REGULATION OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS 



THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 1994 



House of Representatives, 

 Committee on Energy and Commerce, 

 Subcommittee on Health and the Environment, 



Washington DC. 



The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:05 a.m., 2123 

 Raybum House Office Building, Hon. Henry A. Waxman (chair- 

 man) presiding. 



Mr. Waxman. The meeting of the subcommittee will come to 

 order. I'd like to ask our guests to please take your seats. 



This is an historic hearing. For the first time ever, the chief exec- 

 utive officers of our Nation's tobacco companies are testifying to- 

 gether before the U.S. Congress. They are here because this sub- 

 committee has legislative jurisdiction over those issues that affect 

 our health. And no health issue is as important as cigarette smok- 

 ing. 



It is sometimes easier to invent fiction than to face the truth. 

 The truth is that cigarettes are the single most dangerous 

 consumer product ever sold. Nearly a half million Americans die 

 every year as a result of tobacco. This is an astounding, almost in- 

 comprehensible statistic. Imagine our Nation's outrage if two fully 

 loaded jumbo jets crashed each day, killing all aboard. Yet that is 

 the same number of Americans that cigarettes kill every 24 hours. 



Sadly, this deadly habit begins with our kids. Each day 3,000 

 children will begin smoking. In many cases they become hooked 

 quickly and develop a life long addiction that is nearly impossible 

 to break. For the past 30 years a series of surgeons general have 

 issued comprehensive reports outlining the dangers these children 

 will eventually face. 



Lung cancer, heart disease, emphysema, bladder cancer, and 

 stroke are only some of the diseases caused by tobacco causes. And 

 now we know that kids will face a serious health threat even if 

 they don't smoke. Environmental tobacco smoke is a Class A car- 

 cinogen, and it sickens more than 1 million kids every year. 



In fact, five former surgeons general of the United States testi- 

 fied before this subcommittee this year, that the most important 

 legislation in disease prevention that we could enact would be re- 

 strictions on smoking in public places. This subcommittee will soon 

 act on that legislation, and it will consider other measures as well. 

 This hearing will aid our efforts by presenting an important per- 

 spective. But these hearings are important for another reason as 

 well. 



(527) 



