In U.S. Congress, money helps kill bills - report
07/28/99
British American Tobacco and Philip Morris each spent more money lobbying Congress last than than any other company, as the two tobacco giants helped kill a landmark measure designed to curb smoking by children, a report released on Wednesday showed.
Yet no industry invested more in lobbying in 1998 than the insurance industry, which beat back bills on Capitol Hill that would have expanded patients' rights, according to the study by the Centre for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that tracks campaign contributions and lobbying expenditures.
Overall, corporate America shelled out a record $1.42 billion on lobbying in 1998 -- a 13 percent jump over the year before -- as it pushed and opposed a host of measures.
In the end, Congress enacted little major legislation, a year dominated by the Republican-led, failed drive to remove President Bill Clinton from office.
Cigarettes
