September 11, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 145 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session
E-CIGARETTES; Congressional Record Vol. 165, No. 145
(Senate - September 11, 2019)
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[Pages S5413-S5414] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] E-CIGARETTES Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, this week there was a significant development when it came to public health and our children in America. By way of preface to what I am about to say, I want to make clear that I have, during the course of my service in the House and the Senate, focused a great deal of my efforts on tobacco, the addiction that people have to tobacco cigarettes, and the deadly consequences of that addiction. My family has been touched by it, as most have in America. I lost my father when I was in high school. He smoked two packs a day and was a lung cancer victim. We buried him at the age of 53. I remember it to this day. I am not alone. Literally, thousands of Americans--millions, perhaps--have a similar story to tell. So from the beginning of my service in the House of Representatives, I started looking for ways to deal with this scourge of tobacco cigarette addiction. Many years ago-- over 25 years ago--I introduced a measure that banned smoking on airplanes, and to my great surprise it managed to pass the House of Representatives. Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey was on the Appropriations subcommittee with the responsibility. He took it on in the Senate, passed it, and we made it the law of the land, banning smoking in airplanes. I didn't realize--and I am sure Senator Lautenberg didn't--that we had triggered a tipping point or reaction that led to banning smoking in so many other venues. Ultimately, we have now reached a point where no one would consider walking into my office and lighting up a cigarette or even asking for permission to light a cigarette. It is just unthinkable. But 25 years ago it was common. So things have changed. But what has happened is that Big Tobacco, having lost its marketplace position and lost its profitability, has moved to a new product--e-cigarettes and vaping. This company, JUUL, which is the largest provider of e-cigarette devices in the United States, has a huge stock ownership in tobacco companies. This is their new venue, their new approach. But much as with tobacco cigarettes, the vaping industry is counting on addicting children so that they can build their ranks, addicting teenagers. Tobacco cigarettes did the same with Joe Camel and the Marlboro cowboy, and now we see the same thing occurring when it comes to e-cigarettes and vaping. The previous Food and Drug Administration Commissioner, Dr. Gottlieb, characterized it properly when he called it an epidemic. We now have 3 percent of American adults who are using vaping devices, 20 percent of America's teenagers and children using vaping devices. It is a new school year, and many of these students are heading off to middle schools and high schools [[Page S5414]] with new backpacks and maybe new laptops and new lockers and new teachers and new classrooms and new friends and a new addiction--the addiction of vaping. Vaping targets kids. They are introducing flavors that can be mixed with this vaping experience that appeal directly to children and teenagers in this country. How in the world can you imagine that someone who is a 50-year-old chain smoker trying to quit is going to choose a flavor pod called ``Unicorn Milk'' or ``Bubble Gum'' or ``Gummy Bears''? They are all out there. They are designed to lure children, and, sadly, they are effective. For months now I have been begging this administration and the Food and Drug Administration to do something about this epidemic, and until this week they did little or nothing. But this week was a breakthrough. The Food and Drug Administration announced early this week that they were going to stop JUUL from advertising that their vaping products were a safe alternative to tobacco cigarettes. The reason is obvious. We have hundreds and hundreds of vaping victims now showing up in hospitals. As of last night, the sixth victim in America died from a vaping experience. Why? Because they are ingesting into their lungs, in these huge clouds of vapor and smoke, chemicals that are killing them, chemicals that are stopping their lungs from functioning. They don't realize it at the time; it is just another wild experience. They are told, by the way, by JUUL and others that it is safer than tobacco cigarettes. It is not safe. It is deadly, and it is an epidemic in this country. This week the American Medical Association stepped up its role, and I want to commend them. Dr. Patrice Harris, the President of the American Medical Association, released the following this week: In light of increasing reports of e-cigarette-associated lung illnesses across the country, the [American Medical Association] urges the public to avoid the use of e-cigarette products until health officials further investigate and understand the cause of these illnesses. She goes on to say: The e-cigarette-related lung illnesses currently sweeping across the country reaffirm our belief that the use of e- cigarettes and vaping is an urgent public health epidemic that must be addressed. We must not stand by while e- cigarettes continue to go unregulated. We urge the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to speed up the regulation of e- cigarettes and remove all unregulated products from the market. We also call on the FDA to immediately ban flavors, as well as marketing practices, that enhance the appeal of e- cigarette products to youth. The Food and Drug Administration Commissioner has the authority today--before the sun sets on this 9/11 anniversary--to ban these flavor pods that are attracting children and adding to this epidemic in our high schools and middle schools across the United States. This Food and Drug Administration Administrator, Dr. Ned Sharpless, has the authority to take off the market scores, if not hundreds, of vaping devices that have been introduced to the public after the official date of deeming last year. He can do it today. It would have a dramatic effect starting tomorrow. He could start enforcing it with the retailers across America if he cared and if he were serious. Now we have an opportunity to test him and to test this administration. Will they go the next step in warning America's schools, teachers, families, and children about this epidemic and the deadly consequences of ignoring it? Will they take these products off the market this week? That is my challenge to them and to every American parent who dearly loves their child and cares about their health. I hope they will join me in this effort to urge this administration to take decisive action for children across America. I yield the floor. ____________________