Frank Lautenberg: “It has been inquired all around the country, by many people, as to whether or not the tobacco industry won its fight…”

“It has been inquired all around the country, by many people, as to whether or not the tobacco industry won its fight here in the Capitol. Did they bowl us over? Did they get the Congress to knuckle under? Are they so powerful that, over the will of the American people, the tobacco industry prevailed? And we say no. There is an amendment that has been offered by the Democratic leader, Senator Daschle, that would give us a chance in the Senate to choose between the tobacco industry, the tobacco lobby, their friends, and our Nation's children. This amendment would put a real dent in a public health catastrophe that has touched nearly every American family. There are few of us who have not heard about the ravages of tobacco on a friend or relative, or seen people we know weakened from respiratory conditions caused by the use of tobacco--smoking, and how it changed the structure of their lives, how they are unable to do the things that they used to do: participate in sports, play actively with their children or their grandchildren--or how they suffered premature death. Too often, on the Senate floor, we have heard opponents of the tobacco bill parrot the propaganda of the tobacco industry. I would like to take a moment to review the real issues in this debate.”