t h i s .
That's why I d e c i d e d t o a c t .
The way t h e c i g a r e t t e companies reach c h i l d r e n i s e s p e c i a l l y
e f f e c t i v e . They sponsor auto races o r t e n n i s matches. The s u b t l e
message i s t h a t smoking can't be t h a t bad f o r you i f i t ' s so
i n t i m a t e l y involved with sports.
W e l l , our p l a n stops companies
from s p o n s o r i n g events i n c i g a r e t t e - b r a n d names.
Stores s e l l
cigarettes
i n k i d d y packs o f h a n d f u l o f
c i g a r e t t e s , o r even sometimes, j u s t one c i g a r e t t e , so teenager w i t h
v e r y l i t t l e money can buy smokes o u t o f t h e i r pocket change. My
p l a n bans t h a t , t o o . B i l l b o a r d s and ads i n t e e n magazines show
rugged men and glamorous women l i g h t i n g up, and b l i s s f u l couples
s h a r i n g t h e i r c i g a r e t t e s . The message i s , smoking i s sexy; i t w i l l
�make you more a t t r a c t i v e ; i t w i l l make you h a p p i e r .
ban those m a n i p u l a t i v e v i s u a l images, t o o .
My p l a n w i l l
L e t ' s be c l e a r :
c i g a r e t t e s are a l e g a l p r o d u c t ,
but
c i g a r e t t e s sales t o minors are i l l e g a l i n a l l 50 s t a t e s . But l o t s
o f c h i l d r e n smoke i n a l l 50 s t a t e s , g e t t i n g these s m a l l packs o r
g e t t i n g t h e c i g a r e t t e s out of vending machines, o r sometimes j u s t
b u y i n g them across
t h e c o u n t e r . And the a d v e r t i s i n g has a l o t t o do w i t h i t .
So l e t ' s end the h y p o c r i s y of p r e t e n d i n g t h a t w h i l e s a l e s t o
teens are i l l e g a l , m a r k e t i n g t o teens i s l e g a l .
Let's stop
p r e t e n d i n g t h a t a c a r t o o n camel i n a funny costume i s t r y i n g t o
s e l l t o a d u l t s , not c h i l d r e n .
C i g a r e t t e companies say they want t o reduce
t h e i r lawyers r u s h t o t h e courthouse t o seek an
b l o c k i n g our a c t i o n s .
Well, that's t h e i r r i g h t ,
t o s a f e g u a r d the h e a l t h and t h e s a f e t y of our
won't back down.
teen smoking. But
order
but i t i s my d u t y
children.
And I
Now I ' d l i k e t o t u r n the microphone over t o a brave man,
V i c t o r Crawford.
For years Mr. Crawford was a l o b b y i s t f o r the t o p
t o b a c c o companies. He smoked, and t r a g i c a l l y , he's now f i g h t i n g
h i s own b a t t l e a g a i n s t cancer. I t h i n k h i s comments on t h e t a c t i c s
o f tobacco a d v e r t i s i n g may be e s p e c i a l l y h e l p f u l .
Mr.
Crawford.
MR. CRAWFORD: Thank you, P r e s i d e n t C l i n t o n , f o r g i v i n g me
t h i s chance t o t a l k t o the young people o f America. And from t h e
bottom o f my h e a r t , I thank you f o r t h e w o n d e r f u l t h i n g s you're
d o i n g t o p r o t e c t them from smoking. T h i s was an i s s u e you c o u l d
have e a s i l y avoided, but i n s t e a d you d i d the r i g h t t h i n g and t o o k
the leadership p o s i t i o n .
K i d s , c i g a r e t t e s are bad f o r you, and t h e y ' r e k i l l e r s .
I
know. I used t o work f o r the i n d u s t r y t h a t makes them. I was p a r t
of a w e l l - o r g a n i z e d machine t h a t depends on young people l i k e you
b e l i e v i n g t h a t c i g a r e t t e s are okay. Some of the smartest people i n
America work a t j u s t one t h i n g -- f i g u r i n g out how t o get you t o
smoke. As tobacco k i l l s o f f people l i k e me, t h e y need k i d s l i k e
you t o r e p l a c e me.
As t h e P r e s i d e n t has d e s c r i b e d a l r e a d y , a n y t h i n g goes -- any
m a r k e t i n g gimmick, any t r i c k t o make you want t o smoke. They t a l k
about peer p r e s s u r e ; how do you t h i n k t h a t peer p r e s s u r e s t a r t s ?
