"When I was a child, my family was attacked by an invisible force that was then considered harmless. My sister Nancy was older than me. There were only the two of us, and I loved her more than life itself. She started smoking when she was 13 years old. The connection between smoking and lung cancer had not yet been established. But years later, the cigarettes had taken their toll. It hurt very badly to watch her savaged by that terrible disease. Her husband Frank and all of us who loved her so much tried to get her to stop smoking. . . . Tomorrow morning, another 13-year-old girl will start smoking. I love her too. Three thousand young people in America will start smoking tomorrow. One thousand of them will die a death not unlike my sister’s. And that is why until I draw my last breath, I will pour my heart and soul into the cause of protecting our children from the dangers of smoking."
- Al Gore, The Democratic National Convention, August 28, 1996
“Throughout most of my life, I raised tobacco. I want you to know that with my own hands, all of my life, I put it in the plant beds and transferred it. I’ve hoed it, I’ve dug in it, I’ve sprayed it, I’ve chopped it, I’ve shredded it, spiked it, put it in the barn and stripped it and sold it.”
- Al Gore |
