SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ)

Sen. McCain and his wife own over one-million dollars worth of stock interest in Hensley and Company--Cindy Hensley McCain's family firm (Ms. McCain is a Vice-President and Director in the firm). Hensley and Co. is the Phoenix area distributor of Anheuser-Bush beers. And according to Modern Brewery Age (2/28/94), Hensley and Co. is the 2nd largest Anheuser-Bush wholesaler in the United States.

On June 18, 1991, Senator Hatfield introduced a recycling bill that caused beverage producers and distributors great concern. The bill was S. 1318: NATIONAL BEVERAGE CONTAINER REUSE AND RECYCLING ACT...To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act so as to protect the environment from discarded beverage containers; to reduce solid waste and the cost in connection with disposal of such waste through recycling (Referred to Sen. McCain's Senate Commerce Committee).

On March 11, 1992, Senator Hatfield reintroduced the Container Reuse and Recycling Act as S. 2335...To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to require a refund value for beverage containers, and to provide resources for State pollution prevention and recycling programs (Referred to Sen. McCain's Senate Commerce Committee).

On May 7, 1992, the St. Petersburg Times reported that "The Container Deposit Bill" was going into a committee markup session soon. The article noted that the bill had strong opposition from industry--leading opponents included Anheuser-Bush, the National Beer Wholesalers Association, Coca-Cola, and Pepsi.

On May 12, 1992, Sen. McCain purchased between 250,000 and 500,000 dollars worth of stock in Anheuser-Bush for a dependent child.

One day after his purchase (on May 13, 1992), Sen. Jeffords (an original co-sponsor on both S. 1318 and S. 2335) attempted to slip the Beverage Container Reuse legislation into a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee markup to reauthorize the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Jeffords' attempt was defeated 6-10; Committee Chair Sen. Baucus said the committee had no jurisdiction to consider a bottle bill (see Daily Report for Executives on May 14).

Sen. Hatfield noted the frustrations of those involved in the Beverage Container Reuse Act in 138 Cong. Rec. S. 6817. He claimed that the Senate Commerce Committee continually refused to consider his bill--this is why Jeffords tried to get it in through Senate Environment. I don't know why Sen. Hatfield is surprised. The Chairman of Senate Commerce (Sen. Hollings) has Pepsi-Cola/Seven-Up Bottling based in his home state (Greenville, SC); the ranking minority member of Senate Commerce (Sen. Danforth) has Anheuser-Bush based in his home state (St. Louis, MO). And the 5th ranking minority member of Senate Commerce (Sen. McCain) not only distributes Anheuser-Bush products in his home state, but he recently became a substantial Anheuser-Bush shareholder.

POLITICAL MONEY NOTES: Since 1991, Sen. McCain has accepted at least $15,000 in campaign contributions from beer-related interests. In 1991, he received $4,000 from the National Beer Wholesalers Association; on March 24, 1992, he received another $6,000 from NBWA. Sen. McCain has received $2,000 from Anheuser-Bush's PAC; he has received $3,000 from Anheuser-Bush employees, including a $1,000 contribution from August Bush III (President and Chairman of Anheuser-Bush) on June 3, 1992 (3 weeks after the "container bill" was defeated in Committee).

NOTES: Sen. McCain is # 5 on the Senate Commerce Committee.