Estimated obligations for research on tobacco, fiscal years 1964 and 1965 budget estimate, Department of Agriculture Total, entomology research. Agricultural engineering-mechanical harvesting of tobacco and other Agricultural Research Service: Investigations of chemical constituents of tobacco and tobacco smoke in relation to quality improvement (East).. Marketing Research: Agricultural Marketing Service: Marketing quality research. Economic Research Service: Marketing economics and economic and Farmer Cooperative Service: Strengthening farmer cooperatives.. Total, Marketing Research. Total, USDA agencies... Federal grant: COOPERATIVE STATE RESEARCH SERVICE Production research. Marketing research. Total, Federal grant funds.. Total, Federal funds..... Non-Federal funds: Production research. Marketing research. Total, non-Federal funds.. 1 Excludes $1,200,000 anticipated to be transferred from Commodity Credit Corporation and section 32 funds for research on tobacco as follows: Commodity Credit Corporation funds: Utilization research and development.. Total anticipated transfer from Commodity Credit Corporation........... Fiscal year 1964 $200,000 1,000,000 1,200,000 Excludes allocation of $65,000 from the Agricultural Research's Service Contingency Research Fund for more extensive research on tobacco sucker suppressants. Dr. SHAW. I would like to add one comment to what you have said. Research outside of agriculture on this subject will identify a lot of things that cause the problems, but they will do very little to remove those problems. If we are going to remove the problems, it is the kind of research that we will do in Agriculture that will remove them. Mr. NATCHER. I certainly agree with you, Dr. Shaw. HOUSE HEARINGS ON TOBACCO Mr. Chairman, as you know, the chairman of the Committee on Agriculture in the House, Mr. Cooley, has from time to time discussed this matter with you as chairman of the committee and in addition has directed letters to you concerning this matter. I have here, Mr. Chairman, a letter which was directed to you by Mr. Cooley concerning additional research for tobacco and, accompanying this letter is a copy of the statement of Gov. Terry Sanford, of North Carolina, which he made before the Subcommittee on Tobacco of the Committee on Agriculture in the House, and also a statement of Gov. Edward T. Breathitt, of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and certain other factual information pertaining to tobacco and tobacco research, as well as a copy of House Joint Resolution 915. In addition, Mr. Chairman, I have a report that accompanies the joint resolution entitled "Smoking and Health Research." وو With your permission, Mr. Chairman, I would like to incorporate this material in the record at this point. Mr. WHITTEN. I shall be glad to have this material in the record because of its thoroughness and because of the chairman of the Legislative Committee's familiarity with the problem, as well as his relationship with the Governors of the respective States. (The above-described material follows:) HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, U.S., COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, Washington, D.C., February 25, 1964. Hon. JAMIE L. WHITTEN, Washington, D.C. DEAR JAMIE: I am tremendously encouraged by your letter of February 18 expressing the determination of yourself and the Agriculture Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee to do everything possible in the way of research to deal with the problem which has arisen for tobacco. In response to your request for general information on tobacco, I am enclosing the statements submitted to our Tobacco Subcommittee by Governors Sanford, of North Carolina, and Breathitt, of Kentucky, and "Some Facts About Tobacco" given to us by Mr. Archie Davis, Winston-Salem, N.C., a banker. I also am forwarding separately the complete transcript of the hearings held before our subcommittee. These hearings should be printed this week, and then I shall supply you with ample copies for each member of your committee. With cordial good wishes, I am, Sincerely yours, Harold, HAROLD D. COOLEY, Chairman. TESTIMONY BY GOV. TERRY SANFORD BEFORE THE HOUSE AGRICULTURE Judging by the 70 million Americans who enjoy smoking, it is obvious that a large proportion of the population of this Nation gets satisfaction from cigarettes. As evidenced by what happened in England and other countries after the release of reports comparable to the recent report we had in this country, the vast majority of these people are going to keep on smoking. It has long been suspected that excessive smoking, like excessive eating, excessive drinking, and excessive speed in automobiles, could be dangerous to health. The recent report of the Surgeon General's Committee has statistically confirmed these suspicions. The question is what do we do about it. It would seem that the sensible solution would be found in research, to determine what in cigarette smoke causes a correlation between cigarettes and health problems. I believe all the experts have agreed that the cause of the health problem is yet to be determined. It may be smoke itself. The problem may arise from the way tobacco is fertilized. It may be that the problem stems from the way the tobacco is cured. It may be the way tobacco is processed. It could conceivably be what goes into the production of the cigarette paper. For example, researchers at Harvard University recently have identified a radioactive element, polonium, in cigarette smoke. We do not know whether this is the cause of the health problem or not. If it is, surely we can remove it. The answer to this and a multitude of other questions can be settled only through extensive and exhaustive research. Health is more valuable than any industry, but as an indication of the magnitude of any solution, the value of the