Congressman Russell Says Federal Govt. Should Stop Using Taxpayer Money to Market Alcohol

Press Release

On Thursday, Congressman Steve Russell (OK05) introduced "The Stop Taxpayer-Funded Alcohol Marketing Act," which would prohibit Value Added Producer Grants from being awarded for alcohol products and rescind the funding that would likely be used for this purpose in the future. All told, this legislation would reduce deficit spending by $8 million. Congressman Russell highlighted one of the forty-one alcohol related grants awarded in 2015 in Waste Watch No. 4.

Congressman Russell spoke about The Stop Taxpayer-Funded Alcohol Marketing Act, saying, "It is perfectly lawful for people to enjoy their adult beverages, but it should not be incumbent on the federal government to spend the taxpayers' hard earned money on creating and marketing these beverages. To put it into perspective, $8 million would pay for the salary of 5,000 soldiers. As a country, we need to cut back on nice-to-haves, and focus on the must-haves. These types of grants are just wasteful spending, and while not a lot of money taken individually, they add up to a considerable amount of wasted taxpayer money that could be going to reducing the deficit."

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