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    "title": "Tobacco Liability [1]",
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        "Records of the Domestic Policy Council (Clinton Administration)",
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    "ocrText": "02/17/98 12:51 FAX 202 225 8185\nGOV REF MIN\n015\nCongress to act to accomplish these public health goals. Only last week the\nDepartment of Treasury concluded that the enactment of legislation in\naccordance with the President's public health principles could reduce youth\nsmoking by up to 46% in the next five years and save one million children now\nalive from a tobacco related death. The Treasury Department's conclusion\nmirrors the conclusion of an analysis conducted by the American Cancer\nSociety.\nWe also share the goal articulated in the joint letter that the tobacco\nindustry should not be granted immunity from wrongdoing. Litigation against the\ntobacco industry and other industries has been and continues to be a powerful\npublic health tool. We will oppose any effort to alter the legal system in any way\nthat would weaken the system's ability to protect the public health, that would\npermit the tobacco industry or others the freedom to operate outside of the\nnormal legal system or to engage in any behavior that would otherwise be\nsanctioned, or that would effectively deny individuals the opportunity to seek just\ncompensation for their tobacco related injuries.\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\n2"
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