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tobacco. It was not until 1925 that the last of these prohibition 

 laws against cigarettes was repealed. 



People in this country, in our country, are against banning ciga- 

 rettes. In a recent CNN-USA Today Gallup Poll, 86 percent of the 

 people interviewed said smoking should not be made illegal. One 

 finsd note, and this is in more of a personal nature. I've been in 

 the tobacco business for more than 30 years. I'm proud of the qual- 

 ity of products that we make. I'm proud of the thousands of people 

 that we employ. And I'm proud of the livelihoods we provide to 

 hundreds of thousands of others, from the farm families to the 

 mom and pop stores around the corner. 



Mr. Chairman and members of this subcommittee, if I sound con- 

 cerned or even alarmed, it is because I am, not because of the in- 

 formation being brought before this committee. The issues being 

 resurrected here relate to nicotine and so-called safer cigarettes 

 and health risks associated with smoking are not new issues. These 

 issues have been played out in courts over and over again. And 

 when we are given a forum of fairness, judges, juries, and equitable 

 rules, common sense has prevailed. 



Juries have always decided these issues in our favor when the 

 facts are presented in a fair forum. 



No, I'm not concerned about the information itself. I'm concerned 

 about the process. Saying it's OK to steal, saying it's OK to accept 

 stolen property, saying it's OK to violate the rights of confidential- 

 ity with legal counsel, saying it's OK to return to an age of McCar- 

 thyism when blacklisting and vilification of honest and reasonable 

 people were sanctioned for the sake of advancing a political agenda. 



I'm concerned about our government regulating the lives and life- 

 styles of the American citizen. I am not alone in my concern. Col- 

 umnist Richard Baker — Russell Baker writing about this congres- 

 sional proceeding, said, "we have here a crusade in its second 

 phase. Crusades typically start by being admirable, proceed to 

 being foolish, and end by being dangerous. The crusade against 

 smoking is now clearly into the second stage where foolishness 

 abounds." 



Mr. Baker later adds, "this is an illustration of a crusade enter- 

 ing the dangerous stage." 



Dr. Kessler's efibrts are a perfect example of a crusade by the 

 FDA which is clearly in its dangerous stage. 



I would now like to respond to the false allegation also made 

 against Brown & Williamson last Tuesday by Dr. Kessier and his 

 staff concerning Y-1. 



First, the testimony implies or implied that Brown & Williamson 

 developed some new variety of a tobacco plant which we didn't 

 want the government to know about. In fact, the U.S. Department 

 of Agriculture actually developed the breeding line which became 

 Y-1. 



Three Federal agencies responsible or having the responsibility 

 for public health issues, the Surgeon General, along with the 

 FDA — pardon me, along with the USD A, and the National Cancer 

 Institute, all recognized that it was appropriate to consider the de- 

 sign of cigarettes which would deliver lower levels of tar and mod- 

 erate levels of nicotine. The development of Y-1 was consistent with 

 this approach. 



