KIRO TV - Congress Spends Big Bucks On Bottled Water

February 9, 2011

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A watchdog group said taxpayers shelled out $860,000 between April 2009 and March 2010 for bottled water for lawmakers.

Corporate Accountability International reports that some Washington state lawmakers are among those who ordered bottled water.

KIRO 7 Eyewitness News Washington Bureau reporter Carol Han reported that the office of Rep. Jay Inslee, D-1st District, spent $1,900, the office of Rep. Norm Dicks, D-9th District, spent $1,800 and the office of Rep. Rick Larsen, D-2nd District, spent $1,300 on bottled water.

"Actually we had a water filter installed and are now using that. It's a good idea. This all started when the D.C. water in our building was contaminated. Water fountains were shut off. It's ok now; better when it is filtered," a member of Dicks' office said.

Under former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the Green the Capitol initiative, the House began to sell recycled bottled water by Naturally Iowa in the House cafeterias in 2008.

While Pelosi was in office, her bureau spent $8,786 on bottled water, according to a study by Corporate Accountability International.

The office of Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, spent $3,354 on bottled water.

While Republicans successfully voted to cut office budgets in the chamber by 5 percent, the campaign director for Corporate Accountability International urged lawmakers cut their bottled-water expenses as a way to trim their budgets.

“The marketing of the bottled-water industry has been so successful that it’s taught us that the only safe place to get water is from a bottle, but there are some great alternatives,” said Kristin Urquiza, campaign director for Corporate Accountability International’s Think Outside the Bottle campaign.

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