CONGRESSIONAL RECORD -- SENATE

December 15, 1969

Page 39105

PUBLIC HEALTH CIGARETTE SMOKING ACT

Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, it was necessary for me to leave Washington on Friday before the vote on the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act. Had it not been necessary for me to leave to keep a longstanding commitment, I would have cast my vote for the Moss bill. In my view, it is imperative that action be taken to curb and decrease cigarette smoking in the interest of public health, especially among our young people.

The Senator from Utah (Mr. Moss), with uncommon and steadfast devotion for years, has kept at the battle to bar cigarette advertising on broadcast media, to warn smokers young and old of the dangers of smoking, and to spread the word of the medical findings of the results of cigarette smoking. I salute him for his originally lonely battle that has now ended so wonderfully with the overwhelming Senate vote. I congratulate Senator Moss and commend him for his devotion and persistence in this great cause.

I ask unanimous consent that an editorial on the cigarette bill published in the Washington Post, and a letter from the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, thanking Senator Moss for his efforts in bringing about the termination of cigarette advertising on radio and television, be printed in the RECORD.

There being no objection, the items were ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:

SAVE-THE-CIGARETTE BILL

When the House passed its save-the-cigarette bill some months ago, it gave us the impression of a great legislative body jumping through a smoke ring blown by the tobacco industry. The Senate Commerce Committee has not exactly duplicated that feat but it seems to have plunged the issue into a billowing column of smoke as dense as a heavy fog.

Although the committee has reported out a modified version of the save-the-cigarette bill, 10 of its 19 members are opposed to the key provision in that bill. This smudgy situation results from the fact that the committee voted 10 to 9 for a provision that would forbid the Federal Trade Commission to require warnings of the potentially lethal character of cigarettes in newspaper and magazine advertising. But Senator Cotton's doubts about the wisdom of that action, which he expressed at the time, drove him to switch sides and file a statement of opposition. So the Commerce Committee is left in the position of sponsoring a bill which a majority of its own members oppose, so far as its key provision is concerned.

Passage of a better version of the bill would be desirable, for one Section would forbid advertising of cigarettes on television and radio by Jan. 1, 1971. But there is no excuse for tying the hands of the FTC so that it could not require the manufacturers of cigarettes to tell the truth about them in newspaper and magazine ads for at least two and a half years. We think the Senate as a whole should knock out this provision. If it should fail to do so, Senator Moss intends to filibuster against the bill.

Certainly no bill at all would be better than the Janus-faced product which the committee has sent to the floor. The Federal Communications Commission could then ban TV and radio cigarette ads as it has indicated an intention of doing, and the FTC would be free to insist that the linkage of cigarettes with cancer and death be given as much prominence in any other ads as their linkage with manhood and springtime customarily gets. Since the issue before it is literally a matter of life and death on a large scale, the Senate's attempt to escape from the smudge the committee has created will be watched with intense interest.

THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE,

Washington, D.C.

Hon FRANK E. MOSS,

U.S. Senate,

Washington, D.C.

DEAR SENATOR Moss: Our Department was indeed gratified at the decision of the cigarette industry to withdraw its advertising from radio and television. You and your Committee played a large part in helping bring this about, and you deserve the thanks of the medical and health community for your success.

For some five years, our Department has carried on a smoking education program and so, for an even longer period, have the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, and the National Tuberculosis and Respiratory Disease Association. If newspapers and magazines are now ready to give greater support to our programs, we obviously have the responsibility to make our materials available to them, in whatever is the most effective way. If this appears to call for an Advertising Council campaign, we will ask the Council for this help.

As a beginning, I am asking staff of the National Clearinghouse for Smoking and Health to meet with the voluntary agencies and later with the Advertising Council to explore how an effective campaign in the print media can best be mounted. We will keep you informed of our progress. In the meantime, I would once again express my thanks to you for your continuing support of our smoking and health programs.

Sincerely,

ROBERT FINCH, Secretary.