[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 20 (Tuesday, February 13, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H260]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   PHILIP MORRIS'S CHARITABLE GIVING

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2001, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett) is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to applaud the excellent 
efforts of the ABC television network and particularly journalists Dan 
Harris and John Stossel for demonstrating the tremendous deceit 
associated with the latest round of Philip Morris advertising.
  Philip Morris is a company that is in the business of addiction and 
death. It markets a product that it knows causes death, disease, and 
untold human misery. It markets a product that most of its victims 
would never consume, or certainly not continue consuming, were it not 
for the highly addictive quality of nicotine, which is an essential 
ingredient to its future sales.
  Hence, in one sense, these advertisements are quite accurate--``the 
people of Philip Morris'' are ``working to make a difference.'' Indeed, 
to the 3,000 new children who each day try tobacco, it can be a life 
and death difference. One thousand of those children will eventually 
die or suffer from serious disease as a result of their tobacco use. Of 
course the ``difference'' that we hear about on television is not those 
children but the children who receive Philip Morris scholarships and 
shelters. We hear not how they addict people but how they feed them, 
not how they flood the market with nicotine but how they help flood 
victims. Indeed, ABC pointed out that Philip Morris has generously 
contributed $115 million to such charitable activities.
  But, wait, there was more that Philip Morris did not want the public 
to know. Although they spent $115 million for charitable contributions, 
they spent $150 million to publicize their charity. As John Stossel 
said, ``Give me a break!'' If Philip Morris really had such a big 
heart, why doesn't it just donate all the money to charity instead of 
wasting $150 million on ads?
  The reason, of course, is quite clear. Philip Morris has taken to 
heart more than most the old adage that charity begins at home. And for 
Philip Morris, spending $115 million on charity is charity for itself.
  As ABC has reported, internal Philip Morris documents show that 
charitable giving has been a key part of its strategy for years. 
Favorite philanthropies of Philip Morris include those who could 
``neutralize'' women and minority groups, which might otherwise speak 
out against their being targeted for nicotine addiction. Those 
documents also indicate that Members of Congress and legislators around 
the country have not been forgotten--some of Philip Morris' favorite 
charities are the favorite charities of those policymakers that have 
the power to do something about the addiction and death business that 
is so critical to this company's future.
  Indeed, I think that Matt Myers at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids 
said it best: ``These ads are not about charity. These ads are trying 
to convince Congress and juries that Philip Morris is reformed and 
responsible, so that the next time they have to walk into a courtroom 
or the halls of Congress, they can avoid real change.''
  Of course when they walk into the halls of Congress, they do not walk 
into strangers. Philip Morris spent from 1997 to 1999, just a 2-year 
period, about $120 million on lobbying here in Washington. And it was 
generous with its contributions to the national political parties and 
to Members of Congress, contributing over $11 million in PAC and soft 
money contributions during 1999.
  At the same time Philip Morris was conducting this advertising 
campaign about its charitable giving, it was also advertising that it 
no longer markets to children in ways that will attract 3,000 children 
to tobacco products every day. Of course, in other countries where it 
markets its deadly products, Philip Morris refuses to abide by any of 
those restrictions on the marketing to children. Philip Morris 
continues to play a key role in a worldwide pandemic that will be the 
largest killer, more than AIDS, more than the combined death toll of a 
long series of diseases that plague our planet. Philip Morris will be a 
part of the pandemic that will kill more people in this world than any 
of these other diseases put together over the next couple of decades.
  But I think that for this Congress, it is important for us to realize 
the financial difference between the good deeds Philip Morris 
advertises and the amount it spends to promote those good deeds. 
Congress must react by giving the Food and Drug Administration the 
jurisdiction it needs over tobacco products, the Justice Department the 
support it needs to continue its lawsuit against the tobacco industry, 
and address the problem of Big Tobacco's involvement in smuggling 
around the world. As Members of Congress, we must respond responsively 
and responsibly to the growing problem of worldwide tobacco addiction 
and death, though Philip Morris has done neither.

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