LETTERS: TOBACCO VOTE QUESTIONED

To the editor:

I find it quite repulsive that my congressman, Bill Emerson, voted to retain taxpayer subsidies to tobacco farmers and the industry in general. Is he not aware that tobacco causes cancer and is responsible for thousands of deaths annually? Is he not aware that even the cigarette manufacturers admitted secretly in the early 1970s that tobacco was addictive? Is he not aware that the FDA is in the process of declaring cigarettes as being addictive? Is the Congress in some kind of time warp without a clue as to what is going on?

Recent statistics show that a higher percentage of teen-agers are becoming smokers at earlier ages. Giving taxpayer subsidies to tobacco farmers isn't the answer. Continued support of the tobacco industry is part of the problem. Perhaps Medicare wouldn't be going broke were it not for the high cost of treating tobacco-related illnesses.

When it is voting time again, Missouri voters should be made aware that both Congressman William Clay and Congressman Richard Gephardt voted with Emerson on this issue. Only Congressman James Talent had enough courage to vote against this bill.

TED KELDERMAN

Potosi