Tobacco Documents Online

PETER J. VISCLOSKY 1ST OISTRICT. INDIANA COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS CONGRESSIONAL STEEL CAUCUS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN NORTHEAST-MIDWEST CONGRESSIONAL COALITION MIDWEST VICE-CHAIR WHIP-AT-LARGE Congra;,5 of Or 'Mnitrb clibtattg; ~ 'L gou5e of RepxegetttatibeE; Wa5ijington, MC 20515-1401 Statement of Rep.- Peter J. Visclosky (D-IN), Before the Committee on Ways and Means, In Support of Increased Taxes on Tobacco Products to Pay for Health Care Reform November 18, 1993 2464 RAYBURN BUILDING WASHINGTON, OC 20515-1401 (202) 225-2461 215 WEST 35TH AVENUE GARY, IN 46408 TTY-TDO SERVICE AVAILABLE (219)884-1177 PORTAGE CITY HALL 6070 CENTRAL AVENUE PORTAGE. ~M-46368 (219)763-2904 THIS STATIONERY._PFiINTED ON PAPER MADE OF RECYCLED FIBERS

x I I would like to thank you, Mr. Chairman, and the other members of the Committee for this opportunity to weigh in on such a crucial issue. It is my view that President Clinton has taken an important first step by proposing increased taxes on tobacco products to help pay for health care reform. He has signaled his understanding that the tobacco habit is America's leading preventable cause of death. Tobacco products did not see a tax increase from 1951 to 1982 and have risen only eight cents in the last eleven years. All this while tobacco use has killed 434,000 people a year and cost the nation $68 billion in lost productivity and health care costs. Those who do not see the connection between increasing the tobacco tax and the need to use the revenue to pay for health care reform are clearly missing the point. Although a 75-cent-per-pack increase in cigarette taxes is the President's proposal, I believe that we will be letting an historic opportunity pass us by if the tax is not increased by $2-per-pack. An increase of $2-per-pack would not only raise close to $100 billion for health care reform, but it would also reduce the number of people who smoke by more than 7.5 million. As former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop has proclaimed, an increase in the tax on tobacco products is truly "good for you." One area where even the tobacco industry claims to agree is that young people should be discouraged from smoking. Stories of people who have developed an addiction to tobacco products as kids and are now experiencing poor health are heart breaking. I believe that we would be failing our duties as legislators and citizens if we ignore the actions that have been taken in Canada to reduce teen smoking. We must do more to keep this addiction from our kids. An examination of Canada's experience with tobacco taxes demonstrates how increasing our cigarette taxes could aid in keeping our young people from starting a habit that is as addictive as cocaine or heroin, and the major factor in nine of the most common causes of death, including heart disease and lung cancer. In Canada, where the tax on tobacco products has been raised to over $3-per-pack, teen smoking has been reduced by approximately two-thirds and total cigarette consumption is falling at rates more than twice that of the United States. At the same time, total tax revenues have increased by more than $5 billion from 1981 to 1992. The benefits of raising tobacco taxes have been seen in our own country. In 1988, California voters approved a law that raised state cigarette taxes from 10 to 35 cents. These increased tobacco taxes have contributed to a decrease in smoking that is three times the national average. In addition, revenue from the tobacco tax has funded medical care for the indigent, firefighting services, and tobacco control programs and research.

At a health care reform workshop I recently held in Northwest Indiana, a doctor expressed his frustration with living in a country where the public-at-large is expected to pay for the health care of people who make conscious choices to destroy their health. He stressed that people who knowingly partake in behavior that will eventually erode their health must take some responsibility. Nowhere is this basic reasoning more applicable than with smoking. Those who have become addicted to tobacco products cost this country billions of dollars per year. These people are not the enemy. They are victims of tobacco advertising that portrays smoking as attractive, wholesome, and sexy. Nonetheless, they must be asked to shoulder a'portion of this bill so that fewer people will have to pay in the future. A $2-per-pack-increase in taxes would save one million more lives than the proposed 75 cent-per-pack increase, and as the doctor from Hammond, Indiana implored, "help people understand the costs of their health care and become more responsible for their actions." Recently, some who oppose an increase in tobacco taxes have claimed that because smokers are not uniquely responsible for the rise in health care costs, there should be no increase in tobacco taxes. I do not subscribe to this "all-or-nothing" argument. Smokers are not being asked to pay the entire bill for health care reform, or even the majority of the cost. Indeed, they should be asked to pay more to use products that have been proven to cause death in millions of Americans. The opponents of the tax increase have even had the nerve to proclaim that if tobacco products are taxed, then those who get colds should pay a special tax. I think we all can see the difference between being the victim of a virus and choosing to use tobacco products. Mr. Chairman, the United States is one of only three developed nations that levies less than $1-per-pack in taxes on cigarettes. On the other hand, 35 million people in our country do not have access to what I believe is the best quality health care in the world. While most agree that the United States provides the best health care, our delivery system is certainly broken. Many of my constituents in Northwest Indiana who have lost their jobs due to the recent recession do not have access to health care. Others on Medicaid are turned down by providers who cannot afford to sustain their practice without treating more privately-insured patients. Finally, many of the small businesses in Northwest Indiana who are doing a courageous job of bringing economic development to a region decimated by job loss, cannot afford to cover their employees because of a lack of a community rating in the insurance market. For these reasons, we have no choice but to undertake health care reform and use increased tobacco taxes to help pay for it.