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    "title": "Tobacco Liability [1]",
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        "Records of the Domestic Policy Council (Clinton Administration)",
        "Bruce Reed's Tobacco Files"
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    "ocrText": "Feb- 16-98 04: I8P\nP.06\nWe are pleased that the joint letter to Congress reflects our commitment\nto evaluate any legislation in its entirety, including the legislation's impact on the\nability of the civil justice system to protect the public health. As public health\norganizations, it is only right that we base our final position on any legislation on\nits overall impact on the public health and its potential to reduce the number of\npeople who become addicted to tobacco, experience tobacco related disease,\nand die from tobacco use.\nWe will only support strong, comprehensive legislation that addresses the\nneeds of the American public and the June 20, 1997 Agreement as negotiated\ndoes not meet those criteria. We will oppose and urge the President to veto any\nlegislation that undercuts our public health goals now or the public health\ncommunity's ability to deal with unanticipated actions by the tobacco industry in\nthe future either as the result of weak public health provisions or as the result of\na broad grant of immunity to the tobacco industry\nDespite this position, it is possible that we may very well be confronted\nwith legislation that meets our public health goals and the President's public\nhealth criteria, that includes provisions that the public health community agrees\nwould save millions of lives by reducing tobacco use dramatically, but which also\naddresses the tobacco industry's liability in some limited way that does not grant\nthe industry immunity or weaken the ability of the civil justice system to protect\nthe public health or defend fundamental rights. Given that possibility and our\ncommitment to the public health, we believe it would be wrong for us to take a\nposition that would prevent us from fully evaluating such a proposal in its entirety\nat that time. As you are aware, we also believe it is important that we carefully\narticulate our views because it would be unfair to our members and members of\nCongress to take a position only to turn around at the end of the process and\nsupport legislation that does not meet these criteria.\nJust this past week, we evaluated a bill introduced by Senator Kent\nConrad by examining its overall impact on the public health. But, the bill also\nincludes provisions that will prevent the federal government from suing the\ntobacco industry to recover Medicare (and Medicaid) costs associated with\ntobacco-caused disease. These provisions provide a level of liability protection\nfor the tobacco industry. But, on balance, we believe the bill offered by Senator\nConrad has the potential to save millions of lives and would support its passage\nWe are concerned about sending a signal to the Congressional leadership that\neven Senator Conrad's bill is unacceptable. We are also aware that bipartisan\nlegislation is being drafted that meets our public health criteria, but which may\nnever see the light of day if the message we deliver does not accurately reflect\nour position\nCLINTON LIBRARY PHOTOCOPY\nPHOTOCOPY\nPRESERVATION"
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