Political Quotes

“Well, I think we know the tobacco companies would not be throwing their money away on advertising if it did not work to bring in more smokers, young smokers, to take the place of the many Americans who have died prematurely from smoking-related diseases of many types. Just as the tobacco companies know that their campaign contributions are not being wasted, they would not be making these campaign contributions frivolously. I am sure in your history you were giving to put in perspective this now refusal to move forward in the House on reasonable public health measures to protect our children, you are probably going to cover what happened just last year when two tobacco companies were the Number 1 and the Number 2 soft money contributors to the Republican Party, and then right after they set their record of contributions, the next month, along comes this secret $50 billion tax break. We, in a way, have already begun to take up the tobacco settlement issues. It is just that Speaker Gingrich and the Republican leadership thought the first issue that ought to come up was not protecting our children, but protecting the tobacco companies by giving them a $50 billion tax break, which when it became public, they were so ashamed of, they snuck out here and repealed it last year, as you will recall.”