When a tobacco company provides a corporate jet to a member of Congress or a political party for campaign purposes, FEC regulations require the recipient to reimburse the company for only the cost of a first-class ticket. The actual cost of chartering the jet, however, can be many times the cost of the first-class air travel. The result is a de facto corporate contribution and a tremendous benefit to the member or political party. The tobacco industry has provided extensive campaign travel to members of Congress and political parties. No other industry has provided nearly as much subsidized campaign travel as the tobacco industry.
Republicans are the beneficiary of the subsidized campaign travel from the tobacco industry.
According to FEC disclosure reports, the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee, and the Republican congressional leadership and their PACs were responsible for all 84 disbursements to the tobacco industry examined in this report. The report could not determine the precise value of the travel provided to the Republican leadership and committees by the tobacco industry because the tobacco companies that provided the travel refused to provide information on the details of the travel. It is clear, however, that the value of the travel is likely to far exceed the amount actually paid by the Republican leadership and committees for the travel. Return to main text Home Campaign Finance Prescription Drug Fairness Committee Procedures United States House of Representatives Thank you for visiting the Democratic Office of the House Committee on Government Reform Rep. Henry Waxman , Ranking Member .