The National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA), an industry lobbying group, has succeeded in amending an underage-drinking bill now being considered in Congress, USA Today reported Oct. 29.

The bill now includes language that protects beer distributors from efforts to break their monopoly on transporting beer to retailers, and omits a section that urged the NCAA to ban alcohol ads during college sports broadcasts. Also missing from the revised bill: language referring to alcohol as "the most heavily used drug by children."

George Hacker of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) calls the NBWA "the pit bull of the alcohol industry." The group has donated $8.6 million to federal lawmakers since 1999, and has worked to prevent new alcohol taxes, federal alcohol regulations, and unfavorable language in bills about alcohol's health and economic costs. "There are some things you don't want in the Congressional Record if you don't agree with them or don't think them to be true," said NBWA President Craig Purser.

"They get an immediate audience when they want it because of the money they've given and the relationships they've developed," Hacker said. "They have lots more leverage with (congressional) leadership than even members of Congress do."

On the underage-drinking bill, for example, the 1,900-member NBWA was able to arrange meetings with all seven sponsors of the measure to push for its changes.

Editor's Note:
The bill referenced in this news summary is the STOP Underage Drinking Act, S.408 and H.R.864.