[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 34 (Tuesday, March 4, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H1473-H1474]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
UNDERAGE DRINKING
Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk to my colleagues
about an important subject that has a significant impact on our
national public health and on our children: underage drinking. My
interest in this topic began as a member of the subcommittee of the
Committee on Appropriations with jurisdiction over ONDCP, the Office of
National Drug Control Policy.
During my first year on the committee, I was surprised to discover
that although Congress had appropriated $2 billion to conduct a media
campaign directed at the illegal use of drugs by children, ONDCP had
inexplicably left out their illegal use of alcohol. I was surprised by
that because while drinking under the age of 21 is illegal in all 50
States, over 10 million kids in the United States consume alcohol
illegally, starting on average at age 13.
The research on the damage caused by underage drinking is dramatic,
and let me cite just two examples: The first is based on research by
the National Institutes of Health that found that young people who
begin drinking before the age of 15 are four times more likely to
become alcoholics than those who begin drinking after the age of 21.
The second, and perhaps most compelling finding, is the one with a
direct relationship to illegal drug use based on the study by the
National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia
University, known as CASA. This study found that underage drinkers are
22 times more likely to use marijuana and 50 times more likely to try
cocaine than kids who do not drink under the age.
In 1999, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) and I attempted to
add underage alcohol use to the ONDCP's youth antidrug media campaign.
The Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the Center for Science in the Public
Interest, the National Crime Prevention Council, and a number of other
organizations long associated with these issues, supported our efforts.
Unfortunately, very powerful interests in the alcohol industry lobbied
against the amendment to include warnings to parents and kids about the
dangers of underage drinking, and our amendment was defeated by the
Committee on Appropriations.
Since that time, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf), the
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Wamp), and I have introduced legislation
to establish a separate national media campaign to reduce and to
prevent underage drinking. Over 80 of our colleagues, both Republicans
and Democrats, have sponsored this bill. Unfortunately, we have not
been successful in passing the bill to date, but we will continue to
make this fight.
The importance of this fight was again highlighted last week when the
National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia
University, CASA, reported extremely troubling findings newsworthy
enough to have appeared in the media across the Nation. CASA at
Columbia University reported that teenagers account for nearly 20
percent of the alcohol consumed in the United States every year. Adding
to this troubling finding is the fact that Dr. Susan Foster, who led
the CASA study, published in the Journal of the American Medical
Association, said that she believed that these new estimates were very
conservative.
The President of CASA, Joseph Califano, a former secretary of the
Department of Health, Education and Welfare and co-author of the CASA
study, reported that approximately 5 million high school students
admitted that at least once a month they consume five drinks on one
occasion. This is extremely alarming since research suggests that
alcohol, especially in large amounts, can harm the still developing
teenage brain, not to mention the huge toll alcohol abuse has on the
Nation, due to car accidents, injuries, high-risk sexual behavior and
alcohol poisoning.
To address this looming crisis, Mr. Califano and three former U.S.
surgeons general; Dr. Julius Richmond, who served under Jimmy Carter;
Dr. David Satcher, who served under President Bill Clinton; and Dr.
Antonia Novello, who served under George W. Bush; issued a nationwide
call to action, asking parents, the public health community, and the
alcohol industry
[[Page H1474]]
to join forces to stop this looming tragedy among our youth. Among
their recommendations were that information about the dangers of
excessive and underage drinking be included on labels as is now done
for cigarettes. They also recommend that the nutritional content of
alcohol products including calories appear on the labels. Mr. Califano
and the surgeons general further recommend that Federal and State
governments mount a public health campaign to curb alcohol abuse,
particularly among children, teens, and college students.
Mr. Speaker, we need to do everything we can to stop the illegal
spending of $22.5 billion on illegal alcohol in this country, and we
will continue to work together with the gentleman from Virginia (Mr.
