The out-of-home advertising industry bestowed its highest honour Tuesday to a bipartisan duo of political leaders who support property rights, tourism, and small business.
Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) and former Congressman Bud Shuster (R-PA) earned the Myles Standish Award from the Outdoor Advertising Association of America [1] at the trade association’s national convention in San Diego. Reid is Senate Democratic Leader; Shuster is former chairman of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee.
“Senator Reid and Chairman Shuster are in different parties from different parts of the country,” said Nancy Fletcher, president and CEO of OAAA. ”However, they share respect for OOH advertising as a communications medium and the constitutional protection of just compensation if government takes private property.”
- Reid, elected to the Senate in 1986, has led Senate Democrats since 2005. He does not plan to seek re-election in 2016. As a freshman senator in 1991, Reid led the effort to defeat anti-billboard legislation, which was rejected by a bipartisan vote of 60-39.
- Shuster was chairman of the House transportation panel from 1995-2001 and was elected to Congress in 1972. Representing a non-urban Pennsylvania district, Shuster supported property rights and fought efforts to allow government to take billboards without just compensation.
The award was established in 1954 with a donation by Myles Standish, outgoing OAAA chairman of the board. The award honors people for extraordinary contributions to the OOH industry.