[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 124 (Friday, July 28, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1551-E1552]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


   AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, AND 
               RELATED AGENCIES, APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 1996

                                 ______


                               speech of

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                        of district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 28, 1995

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 1976) making 
     appropriations for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and 
     Drug Administration, and related agencies programs for the 
     fiscal year 

[[Page E 1552]]
     ending September 30, 1996, and for other purposes:

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the Kennedy 
amendment to H.R. 1976, the Agriculture appropriation. I cannot imagine 
what national interest the Congress is forwarding by subsidizing the 
export and promotion of American alcohol overseas. We should adopt the 
Kennedy amendment, and end this insanity. Surely the companies who 
benefit from this subsidy can get by just fine without it. Can you 
imagine the outcry if we were using taxpayer money inside the United 
States to help the liquor companies introduce drinking to young people?
  Do we not have enough problems at home brought about by alcohol 
abuse? In the District of Columbia alone, alcohol abuse costs the city 
$1.8 billion annually. The Center for Science in the Public Interest 
has said that no serious discussion on the economic recovery of the 
Nation's Capital is possible without factoring in the economic burden 
of alcohol consumption. It is not moralizing to point out that the $35 
million the city collects each year in alcohol taxes barely touches the 
massively calamitous consequences of alcohol consumption. The human 
toll cannot even being to be calculated.
  This is indeed a moral issue. What is immoral is that corporate 
giants like Jim Beam, Miller, Coor's, and Stroh's have the U.S. 
Government's blessing and an expense account to enter into foreign 
markets. Are we subsidizing comparable efforts to provide education 
about alcohol abuse, alcohol's role in infant mortality, and efforts to 
combat drunk driving?
  The liquor companies need to pay their fair share, not get a subsidy 
to develop new markets. I urge my colleagues to adopt the Kennedy 
amendment.


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