[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5415 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5415

 To designate the Memorial of Perpetual Tears, which honors victims of 
 driving while impaired, as the official National DWI Victims Memorial.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 26, 2010

 Mr. Heinrich (for himself, Mr. Lujan, and Mr. Teague) introduced the 
    following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural 
                               Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To designate the Memorial of Perpetual Tears, which honors victims of 
 driving while impaired, as the official National DWI Victims Memorial.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``National DWI Victims Memorial 
Designation Act of 2010''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Alcohol-impaired driving fatalities represent 
        approximately \1/3\ of all highway fatalities in the United 
        States each year.
            (2) In 2008, there were 11,773 alcohol-impaired driving 
        fatalities in the United States.
            (3) The Memorial of Perpetual Tears, located adjacent to 
        Interstate 40 in the City of Moriarty, New Mexico, opened in 
        November 2008 to honor the victims of Driving While Impaired 
        (hereinafter referred to as ``DWI'').
            (4) The mission of the Memorial of Perpetual Tears is to 
        raise awareness of the devastation caused by DWI crashes by 
        recognizing their victims, educating the public, and 
        encouraging preventive measures.
            (5) The Memorial of Perpetual Tears is the only memorial of 
        its kind in the United States.
            (6) The Memorial of Perpetual Tears is a visible statement 
        to the world expressing what words cannot by portraying 
        fatalities and injuries caused by DWI.
            (7) The Memorial of Perpetual Tears resembles a veterans' 
        cemetery with markers representing the most recent 5-year 
        period of deaths attributed to DWI in New Mexico.
            (8) The Memorial of Perpetual Tears includes a site 
        dedicated to victims of DWI nationwide.
            (9) The Memorial of Perpetual Tears gives recognition to 
        innocent victims of DWI nationwide by displaying Victim Tribute 
        books in the memorial visitor center. The Victim Tribute books 
        include stories and pictures submitted by injured victims and 
        family members of those killed in DWI crashes.
            (10) The Memorial of Perpetual Tears offers public 
        education on DWI prevention as well as national and local DWI 
        information to visitors.
            (11) The Memorial of Perpetual Tears is visible from 
        Interstate 40 and attracts visitors traveling on that major 
        Interstate Highway.
            (12) The Memorial of Perpetual Tears attracts visitors from 
        across the United States, many of whom make the Memorial of 
        Perpetual Tears the destination of their trip.
            (13) The City of Moriarty and the State of New Mexico 
        invite travelers on Interstate 40 and all Americans to visit 
        the Memorial of Perpetual Tears.
            (14) The Memorial of Perpetual Tears helps focus attention 
        on the need to eliminate DWI as a national priority.

SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF THE MEMORIAL OF PERPETUAL TEARS.

    (a) In General.--The Memorial of Perpetual Tears, located adjacent 
to Interstate 40 in the City of Moriarty, New Mexico, shall be known 
and designated as the ``National DWI Victims Memorial''.
    (b) References.--Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, 
record, or other paper of the United States to the memorial described 
in subsection (a) shall be considered to be a reference to the 
``National DWI Victims Memorial''.
                                 <all>