Dick Durbin: “the No. 1 preventable cause of death in America today: tobacco. People who use tobacco--smoking or chewing-- develop a…”

“the No. 1 preventable cause of death in America today: tobacco. People who use tobacco--smoking or chewing-- develop a myriad of health problems, and many die prematurely. Tobacco companies are a big business in America. They have been for a long time. And they really try their best to recruit new customers when they go into junior high and high schools. Now they are in the e- cigarette business too, but I want to stick with tobacco for a moment. The notion, of course, is, if you can addict a child to nicotine, they will continue to smoke and eventually become a lifelong user of tobacco products. It has been a long time since I have engaged this industry in political contest. It was a little over 25 years ago when I was a Member of the House of Representatives that I boarded an airplane in Phoenix, AZ, at the last minute--a United airplane. I went to the ticket counter and said to the woman at the counter: Can I get on this plane? She said: If you hurry, you can get on there. Here is where you are going to be seated. And I said: Wait a minute. This is in the smoking section of the airplane and you have me in a center seat in the smoking section. Isn't there something you can do? She looked at my ticket and said: No, Congressman, there is something you can do. So I got on that plane and flew from Phoenix to Chicago in the smoking section of the airplane--there used to be such things--and thought to myself: This is madness.…”