We d i d i t t h r o u g h our a d v e r t i s i n g .
For s e v e r a l years I p r o t e c t e d the c i g a r e t t e i n d u s t r y from
anybody who wanted t o r e s t r i c t smoking. I f o o l e d a l o t of people;
and, k i d s , I f o o l e d myself, t o o .
I smoked h e a v i l y and I s t a r t e d
when I was 13 years o l d . And now i n my t h r o a t and i n my lungs
where the smoke used t o be t h e r e ' s a cancer t h a t I know i s k i l l i n g
�me.
I t ' s t o o l a t e f o r me, b u t i t ' s n o t t o o l a t e f o r you. Use your
brain.
Don't l e t anybody f o o l you. Don't smoke.
And, Mr. P r e s i d e n t , on b e h a l f o f m i l l i o n s o f o t h e r people l i k e
me, I thank you v e r y much f o r t h e steps you're t a k i n g t o s t o p
c i g a r e t t e companies from f o o l i n g t h e people i n t o smoking and b e i n g
a t r u e l e a d e r t h a t t h i s c o u n t r y needs. Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT:
Mr. Crawford, thank you. Your courage i n
speaking o u t has i n s p i r e d me, and i t w i l l h e l p a l l o f us t o save
t h e l i v e s o f c o u n t l e s s young people i n t h e f u t u r e .
B e t t e r than
almost anyone i n America, you know t h e p o w e r f u l f o r c e s t h a t a r e
t r y i n g t o preserve t h e s t a t u s quo. But no one - - n o one -- s h o u l d
r i s k o u r c h i l d r e n ' s f u t u r e f o r t h e i r own p e r s o n a l g a i n . And y o u r
p e r s o n a l s t r u g g l e , Mr. Crawford, and t h a t o f m i l l i o n s o f o t h e r
Americans who s u f f e r from smoking's consequences, show why we must
a c t , and a c t now, f o r our c h i l d r e n , our f a m i l i e s , and o u r American
family.
Thanks f o r l i s t e n i n g .
END
10:11 A.M.
EDT
�THE WHITE HOUSE
O f f i c e o f t h e Press S e c r e t a r y
For Immediate Release
August 10, 1995
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
BEFORE ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION
The Oval O f f i c e
10:18
A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Ladies and gentlemen, today I have brought t o g e t h e r
m e d i c a l e x p e r t s and c h i l d r e n who have taken a pledge a g a i n s t
smoking t o t a l k about o u r common commitment t o ending y o u t h
smoking.
T h i s i s s u e i s c r i t i c a l t o o u r e f f o r t s t o improve t h e h e a l t h o f o u r
nation.
A c c o r d i n g t o t h e Center f o r Disease C o n t r o l , o f t h e two
m i l l i o n Americans who w i l l d i e i n 1995, over 400,000 o f them w i l l
have c o n d i t i o n s r e l a t e d t o smoking.
L a t e r today I w i l l announce my s t r a t e g y f o r combating t h i s problem
based on one simple idea: We should do e v e r y t h i n g we p o s s i b l y can
t o keep tobacco o u t o f t h e hands o f our young people i n the U n i t e d
States.
Now I ' d l i k e t o c a l l on Shana B a i l e y , who i s a 1 2 - y e a r - o l d from
F l o r i d a who's p a r t o f a s u c c e s s f u l program t h a t teaches s t u d e n t s
how and why t h e y should s t a y smoke-free.
( G i f t s are presented t o the President.)
END
10:19 A.M. EDT
�Top Issue - May 7, 1996
http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/dispatch/050796.html
America's Challenge in An Age of Possibility:
Fighting Tobacco Use By Our Children
May 7,1996
Protecting our children from tobacco. Today, the President will travel to New Jersey to participate in
a "Kick Butts Day" program. The day is a multi-city effort in which children and adults in their
communities survey and discuss the tobacco companies' marketing which appeals to young people. The
President will hear about their findings and reiterate his commitment to protect children from the early
use of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, and to ensure them the healthy future they deserve.
"Our first challenge is to cherish our children and strengthen America's
families., . Our administration has taken steps to stop the massive marketing
campaigns that appeal to our children. We are simply saying: Market your
products to adults, if you wish, but draw the line on children."
