Clinton asks Congress to act fast to stop teen smoking

March 7, 1998
Web posted at: 1:16 p.m. EST (1816 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bill Clinton called on Congress on Saturday to end "the epidemic" of teen smoking by passing legislation to raise the price of cigarettes and penalize tobacco companies for targeting children.

"This is a national tragedy that every American should be honor-bound to help prevent," he said in his weekly radio address.

Last month, Clinton proposed legislation to raise the price of a pack of cigarettes by $1.50 over 10 years, which is the amount most public health advocates say is necessary to deter teen-agers from smoking.

The measure also calls for comprehensive efforts to fight underage smoking, giving the Food and Drug Administration full authority to regulate tobacco products, changes in how the industry does business and anti-smoking public health initiatives.

"Today there are as few as 70 working days left before this Congress adjourns," the president said. "On every one of those days, 3,000 children will light their first cigarettes. On every one of those days, this Congress has the opportunity to stop it."

Of those 3,000 first-time teen smokers, Clinton said, about 1,000 will die prematurely of smoking-related causes.

'Many of us question his commitment'

Saturday's address was part of a stepped-up effort by the White House to push for tobacco legislation, now stalled in Congress.

Clinton is scheduled to talk about tobacco this week in speeches to the American Medical Association and the state attorneys general.

Before the president and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton headed to Camp David for the weekend, he sought to put Congress in the spotlight over teen smoking, saying of the enactment of legislation: "There will be no greater measure of your commitment to the health of our children or the future of our nation."

In the House, Rep. Tom Bliley, chairman of the Commerce Committee, chafed at Clinton's admonishment.

"If the president wants a quick resolution, as I do, he should remain in Washington until he sends us his specific plan for action," he said in a statement Friday. "Many of us question his commitment."

Senate committee chairmen frustrated by Congress' plodding work on tobacco, agreed this week to scrap a March 16 deadline for their own individual bills and instead begin work next Wednesday on folding various proposals into one.

"Some of the senators there were unhappy because we have these needs but there's no motion," Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Arizona, said Friday in an interview. "This is such an unwieldy process."

McCain's committee will hold a hearing Wednesday in which the chairmen and top Democrats of the half-dozen panels overseeing tobacco policy will suggest ways to refine his bill to ratify a landmark settlement with tobacco companies.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

 

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