SIXTEENTH COLLEGE OF TOBACCO KNOWLEDGE

SEPTEMBER 15 AND 16

WASHINGTON, D .C .

REMARKS OF WALKER MERRYMAN

GOOD MORNING AND WELCOME TO THE SIXTEENTH

COLLEGE OF TOBACCO KNOWLEDGE, SPONSORED BY THE TOBACCO INSTITUTE,

THE TRADE ASSOCIATION REPRESENTING THE U .S . CIGARETTE

MANUFACTURERS . I AM WALKER MERRYMAN,g VICE PRESIDENT OF THE

INSTITUTE AND THE INFORMAL DEAN OF THE COLLEGE .

LET ME TAKE A MOMENT TO SET THE STAGE FOR WHAT

YOU WILL EXPERIENCE IN THE NEXT TWO DAYS . THE COLLEGE HAS BEEN

AROUND IN ONE FORM OR ANOTHER SINCE 1975 . EACH YEAR, A CAREFULLY

CHOSEN CROPS OF PEOPLE FROM OUR MEMBER COMPANIES AND ALLIED

GROUPS ARE INVITED HERE TO IMERSE THEMSELVES IN A CONCENTRATED

LEARNING EXPERIENCE .

SOME OF THE ISSUES rTHE TOBACCO INDUSTRY

FACES, SUCH AS HIGHER EXCISE TAXES AND LAWS TO BAN SMOKING, HAVE

BEEN WITH US FOR YEARS . OTHERS, LIKE PROPOSALS TO BAN ALL

AVERTISING AND PROMOTION OR REQUIRE SELF-EXTINGUISHING

CIGARETTES, ARE RELATIVELY RECENT . YOU WILL LEARN ALL ABOUT

THOSE ISSUES AND MORE IN THE NEXT TWO DAYS .

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 WILL ROGERS ONCE SAID, "EVEN IF YOU'RE ON THE

RIGHT TRACK, YOU'LL GET RUN OVER IF YOU JUST STAND STILL ." THAT

IS ADVICE WE fHAVE TAKEN VERY SERIOUSLY OVER THE YEARS . WE HAVE

HAD TO CHANGE OUR APPROACH TO ISSUES AS POLITICAL AND CULTURAL

REALITIES HAVE CHANGED . WE WOULD HAVE BEEN "RUN OVER" BY OUR

ADVERSARIES LONG AGO IF OUR STRATEGIES HAD NOT CHANGED . WE

REALIZED THAT IN ORDER TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN BLUNTING ATTACKS AIMED

AT US, WE HAD TO ORGANIZE SUPPORT FROM GROUPS OUTSIDE THE TOBACCO

INDUSTRY . YOU WILL BE INTRODUCED TO REPRESENTATIVES OF SOME OF

THOSE ORGANIZATIONS AND LEARN HOW WE MANAGE EACH ISSUE . THAT

ISSUE MANAGEMENT IS THE KEY TO MUCH OF OUR SUCCEASS IN EITHER

DEFEATING OR SIGNIFICANTLY ALTERING LEGISLATIVE AND REGULATORY

ATTEMPTS TO PUT THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY OUT OF BUSINESS .

KEEP IN MIND THAT TOBACCO AND ITS USE HAS

ALWAYS SPARKED CONTROVERSY . EVEN AS FAR BACK AT 1601, ENGLAND'S

KING JAMES THE FIRST WAS INFURIATED THAT HIS SUBJECTS WOULD NOT

HEED HIS DEMANDS THAT THEY CEASE USING TOBACCO . HE PUBLISHED A

PAMPHLET CALLED "A COUNTERBLAST TO TOBACCO ." IT ALMOST MAKES THE

SURGEON GENERAL'S REPORT READ LIKE A LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION .

WHEN OUR DISTANT COUSINS IGNORED THE KING'S ADVICE, HE SLAPPED A

HEAVY TAX ON TOBACCO WHICH WAS PROBABLY THE FIRST "SIN" TAX ON

THE PRODUCT .

