Watch the Money, See the Votes: Republican Leadership Tries to Kill National Tobacco Control Legislation
June 17, 1998
Watch the Money, See the Votes: Republican Leadership Tries to Kill National Tobacco Control Legislation
Statement of Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook
A majority of the U.S. Senate — 57-42 — wants the tobacco bill to pass. That majority tried to move the bill today but was opposed primarily by individuals who have taken huge amounts of campaign cash from Big Tobacco.
The $2.6 million the tobacco industry invested in the Republican Party last year in unregulated soft money and the $922,000 it gave over the last five years in PAC contributions to Republican candidates paid off in today s vote.
Despite today s vote, this issue is not over. The American people demand action to stop the tobacco pollution of children.