President Clinton establishes Commission to improve economic opportunity in communities dependent on tobacco production and protect public health (9/22/00)
Today, President Clinton is signing an Executive Order establishing the "President’s Commission on Improving Economic Opportunity in Communities Dependent on Tobacco Production While Protecting Public Health." This Commission will bring the grower and public health communities together to explore common ground by developing recommendations to help tobacco farmers and their communities adjust to changes in the tobacco economy, while continuing to reduce youth smoking. Today’s executive action builds on the Clinton-Gore Administration’s longstanding record of protecting the health of our nation’s children and holding the tobacco industry accountable, while protecting tobacco farmers and their communities.
Commission to Protect Tobacco Farmers and Their Communities and to Promote Public Health. Today, the President is signing an Executive Order to create a Commission to recommend measures to improve economic opportunity and development in tobacco-producing communities, while protecting consumers, particularly children, from hazards associated with smoking. The Commission will review a variety of federal, state and local initiatives, and will submit a preliminary report to the President through the Secretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services by the end of the calendar year, with a final report due six months from the Commission’s first meeting. This Commission builds on a coalition of growers’ groups and health organizations that came together in 1998 to issue the Core Principles Statement, which outlines their shared goals, and demonstrates that the objectives of reducing youth smoking and protecting American farmers can be pursued together. The President also will announce the two co-chairs of the Commission: William Martin "Rod" Kuegel, Jr., of Owensboro, Kentucky, and Matthew Myers, of Washington, D.C. Mr. Kuegel is a fourth-generation tobacco farmer, and President of the Burley Tobacco Growers Cooperative Association. Mr. Myers is a nationally known tobacco-control advocate and President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
Changing Economies in Tobacco-Growing Communities. For decades, the federal tobacco program has stabilized and supported tobacco prices by limiting supply through production quotas. The production quotas are based on a statutory formula that reflects tobacco companies' announced purchasing intentions, the three-year average of exports, and existing tobacco stock levels. However, in the past three years, America’s tobacco farmers have experienced significant quota cuts, due largely to decisions by U.S. tobacco companies to shift their manufacturing and growing operations overseas, with the decline in tobacco use in the United States contributing to a much lesser extent. Even as tobacco farmers have seen revenues fall, the major U.S. cigarette companies have increased their overall revenues and profits.
Building on the Clinton-Gore Record of Protecting Public Health and Growers. President Clinton and Vice-President President Gore have fought hard not only to reduce youth smoking and hold the tobacco industry accountable, but also to protect individual tobacco farmers and their communities.
What's New Archives: 1994-1996
Presidential Webcast: Meeting the Challenge of Global Warming
Urging Congress to Keep its Commitment and Complete this Year's Education Budget
Preserving America’s Coral Reefs
Human Rights Day: The Eleanor Roosevelt Award and The Presidential Medal of Freedom
President Clinton Launches New Effort to Increase Immunization Rates Among Children
President Clinton and Vice President Gore: Restoring an American Natural Treasure
Progress in Efforts to Combat International Crime
President Clinton’s New Markets Initiative: Revitalizing America’s Underserved Communities
President Clinton, Vice President Gore, and Congressional Democrats Win a Landmark Budget
Announcing Welfare Reform Achievements and Budget Wins for America’s Families
President Clinton Issues Strong New Consumer Protections to Ensure the Privacy of Medical Records
Enacting a Budget that Invests in Education, Health Care, and America’
The United States on Track to Pay Off the Debt by End of the Decade
President Clinton: Strengthening the Federal Government-University Research Partnership
Keeping the Heat and Lights On During Unusually Cold Weather
Strengthening and Supporting the Military
President Clinton: Strong Action to Preserve America’s Forests
Protecting America’s Natural Treasures
President Clinton: Raising the Minimum Wage -- An Overdue Pay Raise for America’s Working Families
President Clinton Awards the Presidential Citizens Medals
President Clinton Unveils the Completion of the FDR Memorial and Honors FDR’s Legacy
Highlights of the 2001 Economic Report of the President
Prevention Resources For America
President Clinton Honors Martin Luther King Through Words and Deeds
New Efforts to Fight Sweatshops and Child Labor Around the World & Put A More Human Face on the
Leadership for the New Millennium -- A Record of Digital Progress and Prosperity
President and First Lady | Vice President and Mrs. Gore
Record of Progress | The Briefing Room
Gateway to Government | Contacting the White House | White House for Kids
White House History | White House Tours | Help
Privacy Statement