[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 41 (Thursday, March 8, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E280-E281]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           DUI REPORTING ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. STEVE COHEN

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 8, 2018

  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the DUI Reporting 
Act, a bill I introduced today with my colleague Steve Chabot

[[Page E281]]

along with the support of Mothers Against Drunk Driving and a 
bipartisan coalition of Representatives from across the United States.
  If enacted, it would address the loophole in our nation's drunken-
driving laws that enables repeat DUI offenders to be charged and tried; 
as first-time offenders because of inconsistent reporting.
  Currently, when police make a drunk driving arrest, they don't always 
have access to information about all of the driver's previous arrests 
for driving under the influence.
  The reason is because not all police report DUI arrests to either the 
National Crime Information Center, or ``NCIC'' for short, or the Next 
Generation Identification database, or ``NGI,'' which are the national 
crime databases that can be made instantly available to police right 
from their patrol cars.
  The consequences of this lack of reporting can prove tragic. Just a 
few years ago there was a terrible accident in northern Mississippi, 
just outside of my Congressional District. Two teenagers from Memphis 
were killed when the car they were driving was struck by a drunk driver 
who had accrued seven DUI charges since 2008 and had been allowed to 
plead guilty five times to a first-offense DUI.
  When the law enforcement officer ran the suspect's driving record in 
the national database, his past DUI convictions never showed up.
  This is shameful. A DUI somewhere should be recognized as a DUI 
anywhere. It should not matter where you were caught driving drunk. If 
you drive drunk, previous offenses should be recorded and penalties 
should increase so innocent lives can be saved.
  The accrual of multiple first-time DUI offenses is unconscionable and 
must be brought to an end.
  Our bill will save lives by enacting common-sense, bipartisan reforms 
to harmonize reporting standards for DUI offenses across the states.
  I urge my colleagues to help pass it quickly.

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