John Joseph Moakley: “Mr. Speaker, as most people know, the Twenty-First Amendment to the Constitution ended prohibition. It also bestowed…”

“Mr. Speaker, as most people know, the Twenty-First Amendment to the Constitution ended prohibition. It also bestowed upon the States the authority to write their own liquor laws. The problem, Mr. Speaker, is there is no interstate enforcement mechanism. The way the law is written, States have virtually no way to enforce the liquor laws when they are violated by distributors in other States, especially now that there are so many ways to buy alcohol. People can call a 1-800 number, they can order over the Internet, they can do all sorts of things to buy alcohol, and with the limited judicial options available to them now, State attorneys general are having a very hard time making sure that people abide by the law. This bill will give the State attorneys general another option. If they believe someone is in violation of their State's liquor laws, this bill will enable them to file suit in Federal Court to get them to stop. It says you cannot ship alcohol into a State in violation of that State's liquor laws. It is that simple.”