Altria Group Inc., parent company of Philip Morris USA, spent more than $3 million in the first quarter of 2008 to lobby Congress and the State Department, the Associated Press has reported. Altria supports a proposal that would give the Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate tobacco products. Last month, a House committee approved legislation that would allow the FDA to reduce nicotine levels and require larger and more informative health warnings on cigarette packs. Achieving FDA oversight is central to the tobacco company's grand strategy, which entails researching and introducing less dangerous tobacco products.

The company also lobbied on several other issues, including: consumer product safety; Medicare; research and development tax credit; smoking prevention and cigarette trafficking; free trade; and a proposed federal shield law to protect reporters from being forced to reveal their sources.