Advertisers Play a Role in Politics

Floor Speech

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, last night, I rested very well on my Sleep Number bed knowing that the company had pulled its ads from Rush Limbaugh's show.

In light of Limbaugh's recent misogynistic attack on Georgetown student Sandra Fluke's fight to obtain affordable, legal birth control for women, I have been drawn to the important part that advertisers play in politics.

The use of airwaves to spread hatred of women is wrong. Those advertisers who support broadcasters who do so are nothing less than accessories to the crime. Advertisers' money keeps these vitriolic and hateful shows and hosts on the air.

Talk radio has gone too far, and it's long past time that advertisers take the initiative and recognize that shows they support often spread lies and hateful speech. I commend those advertisers who pulled their ads from this show, and I await those who follow. Companies like Sleep Number will keep my business, and my next order of flowers will come from ProFlowers.

But this isn't just about Mr. Limbaugh's recent, as he called it, ``insulting word choices'' as his substandard apology stated; it's about every advertiser who chooses to endorse the spread of hateful words and misinformation on America's airwaves.

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