Lloyd Doggett

Mr. DOGGETT

Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Chairman, my thanks to all of my colleagues who have joined on what I believe is an important amendment. This will be the first time that this Congress, particularly in view of all of the discussion of the tobacco settlement, recognizes and goes on record that our responsibilities as a world leader and as a moral leader in this world do not stop at the shores of this Nation. Yes, we are concerned that 3,000 young Americans become addicts to tobacco each day; yes, we are concerned that this is the leading cause of preventable death in this country; yes, we are concerned when tobacco companies come through this Congress and sneak in a $50 billion tax credit for themselves. But our concern does not go just to our children; it goes to the children of the world. And we know that if a tobacco settlement is funded by simply addicting other children we have forfeited our claim to responsibility in this world and our claim to any moral leadership in this world. And so today, Mr. Chairman, I believe this House will go on record as saying no longer will we use the tax dollars of American taxpayers to promote the sale of tobacco abroad, and no longer will we ask the U.S. Trade Representative, as happened in Korea, to go in and knock down restrictions on advertising directed at young Koreans, directed at the children of Korea so that they can become addicted to nicotine, and say that we did it because it was a trade regulation that was limiting new entrants, American tobacco companies, into this foreign market. We go on record against that. There is an amendment that has been added by my colleague from West Virginia, and it is a narrow amendment indeed. It says essentially that if some country were to say we do not want West Virginia tobacco but we will take the tobacco from the rest of the world, that that would be a very narrow limited basis for the Trade Representative to go in and see that that kind of arbitrary discrimination did not occur. But not with reference to health and safety regulations, not with regard to the ingredients in tobacco, as our embassy in Thailand sought to do to limit the health efforts of the Thai Government; no, what we will be doing today is responding to the tobacco control advocates from 19 countries around the world who wrote this Congress this very summer and asked us specifically to provide for an explicit statement that our Trade Representative and our State Department would not be out trying to interfere with the health regulations of other countries around this world who are trying to protect their children from the problem of tobacco just as we are trying to protect ours. As the New York Times wrote recently, Washington can surely remove tobacco from the category of products that get aggressive support for opening foreign markets. American companies and the American Government unleash sophisticated marketing campaigns that increase smoking and, of course, thereby increase preventable death in many countries where people do not fully understand its danger. That gives Washington a responsibility to undo the damage, and that is precisely what this House would be doing this morning in adopting this amendment. This amendment has been endorsed by all of the leading public health organizations that have been struggling with the menace of tobacco in this country. The American Lung Association, Dr. C. Everett Koop, President Reagan's Surgeon General, has spoken out with reference to this matter, and I believe we will constructively move forward this morning to adopt an amendment that really for the first time in this Congress goes on record concerning our feelings about the problems of tobacco. And I hope that we will see this incorporated into the instructions that go to every one of our commercial and economic counselors around the globe, so that they will understand full well that anything they might do on behalf of an American tobacco company has been seriously and narrowly limited to those most arbitrary regulations that have nothing to do with public health and safety. Their job should be, as emissaries for our country, to encourage other countries to promote health and safety and well-being for their children, and not to promote the sale of a product that is the leading cause of preventable death in this world. Mr. Chairman, I ask for approval of the amendment, as amended.

Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 2 minutes. Mr. Chairman, this amendment concerns the health of our children, the children of the entire world. The dangers of nicotine addiction to our children are now increasingly known. Three thousand young Americans each day become caught up in the nicotine habit, our leading cause of preventable death in America. But these dangers do not stop at our country's shores. With increasing pressure to stop hooking kids here at home on nicotine, the big tobacco companies are spreading out around the globe to hook other people's kids. To make matters worse, American tax dollars, our tax dollars, have been used to promote addicting our people's children to the nicotine drug. This amendment would put a stop to that. Since 1990, while Phillip Morris sales have grown by only 4.7 percent here in the United States, they have grown by 80 percent abroad. Smoking causes about 3 million deaths each year around the world. And it is estimated that in another couple of decades, the number will rise to 10 million, with 70 percent of all deaths from smoking coming into developing countries that are the newest targets of big tobacco. Unfortunately, the U.S. Government and the U.S. taxpayer has been complicit in this export of death. Government employees in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the Commerce and State Departments, economic and commercial counselors around the globe have assisted American tobacco companies overseas to break down barriers, and the result has been more kids around the globe are smoking. One of the examples comes from our Embassy in Thailand, where instead of promoting health, our taxpayer dollars were used to try to discourage health restrictions. This amendment would put a stop to that and would ensure that America provides leadership in protecting children around the world instead of exposing them to disease. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Colorado [Ms. DeGette], one of the coauthors of this amendment.

Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Connecticut [Ms. DeLauro], who has been one of the leaders in trying to protect other children from tobacco.

Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/4\ minutes to the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Lampson].

Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Chairman, are there no speakers in opposition? I have some other speakers. I wanted to be sure I was not going to be faced with other speakers at the end.

Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Meehan], who has done as much as anyone in this Congress to deal with the plague of this preventable disease caused by tobacco.

Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Lewis].

Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Minnesota [Mr. Luther], one of the leaders in the effort to deal with the young people and not having them become addicted to nicotine.

Mr. DOGGETT

Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, today, for the first time in this Congress, Democratic determination has produced some results on reducing the influence of special interest campaign money. A debate is under way at this very moment in this very building on specific bipartisan campaign finance reform, the McCain-Feingold proposal. But it is not enough that reform pass the Senate. In my civics class we learned it has to pass the House of Representatives also. And what is the news on that subject? Today's banner headlines, ``Gingrich Asserts Campaign Bill, Alive in Senate, Is Dead in House.'' The American people do not want this proposal stillborn in the House. We are pleased that there is a debate finally after so many Democratic demands underway, but it must occur in both parts of this Capitol Building, not just in one. As we read on through the story, we learn we have the same problem with the Republican leadership. They say they want more money in campaigns, not less. We need reform now.

Mr. DOGGETT

Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, in this spirit here this morning of bipartisan cooperation, I ask unanimous consent to take up and consider H.R. 2183, the bipartisan campaign finance bill that the gentleman from Maine [Mr. Allen] and the gentleman from Arkansas [Mr. Hutchinson] and all of our freshmen have joined in.

Mr. DOGGETT

Mr. DOGGETT. Madam Speaker, with daily speeches, repeated requests for recorded votes, motions to adjourn, and objections, we are attempting to convince the Republican leadership that it is less trouble to schedule a vote on campaign finance reform than to not schedule one. With a motion to adjourn, we are saying adjourn the special interests that corrupt the political process. With a motion to approve the Journal, we are saying approve a Journal that reflects real campaign finance reform. The announcement of the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Armey] yesterday that in response to these Democratic procedural moves he would schedule something sometime on this issue I suppose is a step forward. It has taken 9 months, but we finally appear to have moved the Republican leadership from ``definitely no'' to ``maybe sometime on something.'' House Republicans should now give us a specific time and should work out the terms of debate. Only then will we have a true ``yes'' to real campaign finance reform. To clean up the campaigns for 1998, we must act now.

