Political Quotes

“this week we are going to be voting on some appropriation bills. They are rather large. They call them minibuses. But there will be six or eight appropriations bills bunched together, and they will include things other than strictly spending measures. One of the areas that will be addressed is the age that you must reach to purchase tobacco and vaping materials in the United States. It is known euphemistically as T-21, and I have supported it for years. The notion of raising the purchasing age to 21 for these products, to me, just makes sense. We know that they are addictive. Both cigarette tobacco and vaping materials have nicotine in them, a highly addictive chemical. Raising the age of purchase across the United States to 21 makes sense. But I am disappointed as well. Although I originally sponsored this bill, there have been several revelations in the last few months, which call for us to move far beyond the idea of establishing a new age for purchasing these products, and let me be specific. One of the things we have been working on is trying to address the shocking increase in the use of vaping materials and e-cigarettes by young people across America. It has been called a public health epidemic, not by a politician but by the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. That Commissioner told us, as well as the Surgeon General of the United States, that this is an issue that cannot be ignored.…”