333 



The New York Times story claims that an executive of Brown & 

 Williamson Tobacco concluded as early as 1963 on the basis of the 

 company's own research that cigarette smoking had been shown to 

 cause or contribute to the development of lung cancer, heart dis- 

 ease, and emphysema. The article went on to charge that the com- 

 pany had attempted with some success to hide its conclusions on 

 smoking and health issues from the Federal health authorities, the 

 U.S. Congress, and the American public. 



Three weeks later a short editor's note buried at the bottom of 

 page 2 of the New York Times below advertisements for 

 Timberland Shoes, Ethan Allen furniture, and a public auction for 

 Persian rugs and sundry other items acknowledged that the earlier 

 Times story had been erroneous and I refer to Chart 2. 



According to the editor's note, the earlier article had incorrectly 

 quoted Brown & Williamson's general counsel as saying that the 

 company's research had shown that cigarettes contribute to certain 

 health problems when in fact the general counsel was simply pre- 

 dicting what the Surgeon General was likely to say in his 1964 re- 

 port to Congress on cigarettes. 



Finally, Mr. Chairman, I must regrettably note my concern over 

 the conduct of this investigation. As you well know, these hearings 

 are quite a departure from our usual legislative hearings where it 

 is clear what the universe of inquiry will be. 



In this particular case, we are presented with a hearing that 

 could easily encompass any activity of the Council during its 40- 

 year history. I think everyone would agree that without the docu- 

 ments that the Majority intends to focus on, it is impossible for 

 members and staff to properly prepare. Thus, I thought our agree- 

 ment to share documents made sense. 



Your staff did agree to share the Majority staff report with my 

 staff but only on an embargoed basis. I was disappointed to learn 

 that at 4:30 yesterday afternoon my staff was informed that none 

 of the other documents would be available to them until midnight 

 or 1 o'clock this morning. In my years as the Ranking Member on 

 the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, Minority staff 

 were afforded timely and adequate access to those documents that 

 were the subject of the hearing. I thought I had the assurances 

 that this subcommittee's investigation would be conducted in a 

 similarly professional fashion. I regret that I was mistaken. 



Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 



[The charts referred to follow:] 



