However, the limitations of this regulation illustrate how far "we the people" have to go to put our democratic ideals into action. The tobacco industry's deep pockets, filled with outrageous profits from selling an addictive product to kids and customers hooked as kids, are financing an onslaught of opposition. Philip Morris and RJR Nabisco are masters at manipulating public policy for private gain. They will continue to fight the will of the people through massive political contributions, deceptive public relations campaigns, high-powered lobbying and costly litigation.
While implementation and enforcement of FDA regulations can set a strong global standard for public health policy, these policies do nothing to rein in US-based transnationals who are looking beyond our borders for replacement customers. Quite the contrary, US trade policy has long assisted the international expansion of this preventable epidemic. We must now demonstrate the same commitment to children around the world, who are under assault by the industry's advertising and promotion. Unless we act now, tobacco-related illness will claim the lives of 10 million people a year by early in the next century. Seven million of them in economically poor countries.
Tonight's Wall of Shame is presented by INFACT. The purpose of this action is to challenge corporate interference in our political process. We are spotlighting the tobacco industry's political influence, exposing its human toll, unmasking Kraft as a front for its parent Philip Morris, and decrying the inhumane contrast between domestic and foreign policy on tobacco. INFACT is a nonpartisan, national grassroots organization running the Tobacco Industry Campaign to stop tobacco marketing and promotion to kids, and the Hall of Shame Campaign to fight corporate influence-peddling. Our Tobacco Industry Campaign targets Philip Morris and RJR Nabisco as the two leading US-based tobacco transnationals. Philip Morris has made a fortune and risen to the top on the strength of Marlboro, the world's leading cigarette and the first choice among children in the US. RJR Nabisco's Joe Camel cartoon has sparked a new upsurge in smoking among US youth.
The family photos being projected tonight are part of INFACT's Face the Faces Photo Project. They hold the memories of lives broken and lost due to this industry's deadly practices. Three million deaths around the world, one million US teenagers hooked, each year. In testimony before Congress two years ago, RJR Vice Chair Jim Johnston coldly dismissed these realities as "computer-generated numbers." Tonight's presentation puts a human face on those numbers.
[The Face the Faces collection is also displayed on a 200-foot-long Human Toll of Tobacco Banner. Over the past year, the Banner has appeared in San Jose, California; Austin, Texas; Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Richmond, Virginia; on Capitol Hill, and many places in between. Face the Faces will continue to travel, inspire people around the country, and grow. Our objective is to stop Philip Morris, RJR Nabisco and other tobacco corporations from addicting new young customers, so that the children of today and tomorrow will be spared the anguish of the people in these photos and their loved ones.]
This spring, INFACT made RJR Nabisco and Philip Morris the first inductees into our influence-peddling Hall of Shame—at their Annual Meetings in the heart of tobacco country. The Hall of Shame is a public education project to expose how Big Business uses money and power to manipulate public policy at the expense of public health and well-being.
[Today we find ourselves in a situation that demonstrates the need for the Hall of Shame. Philip Morris and other convention sponsors are proving that "free speech" is not free. With pockets much deeper than any ordinary citizen, they have literally bought their way into the political arena, and are working hand-in-hand with the major players in both parties. And "we the people" are outside, far from our political leaders and their corporate allies.]
Through the Hall of Shame, INFACT has put Philip Morris and RJR Nabisco on notice that "You Can't Buy Democracy." We inducted them for many violations of our democratic process, including:
Not only does the US public want this industry to quit hawking its deadly wares to our kids, but we also want them to keep their ill-gotten tobacco profits out of our political process. It's high time our elected representatives stopped hobnobbing with Philip Morris and started to listen to the people pictured in these slides and their loved ones. People like:
Dottie in Maine, who lost her namesake: "This is Dorothy Murison George, my favorite aunt 'Aunt Dot' with her orchids that she loved to grow. She started smoking at age 15, quit 12 years ago when her doctor told her that he would probably have to amputate her legs if she didn't, and died two years ago after several heart attacks."
Kathleen in California, who mourns her husband: "Jess Willard Harris was born and raised in the South. When he was a little boy about eight years old, he was in the fields with the men who rolled their cigarettes and would pass one on to him now and then. And so he continued chain smoking all through his life. He died in 1982 at age 66 from lung cancer, which went into his spine and paralyzed him the last six months of his life. I, as his wife, live one alone and miss him. I know he would be pleased if his passing could, in some way, be of help to others. And may other wives and mothers not have to watch their loved ones die."
