Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

By Mr. DEWINE (for himself, Mr. DODD, Mr. HAGEL, Mr. WARNER, Mr. CORZINE, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Ms. LANDRIEU, Mr. JEFFORDS, and Mr. SALAZAR):

S. 408. A bill to provide for programs and activities with respect to the prevention of underage drinking; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Mr. DEWINE. Mr. President, I rise today, along with my good friend and colleague Senator DODD, to reintroduce the Sober Truth on Preventing Underage Drinking Act--also known as the STOP Underage Drinking Act. I thank Senator DODD for his commitment to this issue, as well as our colleagues on the House side--Representatives ROYBAL-ALLARD, WOLF, OSBORNE, DELAURO, and WAMP for working so diligently with us to draft this bill. It is a good bill--a carefully crafted, bi-partisan, bi-cameral piece of legislation.

I also want to thank the additional Senate co-sponsors of this legislation--Senators HAGEL, WARNER, LIEBERMAN, LAUTENBERG, LANDRIEU, CORZINE, JEFFORDS, and SALAZAR. I thank them for their support. They know that underage drinking is a serious, and often deadly, problem for our Nation's children and youth and that we have to do something about it.

In September 2003, I chaired a HELP Subcommittee hearing about underage drinking. As we discussed at that hearing, it is well known that underage drinking is a significant problem for youth in this country. We've known that for a very long time.

We know that underage drinking often contributes to the four leading causes of deaths among 15 to 20 year olds--that 69 percent of youths who died in alcohol-related traffic fatalities in the year 2000 involved young drinking drivers and that in 1999, nearly 40 percent of people under the age of 21 who were victims of drownings, burns, and falls tested positive for alcohol. We also know that alcohol has been reported to be involved in 36 percent of homicides, 12 percent of male suicides, and 8 percent of female suicides involving people under 21.

How did we get here. These statistics are frightening. Too many American kids are drinking regularly, and they are drinking in quantities that can be of great, long-term harm. As a nation, we clearly haven't done enough to address this problem. We haven't done enough to acknowledge how prevalent and widespread teenage drinking is in this country. We haven't done enough to let parents know that they, too, are a part of this problem and can be a part of the solution.

We talk about drugs and the dangers of drug use, as we should, but the reality is that we, as a society, have become complacent about the problem of underage drinking. This has to change. The culture has to change.

One way to begin changing this culture is with the STOP Underage Drinking Act. Our legislation has four major areas of policy development:

First, there is a federal coordination and reporting provision. This title would create an Interagency Coordinating Committee to coordinate the efforts and expertise of various federal agencies to combat underage drinking. It would be chaired by the Secretary of Health and Human Services and would include other agencies and departments, such as the Department of Education, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and the Federal Trade Commission. This title also would mandate an annual report to Congress from the Interagency Committee on their efforts to combat underage drinking, as well as an annual report card on State efforts to combat the problem. Two million dollars annually would be appropriated under this section.

Second, the bill contains an authorization for an adult-oriented national media campaign against underage drinking. This title would provide $1 million in fiscal years 2006 and 2007 to authorize a national media campaign for which the Ad Council has received start up funding. The campaign is expected to launch in August of this year.

Third, the bill would support new intervention programs to prevent underage drinking. This section of the bill would provide $5 million for enhancement grants to the Drug Free Communities program to be directed at the problem of underage drinking. This title also would create a program which would provide competitive grants to states, non-profit entities, and institutions of higher education to create state-wide coalitions to prevent underage drinking. These grants will work to change the culture of underage drinking at our Nation's institutions of higher education and their surrounding communities. This program would be funded at $5 million annually, as well.

Finally, our bill contains a section devoted to research. This title would provide $6 million for increased federal research and data collection on underage drinking, including reporting on the types and brands of alcohol that kids use and the short-term and long-term impacts of underage drinking upon adolescent brain development.

Again, I thank Senator DODD for working with me on this issue here in the Senate, and I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues in the House and Senate to pass this very important bill.

I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the RECORD.

There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:

http://thomas.loc.gov