[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 24 (Monday, June 19, 2000)]
[Pages 1356-1357]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Senate Action on a National Blood Alcohol Content Standard 
To Combat Drunk Driving

June 13, 2000

    I applaud the Senate Appropriations Committee for passing an 
important amendment that will help put the brakes on drunk driving 
across the country. I strongly support Senator Lautenberg's amendment 
that would help create a national standard for impaired driving of .08 
blood alcohol content (BAC). This is a reasonable, commonsense standard 
that could save an estimated 500 lives a year, while still permitting 
adults to drink responsibly and moderately.
    Together, we have made great progress on reducing drunk driving in 
America. In 1999 the number of people killed in alcohol-related crashes 
hit a record low. But we still lose far too many American lives to drunk 
drivers: one American is killed in an alcohol-related crash every 33 
minutes. Over 15,700 Americans lost their lives in alcohol-related 
crashes in 1999 alone. We simply must do more.
    Senator Lautenberg's .08 BAC legislation will help build on our 
efforts to keep drunk drivers off our streets. I commend Senator 
Lautenberg for his continued leadership in this area, and Transportation 
Subcommittee Chairman Shelby for including this bipartisan, life-saving 
amendment in the FY 2001 Transportation Appropriations bill that passed 
in the full Appropriations Committee today. I urge the Congress to act 
quickly to pass this legislation to save more lives by making .08 BAC 
the legal limit across the country and without further delay.

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