Amendment No. 1 Offered By Mr. Massie

Floor Speech

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Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Chairman, I rise also in strong opposition to this amendment.

In 2023, 12,429 people died in drunk driving crashes nationwide. In Kentucky alone, 198 people were killed. In Pennsylvania, 321 people lost their lives. These deaths were preventable.

Advanced drunk and impaired driving prevention technology will prevent impaired drivers from illegally operating vehicles and causing deaths and injuries. I understand that my Republican colleagues are concerned about privacy, but the technology being developed does not track the vehicle's location or collect, use, or store any data that would compromise the privacy of vehicle occupants.

Privacy is a concern, and my friends should weigh in on the rulemaking process. NHTSA, the agency involved with this, should work with government agencies that have expertise in this area to ensure that consumer data is secure, anonymous, and protected from unauthorized use. That can and should be addressed as part of the rulemaking process.

It is not right, though. Preventing impaired drivers from illegally operating vehicles and causing fatalities should be a nonpartisan issue, and the work on that needs to continue.

The problem here is that while NHTSA has not finalized the rule, they would not be able to do any work related to the rule or advanced alcohol monitoring technology if this amendment passes. That is going to just cause more deaths from drunk driving.

I would implore everybody: Please, privacy can be addressed, but we should not stop this work from continuing. We can't have drunk drivers on the road. It is not just them but everyone else who is killed and injured as a result of those drunk drivers.

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