tobacco industry to the United States is estimated at more than $8 billion a year. Some 750,000 to 800,000 farm families depend on tobacco as either their No. 1 money crop or one of their major money crops. The economic welfare of some 17 million Americans is dependent to one extent or another on tobacco. The tobacco industry is the purchaser of one-fourth of the Nation's foil, and is the third largest user of cellophane, and one of the largest consumers of paper products. Total cash receipts to tobacco farmers is in excess of $1.3 billion a year. In our free enterprise economy, the tobacco industry is one of the most important advertisers. The tobacco industry is a highly important revenue source to Federal, State, and local governments. The Federal Government itself collects more than $2 billion annually from tobacco taxes. The State governments of our Nation collect another $1 billion a year. I would respectfully suggest to the members of this committee that anything as important to the agricultural, industrial, and commercial economy of our Nation is well entitled to research support in the form of a substantial appropriation from the Federal Government. Whatever the size of such appropriations, they would be but a small fraction of the money that the growers, processors, manfacturers, distributors, and consumers of cigarettes have paid to the Federal Government over many years. In brief, I believe that our Nation can afford neither ill effects on the physical health of its citizens nor ill effects on the economic health of our people. Whether this research program should be done at an institute especially set up for such purpose, or through grants to already established centers for research or to university and medical centers is up to the good judgment of the members of this committee and of the full House and Senate. Where this research will lead, of course, will be determined by the researchers. It could well lead to thorough studies of fertilizers and insecticides used in the growing of tobacco. It could lead to research into the curing and other processing of tobacco. It could lead to a thorough investigation into the manufacture of cigarettes. It might lead to any of a number of studies. As the Governor of a State which is the No. 1 grower and the No. 1 manufacturer of cigarette tobacco, I do not suggest we should close our eyes and protect the industry regardless of human costs. I must say that all of the people I know in the tobacco industry from the farmer to the retailer are just as interested in health as any group in this Nation. But I cannot believe that the solution will be found in attempts toward prohibition, just as I do not believe that the solution for overweight is the abolition of food. In the old days we did not try to abolish water drinking simply because some water was polluted and some water caused some people to have typhoid fever. We have not required automobile manufacturers to put hair-raising danger signs on their products simply because a lot of people do not properly use their cars and because a lot of people are killed in automobile accidents. The Federal Government does not require deadly warnings on airline tickets simply because there is an occasional plane crash. By the same token. I don't see how we, in good sense, can subscribe to a theory that the solution to this problem is to require printing a skull and bones or any other scary labels on cigarette packages. The members of this committee may recall the story of what happened to Sir Walter Raleigh when a member of his household first saw him smoking. This friend, fearing that Sir Walter was on fire, rushed to his rescue by dousing him with a pail of water. I do not believe we could, or should, douse some 70 million Americans. With the Surgeon General, I believe rather that the Government should give full support to continued and expanded research that will lead us to the answers to this problem. Therefore, I am here to solicit your support for authorization and appropriations for a research program that will provide us with the answers. STATEMENT OF HON. EDWARD T. BREATHITT, GOVERNOR OF KENTUCKY, Before the TOBACCO SUBCOMMITTEE, COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, JANUARY 29, 1964 Mr. Chairman, members of the subcommittee, it is a privilege to appear before you to discuss the importance of research in accomplishing maximum assurances of health in the use of tobacco. Within the past few days I have discussed the contribution which the University of Kentucky at Lexington is ready and eager to make in an intensive investigation of the problem of tobacco and health. I talked with Dr. John W. Oswald, president of the university; Dr. William R. Willard, vice president for the medical center; and Dr. William A. Seay, dean of the College of Agriculture and Home Economics and director of the Agricultural Experiment Station. I also talked with Mr. Beardsley Graham, president, Spindletop Research, which research center also is at Lexington and which cooperates closely with the University of Kentucky. All are vitally interested in tobacco research pertaining to health. The university as a whole, and especially the medical center and the Agricultural Experiment Station with the National Tobacco Research Laboratory, stands ready to undertake expanded research on tobacco and health. Our new $4.5 million agricultural research center, which houses the National Tobacco Research Laboratory (a facility which received a doubling if its support to approximately $400,000 from Congress this year), is physically adjacent to the new $27.8 million university medical center, and Spindletop Research has recently occupied a new $4 million facility nearby-all of which have been built primarily by Kentucky money rather than by Federal funds. These institutions are ideally located for a completely integrated program of