[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 14 (Monday, April 6, 1998)]
[Pages 540-541]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Legislation Proposing a Uniform Standard Blood-Alcohol 
Level

March 30, 1998

    Although my trip to Africa precludes me from joining Congresswoman 
Nita Lowey, Congressman Charles Canady, and others gathered in the 
Roosevelt Room, I want to state once more my strong support for 
legislation to put the brakes on drunk driving.
    Setting a uniform limit for impaired driving at .08 blood alcohol 
content (BAC) will help us crack down on drunk driving nationwide. At a 
time when crime all across America is going down, we still lose an 
American to drunk driving every 30 minutes--every half hour a family is 
shattered, a child, a parent, a neighbor is lost forever.
    By establishing a strong but sensible limit on blood alcohol 
content, we could save as many as 600 lives a year. And a uniform drunk 
driving standard would still allow

[[Page 541]]

adults to drink responsibly and moderately--since the .08 BAC standard 
is not reached until a 170-pound man has had more than four drinks in an 
hour, and three for a typical woman.
    This should not be a partisan issue. Indeed, the bipartisan work of 
Congresswoman Lowey and Congressman Canady and Senators Lautenberg and 
DeWine, proves that when leaders from both parties come together, we can 
set aside political differences to save lives and serve America. It is 
my fervent hope that the majority of the House will join the large 
bipartisan majority in the Senate and send me legislation that will make 
our streets safe, our drivers sober, and our laws more sensible.