MORE RECENTLY, SMOKING HAS BEEN CALLED "THE

GREATEST SINGLE PREVENTABLE CAUSE OF DEATH IN THE UNITED STATES ."

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TOBACCO SMOKE IN THE AIR, OR ENVIRONMENTAL TOBACCO SMOKE --ETS--

HAS BEEN LABELED A HEALTH MENACE . WE HAVE BEEN BLAMED FOR

ACCIDENTAL FIRES CAUSED BY CARELESS SMOKING . BRAND ADVERTISING

IS ACCUSED OF ENTICING YOUNGSTERS TO START SMOKING . THE

SO-CALLED "SOCIAL COSTS" OF SMOKING ARE USED AS A BASIS FOR

DEMANDING HIGHER AND HIGHER TAXES ON THE PRODUCT .

IN NEARLY FOUR CENTURIES OF CONTROVERSY, WE

HAVE LEARNED A FEW THINGS ABOUT HOW TO DEAL WITH THESE EMOTIONAL

AND, IN MANY CASES, BASELESS, CHARGES . IN THE NEXT TWO DAYS WE

WANT TO GIVE YOU AS MUCH OF THAT INFORMATION AS POSSIBLE . YOU

ARE SOME OF OUR BEST FRONT-LINE TROOPS IN THESE BATTLES . WE WANT

YOU TO BE PREPARED TO FIGHT WITH THE BEST WEAPONS AVAILABLE . I

ENCOURAGE YOU TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE WITH YOU ALL THE

KNOWLEDGE WE HAVE TO OFFER . I HOPE TO SEE SOME OF YOU BACK AT A

FUTURE TOBACCO COLLEGE AS EXPERT MEMBERS OF OUR FACULTY .

BEFORE I TURN THE PODIUM OVER TO MY COLLEAGUE

SUSAN STUNTZ, THERE IS ONE MORE VERY IMPORTANT MATTER YOU MUST

ALL CONSIDER . IT HAS TO DO WITH CONFIDENTIALITY . ONE OF OUR

GREATEST STRENGTHS IS UNITY . I CANNOT CONCEIVE OF ANY

CIRCUMSTANCES UNDER WHICH WE WOULD VOLUNTARILY CHOOSE TO DILUTE

OR WEAKEN THAT UNITY . WITH THAT IN MIND, LET ME MAKE A

SUGGESTION . YOU MAY RECALL THE SIGN WHICH TYPICALLY APPEARED ON

THE BRIEFING ROOM WALL OF MANY A WAR MOVIE . IT SAID, "WHAT YOU

SAY HERE . . .WHAT YOU HEAR HERE . . .WHEN YOU LEAVE HERE, LET IT STAY

HERE .

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 OBVIOUSLY THE IDEAS, STRATEGIES AND TACTICS

YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT ARE MEANT TO BE APPLIED IN YOUR WORK . THIS

IS SIMPLY A REQUEST THAT YOU RESPECT THE CONFIDENTIALITY OF WHAT

WE DISCUSS . TO BORROW A MILITARY METAPHOR, WHEN YOU'RE UNDER

ATTACK, DON'T GIVE THE ENEMY YOUR ORDER OF BATTLE .

NOW IT IS MY PLEASURE TO INTRODUCE SUSAN

STUNTZ, INSTITUTE VICE PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR OF THE PUBLIC

AFFAIRS DEAPRTMENT'S ISSUES MANAGEMENT GROUP . THEY PROVIDE

PUBLIC RELATIONS AND LEGISLATIVE SUPPORT TO OUR FEDERAL AND STATE

ACTIVITIES DIVISIONS . SUSAN HAS BEEN WITH THE INSTITUTE FOR NINE

YEARS, BEGINING AS A WRITER AND LATER EDITOR OF THE TOBACCO

OBSERVER .

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