- President Clinton,
State of the Union Address,
January 23, 1996
Taking positive steps as partners. National Kick Butts Day highlights the growing consensus in
America that tobacco advertising should not be targeted to our young people. The private sector, the
public sector and ordinary citizens are demanding that tobacco companies come on board to meet their
moral and legal responsibility to prevent the sale of cigarettes to minors. President Clinton cited the
following examples of this growing national movement:
• Companies like 3M, who have decided to voluntarily end their billboard business with tobacco
companies;
• Supermarket chains like A&P, whose CEO is going to ask his board to eliminate vending
machines;
• Prominent athletes, churches, parents and young people across America are also joining the effort.
Giving parents and communities the tools they need. On August 10, 1995, President Clinton
announced FDA's proposed comprehensive and coordinated plan to reduce smoking by children and
adolescents by 50 percent. The initiative has been published as a proposed rule of the Food and Drug
Administration. If adopted, it would:
• Reduce access by children.
o Require face-to-face sales and age verification with photo identification;
• Eliminate free samples and impersonal sales like vending machines and mail orders.
•i Limit the appeal of cigarettes to children.
• Ban outdoor advertising within 1,000 feet of schools and playgrounds;
• Restrict all other outdoor advertising to black-and-white text only;
• Ban non-tobacco products such as t-shirts and caps that have cigarette or smokeless tobacco
product brand names, logos or symbols;
D Allow the sponsorship of events only in the corporate name.
The Synar Regulation. On January 18, 1996, the Administration issued a final rule, named for its
author, the late Mike Synar, designed to ensure that states and territories adopt and enforce laws
prohibiting the sale or distribution of tobacco products to children.
• Too many users, too many costs.
• Every year, one million children take up smoking, even though it is against the law.
Between 1991 and 1994, the percentage of eighth graders who smoke increased 30 percent.
1 of 2
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�Top Issue - May 7, 1996
http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/dispatch/050796.html
• Of the 3,000 young people who start smoking every day, 1,000 of them will die as a result.
• In 1993, the estimated health care costs from smoking-related disease and death was $50
billion.
• Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Tobacco products
are responsible for more than 400,000 deaths each year due to cancer, respiratory illness,
heart disease, and other health problems. Cigarettes kill more Americans each year than
AIDS, alcohol, car accidents, murders, suicides, illegal drugs andfirescombined.
2 of 2
04/11/97 07:43:18
�Protect Our Children From Tobacco
http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/New/other/smoke.html
Protect Our Children From Tobacco
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
Press Conference By The President
August 10,1995
The President: Good afternoon. Today I am announcing broad
executive action to protect the young people of the United States
from the awful dangers of tobacco.
Over the years we have learned more and more about the dangers
of addictive substances to our young people. In the '60s and '70s
we came to realize the threat drugs posed to young Americans. In
the '80s we came to grips with the awful problem of drunk driving
among young people. It is time to take a third step to free our
teenagers from addiction and dependency.
Adults are capable of making their own decisions about whether to smoke. But we all know that children
are especially susceptible to the deadly temptation of tobacco and its skillful marketing. Today and every
day this year, 3,000 young people will begin to smoke. One thousand of them ultimately will die of
cancer, emphysema, heart disease, and other diseases caused by smoking. That's more than one million
vulnerable young people a year being hooked on nicotine that ultimately could kill them.
Therefore, by executive authority, I will restrict sharply the advertising, promotion, distribution and
marketing of cigarettes to teenagers. I do this on the basis of the best available scientific evidence, the
findings of the American Medical Association, the American Cancer Society, the American Heart
Association, the American Lung Association, the Centers for Disease Control. Fourteen months of study
by the Food and Drug Administration confirms what we all know — cigarettes and smokeless tobacco
are harmful, highly addictive and aggressively marketed to our young people. The evidence is
overwhelming, and the threat is immediate.
Our children face a health crisis that is getting worse. One-third more 8th-graders, and one-quarter more
lOth-graders are smoking today than four years ago. One out of five high school seniors is a daily
smoker. We need to act, and we must act now, before another generation of Americans is condemned to
fight a difficult and grueling personal battle with an addiction that will cost millions of them their lives.
Adults make their own decisions about whether or not to smoke. Relatively few people start to smoke
past their teens. Many adults have quit; many have tried and failed. But we all know that teenagers are
especially susceptible to pressures. Pressure to the manipulation of mass media advertising, the pressure
of the seduction of skilled marketing campaigns aimed at exploiting their insecurities and uncertainties
about life.
