Ask the Scholar

{
    "localId": "26413612",
    "label": "Tobacco Liability [1]",
    "core": "doc",
    "dtoType": "document",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/26413612"
}

{
    "id": "26413612",
    "sourceUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/26413612",
    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Tobacco Liability [1]",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/26413612",
    "collections": [
        "Records of the Domestic Policy Council (Clinton Administration)",
        "Bruce Reed's Tobacco Files"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/12/4136/26413612/content/presidential-libraries/clinton/foia/2011-0299-S-Tobacco/2011-0299-S-Tobacco-JPG/Box_270/42-t-7367462-20110299S-270-013-2015/42_t_7367462_20110299S_270_013_2015_Page_001.JPG",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/12/4136/26413612/content/presidential-libraries/clinton/foia/2011-0299-S-Tobacco/2011-0299-S-Tobacco-JPG/Box_270/42-t-7367462-20110299S-270-013-2015/42_t_7367462_20110299S_270_013_2015_Page_001.JPG",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/12/4136/26413612/content/presidential-libraries/clinton/foia/2011-0299-S-Tobacco/2011-0299-S-Tobacco-JPG/Box_270/42-t-7367462-20110299S-270-013-2015/42_t_7367462_20110299S_270_013_2015_Page_001.JPG",
    "imageCount": 101,
    "hasImages": true,
    "source": "import",
    "hasTranscription": false
}

{
    "url": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/26413612",
    "naId": 26413612,
    "levelOfDescription": "fileUnit",
    "otherTitles": [
        "42-t-7367462-20110299S-270-013-2015"
    ],
    "recordType": "description",
    "ocrSource": "nara-archive"
}

{
    "seq": 68,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "photo",
    "url": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/12/4136/26413612/content/presidential-libraries/clinton/foia/2011-0299-S-Tobacco/2011-0299-S-Tobacco-JPG/Box_270/42-t-7367462-20110299S-270-013-2015/42_t_7367462_20110299S_270_013_2015_Page_068.JPG",
    "mediaId": "7ce714a8b606ca57",
    "ocrText": "Feb- 15-98 05:19P\nP.03\nindividuals the opportunity to seek just compensation for their tobacco related\ninjuries.\nWe have decided to send a separate letter because we felt it was\nimportant to place a greater emphasis on the importance of Congress enacting\ncomprehensive legislation and to more accurately reflect how we will evaluate\nany major legislative proposal. We are committed to evaluating any legislation\nin its entirety, including the legislation's impact on the ability of the civil justice\nsystem to protect the public health. We will base our final position on any\nlegislation on its overall impact on the public health and its potential to reduce\nthe number of people who become addicted to tobacco, experience tobacco\nrelated disease, and 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 and our best efforts, at the end of the process, it is\npossible that we may very well be confronted with legislation that meets our\npublic health goals and the President's public health criteria, that includes\nprovisions that the public health community agrees would save millions of lives\nby reducing tobacco use dramatically, but which also addresses the question of\nhow to handle the tobacco industry's liability in some limited way that does not\ngrant the industry immunity or that does not weaken the ability of the civil justice\nsystem to protect the public health or defend fundamental rights. Given that\npossibility and our commitment to the public health, we believe it would be wrong\nfor us to take a position that would prevent us from fully evaluating such a\nproposal in its entirety at that time. We also believe it would be unfair to our\nmembers and members of Congress to take such a position only to turn around\nat the end of the process and support legislation that meets these criteria.\nJust this past week, we evaluated a bill introduced by Senator Kent\nConrad by examining its overall impact on the public health. This bill. which you\nboth endorsed and which the Vice President said the President would sign,\nincludes the key provisions that our organizations have stated must be in any\neffective tobacco control legislation. But, the bill also includes provisions that\nwill prevent the federal government from suing the tobacco industry to recover\nMedicare (and Medicaid) costs associated with tobacco-caused disease. These\nprovisions provide a level of liability protection for the tobacco industry. But, on\nbalance, we believe the bill offered by Senator Conrad has the potential to save\nmillions of lives and would support its passage. We are concerned about\nCLINTON LIBRARY PHOTOCOPY\nPHOTOCOPY\nPRESERVATION"
}