Jeanne in Florida, who lives on in pain: "I am now on hospice and at home waiting to die and the primary cause is my having been addicted to tobacco through which I developed emphysema. Tobacco has taken a tremendous toll on my family. My mother and brother both had cancer of the jaw and my father (62 years) my husband (46 years) and son (29 years) all died of heart attacks that I've been told would probably not have happened if they were not heavy smokers. This is a good photo as it shows my portable oxygen. The other lady has had a lung transplant. One of the few survivors."
Robert in California, who lost his mother: "Dorothy Ann Oster Wollard, 1920-1987. Picture taken at about age 10. Within five years she was hooked on cigarettes and stayed hooked until the `60's when she was finally able to quit, which allowed her to live another 20 years. Irreparable damage had been done, however, and she wasn't able to walk even a few steps without pausing for the little breath she had. She wound up increasingly dependent on medications to keep her breathing. Her last 10 years were marked by numerous trips to the hospital, where she was pulled out of death for a little longer. By the time she died, the medications had withered her bones until she was a withered little old hunchback with arms blood red with bruises from injections of more medicine."
Joe in Illinois: "This photo is of the late Joseph C. Salamone, my father and friend. He died of a massive heart attack at 59. He was the husband to Imogene for 40 years and father to five children. My father was a killed craftsman who chose home remodeling as his livelihood. He didn't just build, he created. His clients were pleased with his work so much that he didn't advertise, he got all of his work by word of mouth. My father was also a musician, painter, and inventor to name a few of his talents. Unfortunately, he also smoked two packs a day. He tried to quit numerous times. Ironically, cigarettes helped him quit: they contributed to his early death. Everyone who knew him misses him. I love you, Dad."
Debra in California: "This is my father, Ellis F. Bennett, although he was known as 'Benny' to his friends. He smoked all his life and admitted that he was an addict. He smoked his last cigarette on the day he died of lung cancer, in 1980. He worked on the Apollo moon shots, on the Skylab, and did valuable input for the Space Shuttle program. He has a letter of commendation from President Jimmy Carter. The tobacco industry deprived the world of his genius."
Mary in Florida: "My father, Gilbert Leo Meyer: born August 17, 1927; died September 6, 1987, of chronic pulmonary disease. Spent the last 2 1/2 years of his life bed-ridden. Began smoking as a teenager and was never able to quit. Suffered a stroke at age 53. My mother, Marilyn Jean Kliebhan Meyer: born February 20, 1932; died May 17, 1991 of a sudden heart attack. Began smoking as a teenager; was never able to quit. I am angry that my parents died so young. I am angry that they never had the chance to make it to, much less enjoy, the retirement years they earned after many years of hard work. I am angry that they never lived to see me receive my Ph.D. I am angry that they didn't live long enough to see all of my beautiful nieces and nephews. I am especially angry to know that the tobacco industry manipulated nicotine levels in cigarettes to keep people addicted. I am angry that the industry made smoking appear so sophisticated. I am angry that my parents tried so hard so many times to quit smoking but never could. I hope your Campaign prevents others from starting, and leads Congress to find the courage to stand up to the death peddlers."
Keith in Maryland: "This is a picture of may father, Kenneth Lee Burkhart. He died of a stroke in 1990, at the age of 67. The stroke was from damage to his heart because he had a heart attack in 1975. If only he hadn't smoked, he would probably be alive today. His death made me more aware of the damage tobacco can do to a human being. This has been a painful five years. The issue is in the forefront of my life until the tobacco industry is held accountable and people stop dying from an addictive product."
Sharon in Texas: "This is my half-sister, Linda Leach Arthur, who died from lung cancer at age 47. She left behind a husband, a daughter, and a brand new grandbaby. She started smoking at age 12 because she thought it would make her thin. It did: thin and dead. This is my mother, Ann Leach, who died of pancreatic cancer at age 62. She smoked for 35 years. Her death has caused indescribable pain and loss in my life and the lives of those who loved her. My work in tobacco prevention is dedicated to her and to my sister, Linda."
Henrietta in Florida: "The man in the picture with the children was my father, who died of lung cancer at the age of 71. He was deprived of the enjoyment of watching his five grandchildren grow and sharing in their lives. These five children have been deprived of having a loving grandfather who would have been such a positive influence in their lives. All because he could not beat an addiction to a substance he started using at the age of 13. Watching my father die of such a cruel disease and not being able to help him was the hardest thing I have ever had to do, and I will never accept the fact that he was taken from us prematurely, and I will put every effort into stopping the tobacco industry from taking any more young lives."
Sadly, over 400,000 US families have similar stories to tell each year. But each of us can make a difference, by joining INFACT's Tobacco Industry Campaign. Support FDA action to protect the next generation from tobacco, by bringing the Human Toll of Tobacco Banner to your community. And put your consumer power behind INFACT's Tobacco Industry Boycott. Don't buy Kraft, Post, Maxwell House, or Nabisco products!