When Joe Camel tells young children that smoking is cool, when billboards tell teens that smoking will
lead to true romance, when Virginia Slims tells adolescents that cigarettes may make them thin and
glamorous, then our children need our wisdom, our guidance and our experience. We're their parents and
it is up to us to protect them.
So today I am authorizing the Food and Drug Administration to initiate a broad series of steps all
designed to stop sales and marketing of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco to children. As a result, the
following steps will be taken.
1 of 2
04/11/97 07:43:40
�Protect Our Children From Tobacco
http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/New/other/smoke.html
First, young people will have to prove their age with an I.D. card to buy cigarettes. Second, cigarette
vending machines which circumvent any ban on sales to kids will be prohibited. Third, schools and
playgrounds will be free of tobacco advertising on billboards in their neighborhoods. Fourth, images
such as Joe Camel will not appear on billboards or in ads in publications that reach substantial numbers
of children and teens. Fifth, teens won't be targeted by any marketing gimmicks, ranging from single
cigarette sales to T-shirts, gym bags and sponsorship of sporting events. And, finally, the tobacco
industry must fund and implement an annual $150-million campaign aimed at stopping teens from
smoking through educational efforts.
Now, these are all common-sense steps. They don't ban smoking; they don't bar advertising. We do not,
in other words, seek to address activities that seek to sell cigarettes only to adults. We are stepping in to
protect those who need our help, our vulnerable young people. And the evidence of increasing smoking
in the last few years is plain and compelling.
Now, nobody much likes government regulation. And I would prefer it if we could have done this in
some other way. The only other way I can think of is if Congress were to write these restrictions into
law. They could do that. And if they do, this rule could become unnecessary. But it is wrong to believe
that we can take a voluntary approach to this problem. And absent congressional action, and in the
presence of a massive marketing and lobbying campaign by cigarette companies aimed at our children,
clearly, I have no alternative but to do everything I can to bring this assault to a halt.
The issue has touched all of us in personal ways. We all know friends or family members whose lives
were shortened because of their involvement with tobacco. The Vice President's sister, a heavy smoker
who started as a teen, died of lung cancer. It is that kind of pain that I seek to spare other families and
young children. Less smoking means less cancer, less illness, longer lives ~ a stronger America. Acting
together we can make a difference. With this concerted plan targeted at those practices that especially
prey upon our children, we can save lives, and we will.
To those who produce and market cigarettes, I say today, take responsibility for your actions. Sell your
products only to adults. Draw the line on children. Show by your deeds as well as you words that you
recognize that it is wrong as well as illegal to hook one million children a year on tobacco.
2 of 2
04/11/97 07:43:45
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Michael Waldman
Description
An account of the resource
<p>Michael Waldman was Assistant to the President and Director of Speechwriting from 1995-1999. His responsibilities were writing and editing nearly 2,000 speeches, which included four State of the Union speeches and two Inaugural Addresses. From 1993 -1995 he served as Special Assistant to the President for Policy Coordination.</p>
<p>The collection generally consists of copies of speeches and speech drafts, talking points, memoranda, background material, correspondence, reports, handwritten notes, articles, clippings, and presidential schedules. A large volume of this collection was for the State of the Union speeches. Many of the speech drafts are heavily annotated with additions or deletions. There are a lot of articles and clippings in this collection.</p>
<p>Due to the size of this collection it has been divided into two segments. Use links below for access to the individual segments:<br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=43&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=2006-0469-F+Segment+1">Segment One</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=43&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=2006-0469-F+Segment+2">Segment Two</a></p>
Creator
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Michael Waldman
Office of Speechwriting
Date
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1993-1999
Identifier
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2006-0469-F
Extent
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Segment One contains 1071 folders in 72 boxes.
Segment Two contains 868 folders in 66 boxes.
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Format
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Adobe Acrobat Document
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
paper
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
[POTUS Remarks]
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Office of Speechwriting
Michael Waldman
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Box 3
<a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/36404"> Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7763296">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
2006-0469-F Segment 2
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
White House Staff and Office Files
Publisher
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William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Format
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Adobe Acrobat Document
Medium
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Preservation-Reproduction-Reference
Date Created
Date of creation of the resource.
6/3/2015
Source
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7763296
42-t-7763296-20060469F-Seg2-003-013-2015