Congressional Record United States Th of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 107 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION
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E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 107 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 147 WASHINGTON, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 No. 117 Senate The Senate was not in session today. Its next meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 12, 2001, at 10:00 a.m. House of Representatives TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 The House met at 9 a.m. The effects on Americans are clear to dreds of billions of dollars in tobacco f most policy-makers. Close to 360,000 settlement that is available only after Americans will die of lung disease this litigation. It is something that this MORNING HOUR DEBATES year. It is the third largest cause of Congress was unwilling or unable to The SPEAKER. Pursuant to the death responsible for one in seven correct to try and help reduce the num- order of the House of January 3, 2001, deaths. More than 25 million Ameri- ber of new addicts and victims. It has the Chair will now recognize Members cans are now living with chronic lung opportunity to help not just the people from lists submitted by the majority disease, and the use of tobacco is the who are addicted to tobacco but to help and minority leaders for morning hour leading cause in that condition. change the patterns in this country, debates. The Chair will alternate rec- Sadly, the impacts of tobacco-related like we are doing in Colombia to help ognition between the parties, with each lung disease is not limited to the farmers be involved with productive party limited to not to exceed 25 min- United States. Tobacco was estimated crops that are not destructive crops. utes, and each Member except the ma- to account for just over 3 million an- jority leader, the minority leader or nual deaths worldwide in 1990, and that There are some states that have used the minority whip limited to not to ex- is rising to over 4 million deaths cur- tobacco settlement money to do that, ceed 5 minutes, but in no event shall rently. It is estimated that tobacco at- like Maryland. I would hope that this debate extend beyond 9:50 a.m. tributable deaths will rise to 8.5 mil- Congress would not reverse course, The Chair recognizes the gentleman lion within the next 20 years and 10 that it would not start promoting the from Oregon (Mr. BLUMENAUER) for 5 million in about 2030. use of our tax dollars to promote the minutes. According to the World Health Orga- sale of tobacco overseas, but keep our f nization, while tobacco use is actually eye on our priority, which is to reduce declining in many developed countries, dependence on tobacco, help wean the TAKING ACTION TO PROTECT it is increasing rapidly in those that American farmer away from depend- HEALTH are developing. ence on tobacco, use our resources to Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, In China alone, 14.5 percent of the stop the destruction of death and dis- this Congress is taking action to help deaths are attributable to tobacco. ease around the world. protect world health in the fight What is dramatically different in China It would be ironic that a Congress against HIV AIDS. is that in other developed countries that is working to stop these abusive In Colombia we are spending over a with a similar rate the number of practices in Colombia with addictive billion dollars to fight the grip of the smokers is growing rapidly, such that drugs, that is trying to fight the spread deadly coca trade that includes eradi- two-thirds of the men are smokers be- of HIV AIDS around the world, would cation of the coca plant and aid to fore the age of 25. Few quit and about take a tragic step backward. farmers to attempt to shift their pro- half can be expected to be killed by to- duction. bacco. In practical terms, this means There was an attempt to insert in the I find it ironic in the midst of this ac- in China the number of male deaths agriculture bill an amendment that tion by Congress that there are some alone from tobacco is expected to be would reverse this 8 year prohibition that would have us reverse a long- roughly 3 million annually by the mid- on using U.S. resources to promote standing policy and start promoting dle of the century. subsidization of tobacco sales overseas. the sale of American tobacco overseas. Mr. Speaker, it is sad to me that Wisely, the Committee on Inter- Tobacco is the only legal product after decades of deception and death national Relations, on a broad bipar- which, if used properly, will kill or at that we are starting to turn the corner tisan vote, voted to remove those pro- least inflict serious bodily damage. in this country where we have hun- visions from the agriculture bill. b This symbol represents the time of day during the House proceedings, e.g., b 1407 is 2:07 p.m. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. H5491 . VerDate 11-MAY-2000 12:42 Sep 14, 2001 Jkt 010199 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0636 Sfmt 0634 E:\PICKUP\H11SE1.REC txed01 PsN: txed01 H5492 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE September 11, 2001 I hope my colleagues will stand firm. I went back to my friend down in the surplus and then people would say, Keep the existing policies. Stop the ex- North Carolina who had offered me this hey, they are not quite as chancy with port of death overseas with tobacco. great, wonderful deal, and I said, I am their money as we thought. So maybe f sorry but you got beat. He said, Cass, I we ought to buy some German marks hate to tell you this, but it is hap- or some British pounds and so forth DEBATE ON THE BUDGET pening everywhere; we quote in com- and quit investing in American dollars. SURPLUS petition with the Canadians. He said, This may sound weird, but most of the The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. first of all, you have got to realize that folks in this room do not know any JOHNSON of Illinois). Under the Speak- our dollar, as compared to their dollar, better. So I would like to sound weird er’s announced policy of January 3, is worth sixty cents of our dollar. In and hope that we can influence some- 2001, the gentleman from North Caro- other words, for $60 you can go out and body. lina (Mr. BALLENGER) is recognized dur- buy $100 worth of Canadian dollars. f ing morning hour debates for 5 min- Now, that is a wild and funny way to BROKEN REPUBLICAN PROMISES utes. look at it, but in reality that is the TO SAVE MEDICARE AND SOCIAL Mr. BALLENGER. Mr. Speaker, I way it works. have a strange problem with the way So just lately I checked on SECURITY SURPLUSES we are talking about our present de- woodchips. In North Carolina we used The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under bate on the surplus. For 30 years, 40 to clean our forests up and we would the Speaker’s announced policy of Jan- years we never worried about the sur- chew all the wood up into woodchips, uary 3, 2001, the gentleman from Or- plus. We never had a surplus and we carry it down to our coastline and ship egon (Mr. DEFAZIO) is recognized dur- spent it all. So, here now, we are about it all over the world. I do not know ing morning hour debates for 5 min- to have a nervous breakdown on wheth- whether Mother Nature greatly appre- utes. er we are going to have a $150 billion ciated what we were doing, but we were Mr. DEFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, it all de- surplus. Oh, my goodness gracious, chewing these chips up and shipping pends upon how we define a surplus, only $150 billion, my, how can we pos- them out. Everybody in the world and for quite a few years around here I sibly get along there? wanted them, and all of the sudden we was one of the Members who advocated What we really should be worrying find out that in Australia they have that we should not be including the ex- about is, we are having a manufactur- come up with a better way of doing it cess taxes charged to Social Security ers’ recession right now. Why? Well, as or to people for Social Security, FICA a manufacturer myself, and I checked and their money is cheaper than our money, and so our woodchip business is taxes, as part of the so-called surplus, with businesses back home, the main spending it and replacing it with IOUs. problem we have got is our dollar is the gone. I do not know how many people have In fact, I found considerable support most overvalued currency on the plan- talked to the steel industry. The steel over the last few years on the Repub- et today. lican side of the aisle on this issue, You should be a tourist traveling industry in this country is noncompeti- which I found encouraging. In fact, the anywhere in the world. Everything tive. They are getting dumped on, as House Republicans have voted nearly seems cheap. The reason it is cheap is they say, because of the inability to unanimously seven times, seven times because our dollar is worth so much meet the costs that the other countries since 1999, to protect both the Social more than the value of currency of the have for their manufacturing costs, but Security and Medicare surpluses by place you are visiting.