[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 10]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 14010]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      HONORING THE STATE OF HAWAII FOR COMBATING UNDERAGE DRINKING

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. NEIL ABERCROMBIE

                               of hawaii

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 11, 2006

  Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend the Hawaii 
State Legislature for increasing penalties for adults who supply 
alcohol to persons under the legal drinking age of 21. I believe this 
is one important step toward attacking the supply chain that fuels the 
national problem of underage drinking.
  According to authorities, adults are by far the main source of 
alcohol for underage drinkers. A report to Congress by the National 
Academy of Sciences identified friends and adult purchasers as the most 
frequent sources of alcohol among college students and older 
adolescents. Family members were cited as the most frequent source for 
younger adolescents. The Century Council, a not-for-profit educational 
organization dedicated to fighting drunk driving and underage drinking, 
found that 65 percent of underage drinkers get their alcohol from 
family and adult friends.
  Hawaii's new law is among 7 bills that have passed into law and 
nearly 20 that have been introduced in States throughout our great 
Nation that link underage drinking and providing alcohol to those under 
21 with a penalty relating to the revocation of driving privileges for 
the offender. Diageo, a large beverage alcohol company, in an example 
of enlightened corporate citizenship, is among the firms that have led 
the effort to move this type of legislation in state legislatures 
throughout the country. As such, many have referred to bills like 
Hawaii's new law as a ``Diageo Bill.''
  The American Legislative Exchange Council has made the ``Diageo 
Bill'' one of their model pieces of legislation for 2006. I urge all 
States to pass this type of measure.
  While only one piece of this important puzzle, the State of Hawaii 
along with the people at Diageo and those of similarly committed 
companies should be commended for being a leader in the fight against 
underage drinking.

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