[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 48 (Tuesday, March 25, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H2280]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page H2280]]
                 DOING MORE TO COMBAT UNDERAGE DRINKING

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 7, 2003, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Roybal-Allard) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Mr. Speaker, would not every Member of this House 
love to have a campaign in which they could run 93 TV ads for every TV 
ad run by their opponent? There is no doubt which candidate would win.
  So it goes with the contest between alcohol commercials and 
responsible drinking ads purchased by the alcohol industry.
  As reported by the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth, in 2001 
America's youth were 93 times more likely to see an ad promoting 
alcohol than an industry ad discouraging underage drinking. Although 
the liquor industry tells us their ads are not targeted at children, 
our children see plenty of them, and they have enormous impact on our 
young population. On average, in 2001, an American youngster saw 245 
ads promoting alcohol products to only four ads discouraging underage 
drinking.
  The amount of money the liquor industry spends on advertising alcohol 
is also astounding; and compared to what the industry spends on 
warnings about underage drinking it is, at best, disappointing.
  For example, in the year 2001, the alcohol industry spent $811 
million to air 208,000 alcohol ads, compared to $23 million for a mere 
2,379 responsible drinking ads. In other words, the alcohol industry 
spent less than 3 percent of its total advertising dollars on 
responsible drinking. As a result, our youth saw more commercials for 
beer than for juice, gum, chips, sneakers or jeans, product ads that 
usually target a young audience.
  The power of liquor advertising has been effective. While drinking 
under the age of 21 is illegal in all 50 States, a recent report by the 
National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University 
found that kids illegally spent over $22 billion a year on alcohol and 
they account for 20 percent of all alcohol consumed in our Nation.
  These numbers attest to the negative impact of the extensive 
investment the alcohol industry is making to attract consumers to their 
products while ignoring their responsibility to be equally diligent 
about ads warning about the dangers of underage drinking.
  Mr. Speaker, why does it matter? It matters because the consequences 
of underage drinking are devastating to our youth and to our society. 
According to an NIH study, over 10 million kids in the U.S. consume 
alcohol illegally, starting, on average, at age 13. The NIH study also 
found that kids who began drinking before the age of 15 are four times 
more likely to become alcoholics than those who begin drinking after 
the age of 21, 22 times more likely to use marijuana and 50 times more 
likely to try cocaine than kids who do not drink. That, Mr. Speaker, is 
why it matters.
  In order to counter the alarming assault on our youth, Congress has 
commissioned the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of 
Sciences to develop a strategy to reduce underage drinking with a 
national media campaign at its centerpiece. The report is expected in 
May.
  In the meantime, Mr. Speaker, the beer wholesalers and others 
representing the alcohol industry will be visiting congressional 
offices in the coming weeks to lobby for a reduction in alcohol taxes. 
When they do, I urge my colleagues to make it clear to the liquor 
industry that our children are an important and critical asset to our 
Nation and that we cannot afford to lose them.
  I urge my colleagues to put the liquor industry on notice that it 
must do more than pay for their token underage drinking ads and 
seriously invest to inform parents and children about the dangers of 
underage drinking.

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