Jack Reed: “before this body today is my amendment which would deny the deductibility of advertising expenses to the tobacco…”

“before this body today is my amendment which would deny the deductibility of advertising expenses to the tobacco industry if they did not follow the FDA rules with respect to advertising. The FDA, after very careful rulemaking, promulgated a series of rules which would proscribe advertising directed at children. Among these rules are limiting tobacco billboards to a distance further than 1,000 feet from a school. It will require the publication of advertisements in youth-oriented magazines to be in black and white text only. It would dispense with some of the other staples of advertising that the industry is using. As the Senator from North Dakota has pointed out and as I pointed out in my remarks last Friday, there is clear, convincing, overwhelming evidence that for decades the tobacco industry has deliberately, relentlessly, and ruthlessly targeted children in their advertising. It is not an accident. It is not a coincidence. It is not the collateral effect of trying to reach the 21- to 25-year-old market. It is very purposeful, very deliberate, and, regrettably, very effective.”