Tobacco Documents Online

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 18, 1993 103-160 343 Cannon Bldg. Washington, DC 20515 CONTACT: Tony J. Williams (202) 225-4601 W (703) 241-0791 H ROGERS MAKES THE CASE FOR KENTIICKY TOBACCO FAMILIES; SAYS CLINTON'S TOBACCO TAXES ARE PUNITIVE AND UNFAIR WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Harold Rogers (R-KY) said the massive tax increases on tobacco contained in the President's health care plan "have less to do with providing health care, and more to do with killing our tobacco industry." Testifying today before the House Ways and Means Committee, which will decide the fate of the President's tobacco tax increases, Rogers said the tax hikes -- some as high as 10,000 percent -- would lead to "economic disaster" in Kentucky's rural communities. He also criticized the Administration for using the tax code to try and extinguish legal lifestyle choices it finds objectionable. "In my opinion, the President and his advisers are using the tax code as a hammer to squash a legal, lifestyle choice," Rogers said. "I have to ask, is that a proper way to use the tax code? Is it role of this committee, this Congress, this government, to put the IRS-in charge of making lifestyle choices for our people? I certainly don't think so." .r Clinton has called for raising cigarette taxes by 75 cents a pack -- a 312 percent increase. Other tobacco products affected by the health care plan, and their expected increase include: snuff, 3500 percent; pipe tobacco, 1,851 percent; chewing tobacco, 10,000 percent; cigars, 109 percent. Rogers said Clinton's tobacco tax increases would strike hardest at small family operations -- many of which are located in his congressional district, one of the poorest in the nation. (more)

Rogers/Tobacco Taxes November 18, 1993 Page 2-2-2 "Tobacco isn't just a small cottage industry that the people of Kentucky keep alive as a way of honoring our heritage," Rogers said. "Drive through any community in Eastern Kentucky, and you find the roads, schools, homes and businesses that were built because of dollars derived from tobacco sales. "Hardest hit (from the tax hikes) would not be the big cigarette companies the White House vilifies, but small, family farmers -- those people who for generations have managed their tobacco plot to insure they have enough income to afford life's basic necessities," Rogers said. Rogers said tobacco families are the only group in America that's being singled out for punishment as the White House and Congress work on a health care plan to provide coverage for all Americans. "I have one final objection to the tobacco taxes contained in the President's plan -- they are immediate. In other words, health care today, means lost jobs tomorrow in tobacco towns," Rogers said. "That's not my definition of health care reform," Rogers said, "Our task is to provide universal health care coverage for all Americans, not kill an industry that employs thousands of workers." - 30 - TEXT OF STATEMENT ATTACHED