15 



Welcome to our hearing today. Without objection, your testimony 

 will be printed in the record in its entirety and we would like to 

 ask you to limit your oral statements because we do have a long 

 list of witnesses to hear today. 



Mr. Durbin. 



STATEMENT OF HON. RICHARD J. DURBIN, A REPRESENTA- 

 TIVE EST CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF ILLINOIS 



Mr. Durbin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the oppor- 

 tunity to testify today regarding the recent revelations about the 

 role of nicotine in tobacco manufacturing and marketing. I appre- 

 ciate your leadership as well as the leadership of Mr. Synar and 

 Mr. Wyden in dealing with the tobacco issues we face. 



Even in this town of upside down thinking, how can we continue 

 to exempt tobacco and its products from FDA regulation? Even ac- 

 cepting the tobacco industry's lame explanation, it is clear that the 

 so-called tobacco scientists manufacture a witch's brew of nicotine 

 and lethal chemicals to stuff into those white paper cylinders. 



If the tobacco companies can remove addictive nicotine from a 

 cigarette, why do they put it back in? And how do they decide what 

 level of nicotine to add? Imagine a business where these so-called 

 tobacco scientists are calculating the proper level of nicotine to 

 keep African-Americans hooked on Kools, women hooked on Vir- 

 ginia Slims, and children addicted to Camels. Do these same so- 

 called scientists cram more nicotine into cigarettes popular with 

 America's children so they can become addicted for life? 



When the Colombian drug cartel formulates its products to meet 

 the demands of addicted cocaine users in the United States, Mem- 

 bers of Congress don't invite them to their fundraisers. But when 

 the tobacco companies monkey with their deadly nicotine formula 

 to keep smokers addicted in our country, we judge them model 

 businessmen. 



Lest we forget, the deaths attributable to tobacco in the United 

 States are 100 times as many as those attributable to cocaine. The 

 Food and Drug Administration, which my subcommittee funds, 

 spends hundreds of millions of dollars to test the safety of food and 

 drugs, many of which are used by only a handful of Americans. 

 Why in God's name do we not test and disclose the contents of ciga- 

 rettes and spit tobacco which account for more deaths than any 

 product, legal or otherwise, sold in the United States? 



I believe tobacco content should be regulated not so as to ban the 

 product but to ensure that all harmful ingredients can be removed. 

 That is why I have joined Congressman Mike Synar in sponsoring 

 the Fairness in Tobacco and Nicotine Regulation Act. 



Our legislation would bring tobacco content under the regulation 

 of FDA and put an end to the industry's free rein in advertising, 

 labeling, promoting and selling cigarettes and other tobacco prod- 

 ucts. Our legislation would give the FDA the authority to regulate 

 not only nicotine but all ingredients added to tobacco, and to estab- 

 lish rules for labeling and marketing tobacco products to put an 

 end to some of the egregious practices of the tobacco industry. 



We must subject tobacco to comprehensive regulation as we do 

 foods, drugs, cosmetics, and other consumer products. Tobacco is a 

 deadly product. It is not only legal to sell tobacco, we must always 