Wolf), the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Wamp) and others to make sure
that we address the serious crisis.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk to my colleagues about an important
subject that has a significant impact on our national public health and
our children: underage drinking. My interest in this topic began as a
member of the Appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over
ONDCO--the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
During my first year on the committee, I was surprised to discover
that although Congress had appropriated $2 billion to conduct a media
campaign directed at the illegal use of drugs by children, ONDCP had
inexplicably left out their illegal use of alcohol. I was surprised by
this because while drinking under the age of 21 is illegal in all 50
states, over 10 million kids in the United States consume alcohol
illegally starting, on average, at 13 years of age.
The research on the damage caused by underage drinking is dramatic.
Let me cite just two examples. The first is based on research by the
National Institutes of Health that found that young people who begin
drinking before the age of 15 are four times more likely to become
alcoholics than those who begin drinking after the age 21. The second,
and perhaps the most compelling finding, is the one with a direct
relationship to illegal drug use based on a study by the National
Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University--CASA.
This study found that underage drinkers are 22 times more likely to use
marijuana and 50 times more likely to try cocaine than kids who do not
drink.
In 1999, Congressman Frank Wolf and I attempted to add underage
alcohol use to the ONDCP'S youth anti-drug media campaign. The Mothers
Against Drunk Driving, the Center for Science in the Public Interest,
the National Crime Prevention Council, and a number of other
organizations long associated with these issues, supported our efforts.
Unfortunately, very powerful interests in the alcohol industry lobbied
against the amendment to include warnings to parents and kids about the
dangers of underage drinking, and our amendment was defeated by the
Appropriations Committee.
Since that time, Congressman Frank Wolf, Congressman Zack Wamp and I
have introduced legislation to establish a separate national media
campaign to reduce and prevent underage drinking. Over 80 of our
colleagues, both Republicans and Democrats, have sponsored our bill.
Unfortunately, we have not been successful in passing the bill to date,
but we will continue to make this important fight.
The importance of this fight was against highlighted, last week, when
the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia
University--CASA--reported extremely troubling findings newsworthy
enough to have appeared in the media across the Nation. CASA at
Columbia University reported that teenagers account for nearly 20
percent of the alcohol consumed in the United States every year. Adding
to this troubling finding is the fact that Dr. Susan Foster, who led
the CASA study published in the Journal of the American Medical
Association, said that she believed the new estimates were very
conservative.
The President of CASA, Joseph Califano, a former secretary of the
Department of Health, Education and Welfare, and co-author of the CASA
study reported that approximately 5 million high school students
admitted that at least once a month they consume 5 drinks on one
occasion. This is extremely alarming since research suggests that
alcohol, especially in large amounts, can harm the still-developing
teenage brain, not to mention that huge toll alcohol abuse has on the
Nation due to car accidents, injuries, high-risk sexual behavior and
alcohol poisoning.
To address this looming crisis, Mr. Califano and three former U.S.
surgeons-general--Dr. Julius Richmond, who served under President Jimmy
Carter, Dr. David Satcher, who served under President Bill Clinton, and
Dr. Antonia Novello, who served under President George W. Bush--Issued
a national call to action, asking parents, the public health community,
and the alcohol industry to join forces to stop this looming tragedy
among our youth. Among their recommendations were that information
about the dangers of excessive and underage drinking be included on
labels, as is now done for cigarettes. They also recommend that the
nutritional content of alcohol products, including calories, appear on
the labels. Mr. Califano and the surgeons-general further recommend
that Federal and State governments mount a public health campaign to
curb alcohol abuse, particularly among children, teens and college
students.
In order to create a barrier to the purchase of alcohol, particularly
among teens, who illegally spend $22.5 billion a year on alcohol, the
former surgeons-general recommend increasing state and federal taxes on
alcohol, so kids can't afford to spend a lot of money on illegal
drinking. I believe these are common-sense recommendations that will
help to curtail the severe problem in which 20 percent of our Nation's
alcohol is consumed illegally by our children. Morally and practically
we cannot afford to continue losing our children to alcohol abuse.
Working together, buttressed by the best scientific evidence, I believe
we can identify effective methods to protect our kids. I, with
Congressman Frank Wolf and Congressman Zach Wamp, and the many other
colleagues who have joined us will continue to work on this issue until
we successfully address this public health crisis in our Nation.
I thank my colleagues for their interest in this important matter
affecting our Nation's children and our Nation's future.
____________________