[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 31, Number 25 (Monday, June 26, 1995)]
[Pages 1094-1095]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Letter to Senator Robert Byrd on Proposed Drunk Driving Legislation

June 21, 1995

Dear Robert:

    Drinking and driving by young people is one of the nation's most 
serious threats to public health and public safety. I am deeply 
concerned about this ongoing tragedy that kills thousands of young 
people every year. It's against the law for young people to drink.

[[Page 1095]]

It should be against the law for young people to drink and drive.
    As you know, earlier this month, I called on Congress to make Zero 
Tolerance the law of the land. I support your amendment to the National 
Highway System Designation Act, which would achieve this goal.
    A decade ago, we decided as a nation that the minimum drinking age 
should be 21. In 1984, President Reagan signed bipartisan legislation to 
achieve this goal, and today all 50 states have enacted such laws. Our 
efforts are paying off--drunk driving deaths among people under 21 have 
been cut in half since 1984.
    But we must do more. Twenty-four states and the nation's capital 
have enacted Zero Tolerance laws that consider a driver under age 21 to 
be ``driving while impaired'' after just one full drink of alcohol. 
These laws work--alcohol-related crashes involving teenage drivers are 
down as much as 10-20 percent in those states. If all states had such 
laws, hundreds more lives could be saved and thousands of injuries could 
be prevented.
    I commend your efforts today, and I urge the Senate to pass your 
amendment.
    Sincerely,
                                                  Bill Clinton

Note: This letter was made available by the Office of the Press 
Secretary but was not issued as a White House press release.