PRESS RELEASE
August 23, 1996

STATEMENT BY JOE LOCKHART
NATIONAL PRESS SECRETARY

Bob Dole faces a big decision today -- Protect children or protect the tobacco lobby. Will Bob Dole stand with the President today in limiting tobacco sales to America's children or will he stand with his friends in the tobacco lobby who have done so much for his campaigns over the years?

If history is a guide, the prospects of standing up for children are dim. Bob Dole has said that cigarette smoking is not necessarily addictive. Dole even went as far as to compare the dangers of cigarette smoking to those of drinking a glass of milk.

Irresponsible rhetoric aside, Bob Dole has consistently blocked President Clinton's efforts to give parents and communities the tools to protect children. Bob Dole voted against the expansion of the Safe and Drug Free School program in 1994 and tried to cut funding in half in 1995. Dole voted against zero tolerance for students who bring guns into schools and opposed President's plan to put 100,000 additional cops on the street. Bob Dole even voted against the creation of the Drug Office in 1982.

Bob Dole has an opportunity today to stand up for children and support the President's efforts to restrict tobacco sales to children. Unfortunately, Bob Dole's 35 year record in Washington indicates that he will again be with the tobacco lobby.

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