Mr. DOGGETT

Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, the rule that we are considering at this time concerns legislative appropriations and the expenditure of $2.2 billion of taxpayer money. But the American people should not labor under the misassumption that that is the only money involved in the operation of this body. The $2.2 billion pays for the actual operations of all aspects of this body. But a considerable additional amount of money is involved in what brings each Member of this body here to spend the $2.2 billion. That is, the hundreds of a million dollars that are being spent in the campaigns that bring Members to this legislative branch where that $2.2 billion is involved. This morning we have had a series of votes. We have had a series of objections. And undoubtedly, there are some Members of this body who view those as inconvenient, as troublesome. But I would emphasize that they are about very serious, substantive matters. Unlike the other body, it is not possible under the rules of this House, under the rule that is being debated here this morning, for us to offer an amendment on campaign finance reform. Our hands are completely tied behind our backs in this House, unlike the other body, and our ability to come to this floor and say let us have a simple and direct ban on soft money which is being used to soften up the political leadership in this House, the corrupting influence of soft money, we cannot come forward and simply offer an amendment to this rule or to this bill to accomplish that objective. And, so, the only way to focus the attention of the American people on this issue is with the types of motions and objections that are being made, not out of any frivolity, indeed because they go to the heart of our democracy and the way that democracy is being corrupted by the soft money system. We are in the course, given the total stonewall we have, even after the President says he will call this Congress back into special session, even after half the road is cleared thanks to the leadership of the minority leader and the Senate committees are stopped, even after all that we are told no vote, no consideration even of Republican proposals to deal with this campaign finance issue. All that we can do is go to the Speaker and say it is going to take him more time not to consider campaign finance reform than it would to consider campaign finance reform and let all of these proposals come forward. The freshmen Members, in a bipartisan basis, say ban soft money, do something about these problems. There are Members of the Republican side and of the Democratic side who have ideas to advance. But the Speaker's response is, we do not need less money in our campaigns. We need more, more campaign ads, more television ads. This bill deals with one part of the legislative process. But anyone who watches this process knows that it is much more than the $2.2 billion; it is the influence peddling going on outside; it is the ``yield right of way'' sign yielding to the special interests that influence this operation. Today we have a chance to begin to change that, and that is why we will have more motions and more votes and more action, because we cannot let this matter be delayed. This is our last chance to influence the cleanup of the 1998 elections.

Mr. DOGGETT

Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 1, rule I, I demand a vote on agreeing to the Speaker's approval of the Journal.

Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. DOGGETT

Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, a meaningful reform of the way Federal campaigns are conducted has been obstructed by one Republican roadblock after another. Yesterday, half of the route was cleared. It did take a letter from the President saying he would convene a special session to deal with this issue if necessary. It took the leadership of the minority leader to say that no committees would meet. And yet, the reform is proceeding in half this Capitol building in Washington. Outside the people's House, there is a giant ``yield right of way sign.'' It says ``yield right of way to the arrogance of a Republican leadership that will not schedule 1 minute of debate on this issue.'' It is a giant ``yield right of way sign'' to the special interests who keep dumping in more and more soft money to soften up this Republican leadership. Well, today we are escalating the action for reform and demanding that this issue be considered not only in the Senate, but here in the House, so that there can be genuine bipartisan reform to address this arrogance.

Mr. DOGGETT

Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, I move to reconsider the ordering of the yeas and nays. Motion Offered by Mr. Mc Innis

Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. DOGGETT

Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. DOGGETT

Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, I find that memory problem not limited to the White House. Indeed, I find it extending across America. If you ask the people of America when is the last time that this Congress did anything to reform the problems of campaign finance, most people will have to scratch their head and say, ``Gee, I can't remember. I don't recall the Congress doing anything.'' Yes, there were a lot of hot speeches about wrong here on one party or wrong here on another, but in terms of getting down to constructive reform to do something about changing the system in which special interests dump millions and millions of dollars into the coffers of both parties, nothing has been done because Speaker Gingrich refuses to schedule a ban, backed by Republicans and Democrat, a ban on soft money. At least some Members of this Congress in the other body have moved from investigating to legislating. It is time for this House to do the same thing. Then no one in America will have a memory problem because not only will we prosecute and enforce existing laws, but we will clean up a system that has gone bad.

Mr. DOGGETT

Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 1, rule I, I demand a vote on agreeing to the Speaker's approval of the Journal.

Mr. DOGGETT

Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, like every day in America, 3,000 more young Americans began the path on their addiction to nicotine. And three other significant things happened concerning the plague of nicotine addiction, the most significant cause of preventable death in this country. The first was a positive one. President Clinton called for a comprehensive strategy to address youth smoking as we evaluate this tobacco settlement. The second was also positive in a way. This House, which, along with the Senate, had snuck into the balanced budget agreement a $50 billion tax break for the tobacco industry under the claim of small business protection, quickly repealed that when it became known to the public at large. And the third thing that happened was that this House adjourned at the end of the day and a private jet from a U.S. tobacco company came over and took a plane-load of our colleagues to a Republican fund- raiser in New York. We need to address the campaign finance issue at the same time we address tobacco usage.

Mr. DOGGETT

Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.