Bill Clinton: “We can only finance--we can finance that part of it which is within our own budget, and that part of it which was…”

“We can only finance--we can finance that part of it which is within our own budget, and that part of it which was dedicated to--which would had to have been financed by the States and which was within a menu of things that we supported that the States could spend it on won't be financed unless the States get the money some other way. And I think that's unfortunate, because I think that would be a good expenditure of some of the money. Keep in mind, most of the Federal money was designed to be spent on--directly on health care--on medical research, on smoking cessation programs, on programs designed to deal with the consequences of the health problems that are directly related to smoking in this country. And that was, of course, a part of the Senate's decision in killing it. I think it's important to point out also that there were--that this bill is temporarily dead because of the unusual rule of the Senate that requires 60 percent, not 51 percent, of the Senate to pass on any bill other than the budget if somebody objects to it. So for all the $40 million in spending--and as reported in the paper today, all the commitment to run the same ads all over again in November to protect the Republican Members who voted with them--they still could only muster 43 votes. And two of those votes were people who wanted a better provision for the tobacco farmers and essentially supported the bill. So, essentially, what you've got is 41 people denying the American people and denying the huge majority of the United States Senate, including a number of Republicans, the right to pass a tobacco bill and ask the House to do the same to protect our children. That's not a long way from success. And that means that each and every one of the members of the Republican caucus who voted for that was in a way personally responsible for the death of the bill. It's not all--it's dead today. It may not be dead tomorrow. And it's not dead over the long run because the public health need is great. I've never quit on anything this important in my life, and I don't intend to stop now. There are too many futures riding on it, and I think in the end we will prevail. Thank you.”