research on tobacco from the agronomic through the medical phases. They are staffed by able scientists capable of taking hold of a research problem of this kind and pursuing it with ability and imagination. They are now working together in several areas of research, for example in enzyme chemistry, in germfree animal laboratory techniques, and in identification of tobacco smoke constituents. All these are pertinent to the effects of tobacco on health. I should mention that it is the philosophy of President Oswald, who is himself a well-known scientist, that the total applicable resources of the university shall be brought to bear on each major problem regardless of college and departmental lines. University scientists in general chemistry, biochemistry, biology, or any other discipline would thus be brought into the study if it were felt that they could make a contribution to it. There is an intensification of graduate work in all these lines at the present time. What seems to be needed is identification of the compounds or constituents of smoke which are detrimental and should be controlled, including such matters as the possible buildup of radioactive materials in stored leaf. Research required for this identification needs to be done with the plant and its smoke by agricultural and chemical researchers, and with the effects of the smoke on animals by medical researchers. These two groups of researchers need to be in close cooperation. Thus a completely integrated program of research from the agronomic and the medical standpoint is essential. The University of Kentucky, located as it is in an important tobacco-producing area, with the National Tobacco Research Laboratory adjacent to a medical center, and all these within a few miles of Spindletop Research, is in a unique position to carry out such a program. Only yesterday (January 28) it was announced that the University of Kentucky Medical Center has been granted the sum of $784,805 from the Public Health Service to establish a center for the clinical study of human illness. Obviously the study of disease induced by smoking would be closely related to this soon-to-be-established center for the study of human illness. May I here add my comment on what I conceive to be a responsibility of the utmost importance on the part of the Federal Government to support a greatly expanded program of research into the question of tobacco and health. Tobacco has great social and economic importance to our people and to the Government. It provides jobs, tax money, solace, and satisfaction. These must be protected. We have noted a tendency in some quarters to begin seeking substitutes for tobacco in cigarette making. The report that has caused so much of present concern, "Smoking and Health," states that the products of burning when cigarettes are made of vegetable fibers other than tobacco have the same inherent properties of possible carcinogenic materials that are in the tobaccos presently being used. This avenue, therefore, is no way out of our dilemma. Since smoking of some form of materials will undoubtedly continue for a long while to come, it seems clear that the Departments of Agriculture, and Health, Education, and Welfare, and all other agencies and departments concerned should join forces to do a thorough and objective job of finding out the facts and devising means of meeting them. On the basis, therefore, of an outstanding background of successful experience in tobacco research, and of a desirable complex of agricultural, chemical, and medical research already in existence at Kentucky, and of a strong research program already underway in our National Tobacco Research Laboratory and at Spindletop Research, I would propose that a sizable appropriation be made annually to the University of Kentucky, to be used in intensive investigations into the relationship between tobacco smoking and health and the means of controlling or eliminating the injurious effects. This is a program that should be started at once and scheduled on a crash basis. I assure you that we are ready for it and believe that the use of the facilities I have described will hasten the day when people may smoke with maximum assurance of health. I pledge the cooperation of all departments of the University of Kentucky and of all agencies of the Commonwealth of Kentucky in making this research successful. Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, I appreciate this opportunity to make this statement and the recommendations I have included. EXHIBIT A SOME FACTS ABOUT TOBACCO In 1963, around 70 million Americans, more than half the adult population including oversea armed forces, bought over 523 billion cigarettes, 14.9 billion more than in 1962 and 20.3 billion more than in 1961; more than 7.1 billion cigars, up 115 million over 1962; about 69.5 million pounds of smoking tobacco; nearly 64.8 million pounds of chewing tobacco; over 32.5 million pounds of snuff.1 Tobacco users spent $8.08 billion in 1963 for tobacco products. Of this, over $3.3 billion went directly to Federal, State, and local Governments in excise taxes. Tobacco products pass across sales counters more frequently than anything else except money. Here are some more facts about the agriculture, the manufacture, distribution, taxation, and the costs and services of the tobacco industry. In the following, all figures are for 1962 unless otherwise indicated. Tobacco growers FARMING Tobacco is grown in 21 of our Nation's States by some 750,000 farm families, averaging 3 to 4 workers to a family. Total tobacco acreage exceeds 1.2 million with a total yield of over 2.2 billion pounds. Major crop Tobacco is the fifth largest cash crop in the country following cotton, wheat, corn, and soybeans, and ranks third in agricultural exports. 1 According to 1963 estimates prepared by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. |