U.S. Senator Proposes Tobacco Ad Restriction

In March 1993, U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) proposed legislation to eliminate the deduction of advertising as a business expense for tobacco companies.

In true prohibitionist fashion, Harkin seeks to penalize the makers of tobacco products for daring to hold a belief contrary to his own.

The ACLU condemned the proposal, citing Supreme Court decisions forbidding Congress from discriminating in policy on the basis of speech content.

Source: March 17, 1993, ACLU press release.