Political Quotes

“today it is time to bring our agricultural policy in line with our health policy. As the cochairman of the 83 member congressional task force on tobacco and health, we need to correct this serious disconnect in Federal policy. We cannot credibly discourage the use of tobacco as long as we are subsidizing the growing of tobacco. It is really that simple. We may be able to come up with assistance to tobacco farmers, we should do that through the settlement that has been negotiated by the attorneys general. But it does not make any sense to take taxpayer money and subsidize the growth of tobacco in this country. We have made enormous progress on this amendment over the last few years. In fact, we have made so much progress that last year it failed by only two votes. Surely in the last year we have gotten enough information about what tobacco companies knew about the dangers of their product, about decades of duplicity and lying that they have perpetrated upon American people. Now is the time to pass this amendment. This is extremely important.”