By Leonard Jason, PhD
DePaul University

On Dec. 2, I was called to testify before the House Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Health and Environment, about behavioral aspects of teen-age tobacco use. The request came as a result of meeting congressional staffers during a two-day tobacco workshop on public policy and science, hosted by APA?s Science Directorate and Public Policy Office (PPO). At that workshop, a group of researchers with interests in tobacco-related issues met with congressional staffers to express the need for behavioral research to help shape policy issues.

The congressional staffer who invited me to testify asked me to address prevention strategies and, in particular, issues involving youth access to tobacco products. I had three days to prepare my testimony and five minutes to present my perspective.

Rising to the challenge
The issues involved in the tobacco settlement include ways to restrict youth access to tobacco, smoking-reduction targets, excise taxes, public education, advertising, international sales and funding for science. The challenge was to be concise and focus on information that might have the largest influence on those at the hearing.

I read dozens of new bills on the tobacco settlement being introduced into Congress and continued to seek consultation from APA?s PPO staff, particularly from Pat Kobor, Geoff Mumford and Paula Trubisky. In a few days, I had enough material for a week-long seminar on the tobacco settlement, but I finally was able to summarize it into an outline for my testimony.

On Dec. 2, Pat Kobor guided me to the Rayburn House Office Building to a room where nine representatives, a bevy of photographers and an audience waited to hear testimony from me and a handful of others. I was overwhelmed, intimidated and impressed by the grandeur of the scene. This was a place of power. It was a game I?d never watched before.

When I began my testimony, I didn?t check my watch. I had rehearsed about five times that morning, so I felt confident. Before long, I no longer thought of the audience. After I uttered my last word, the chairperson?s egg timer went off, signaling my time had ended. The politicians seemed amazed by my punctuality. I considered it, if not symptomatic, at least a reflection of my obsessive tendencies.

Getting the points across
In my remarks, I emphasized that a considerable amount of behavioral data indicates that it is possible to reduce the number of young people who smoke and to appreciably reduce the percentage of vendors that sell to youth. My testimony covered psychological research that has led to a better understanding of the effects of tobacco advertisements, youth access laws, school and community prevention programs, and the relationships between the price of cigarettes and initiation of smoking.

For the next hour and 15 minutes, committee members asked questions of me and the other presenters. I was rather surprised at the committee?s high level of interest. Some of the more conservative congressional members attempted to portray antismoking activists as extremists. One Southern congressman asked me if I thought that smoking should be banned. He kept using the terms ?ban? and ?restricting youth access to tobacco? interchangeably, and I had to constantly point out the differences in these concepts.

Later that afternoon, APA?s PPO staff and I reflected on the experience. They were delighted with the success of the hearing. Doug Fizel, APA?s Deputy Director of Public Affairs, worked with me to write an ?op-ed? piece, which the Chicago Tribune published. The Associated Press ran a piece on the hearings. USA Today presented a less positive portrayal, reporting that the tobacco settlement would be a gravy train for people like me who could possibly get more grants to do research in the area.

(I wrote a letter to USA Today refuting this point, and the editors printed it.)

So, what do I make of this experience? First, it was great fun to be able to testify in Congress and have policy-makers interested in my research and point of view. To testify, one needs to quickly develop a position that addresses key, critical points. Good stress management and public speaking skills are necessary. Working collaboratively with other organizations?in this case APA?s PPO?is also key. And, perhaps most importantly of all, keeping a sense of humor and being diplomatic, even when you might want to go for the jugular, is a prudent approach.

Leonard Jason, PhD, professor of clinical and community psychology at DePaul University, has an expertise in tobacco issues.