Thompson's Tobacco Ties
President-elect Bush's choice to head the Department of Health and Human Services has traveled the world with tobacco lobbyists and raised tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from tobacco interests.
Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson also has been criticized for delaying his state's entry into the lawsuit against tobacco companies and for proposing to use only $5 million of Wisconsin's $170 million-a-year share of the lawsuit settlement on smoking prevention.
Thompson ultimately signed a bill that provided almost five times that amount for anti-smoking efforts. During 14 years as governor, he signed into law four separate tobacco tax increases and a ban on smoking in the state Capitol.
Thompson "has a record of opposing youth access to tobacco and tobacco products," said Alicia Peterson, a spokeswoman for the Bush transition team. She said Bush selected him for HHS because he is "a national leader in welfare reform and health care reform."
Thompson's well-documented ties to tobacco giant Philip Morris, the largest employer in his state, have sparked few protests among public health organizations as he awaits a confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee.
"His record in Wisconsin raises concerns about his commitment to reducing the toll from tobacco," said Bill Corr, executive vice president of the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids.
But, Corr added, "Now that he has been nominated to lead the nation's top health agency, we're hopeful he will be willing to work with the public health community to address tobacco usage in all its forms."
Corr's organization has taken no official position on Thompson's nomination, which is widely expected to be approved. Nor has the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association or the American Cancer Society.
Individual activists have been more vocal.
Stanton Glantz, a professor at the Cardiovascular Research Institute at the University of California, San Francisco, called Bush's selection of Thompson "stunning."
"It's like we have in hand a vaccine against heart disease and cancer and a secretary of health with a history of working with people who don't want the vaccine administered," said Glantz. He has probed the tobacco industry's influence on tobacco control policy-making in several states and co-authored a 1998 study on Wisconsin.
Among the Thompson-tobacco industry links cited by anti-tobacco activists:
During the 1990s, Thompson traveled to England, Africa and Australia on trips arranged by the National Governors Association and substantially funded by Philip Morris through three nonprofit groups created to promote free trade. He said at the time he wasn't aware of the company's backing and might not have gone if he had known.
"I value your loyalty and friendship," Thompson wrote Andrew Whist, a Philip Morris senior vice president, aftr the Africa trip in 1995. Following the 1996 trip to Australia, Thompson wrote Philip Morris lobbyist Jack Lenzi that he was "especially grateful you agreed to take the scuba diving plunge with me."
Between 1993 and 2000, Thompson collected almost $100,000 in campaign contributions from executives and political action committees of major tobacco companies and their subsidiaries, according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. He got $72,232 from Philip Morris and its subsidiaries, more than from any other company.
Thompson signed a smokers' rights bill in 1992, the same year of his England trip. Internal Philip Morris documents released in connection with the tobacco lawsuit show the company lobbied Thompson "to reconsider his position" and sign the bill.
As governor, Thompson also vetoed a ban on smoking in the general seating area at the Milwaukee Brewers' new stadium and vetoed legislation that would have let cities impose stricter rules on tobacco than exist in state law.
Thompson's backers argue that the governor has supported Philip Morris because of the economic impact its food and beer subsidiaries have in the state. They also point to the tobacco tax hikes as signs that Thompson has demonstrated independence from Philip Morris.
Even Thompson's critics concede that once he agreed to let the state join the lawsuit against tobacco companies to recover health care costs, he backed it strongly.
The $5 million Thompson originally proposed for smoking prevention from the first year of the lawsuit settlement would have placed Wisconsin at the bottom 10 states for per-capita spending on such efforts. But he ultimately signed legislation providing $23.5 million, which put Wisconsin in the top 15 states.
"While the governor has not been a champion of tobacco control, his record has been improving," said Rachel Tyree, an American Cancer Society spokeswoman.