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“PHILIP MORRIS'S CHARITABLE GIVING” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H260 on Feb. 13, 2001.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
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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