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502. Reorganization plan
(a) Submission of plan
Not later than 180 days after the effective date of this Act, the President shall transmit to the appropriate congressional committees a reorganization plan regarding the following: (1) The transfer of agencies, personnel, assets, and obligations to the Administration pursuant to this Act. (2) Any consolidation, reorganization, or streamlining of agencies transferred to the Administration pursuant to this Act.
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(b) Plan elements
The plan transmitted under subsection (a) shall contain, consistent with this Act, such elements as the President determines appropriate, including the following: (1) Identification of any functions of agencies designated to be transferred to the Administration pursuant to this Act that will not be transferred to the Administration under the plan. (2) Specification of the steps to be taken by the Administrator to organize the Administration, including the delegation or assignment of functions transferred to the Administration among the officers of the Administration in order to permit the Administration to carry out the functions transferred under the plan.
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(3) Specification of the funds available to each agency that will be transferred to the Administration as a result of transfers under the plan. (4) Specification of the proposed allocations within the Administration of unexpended funds transferred in connection with transfers under the plan. (5) Specification of any proposed disposition of property, facilities, contracts, records, and other assets and obligations of agencies transferred under the plan. (6) Specification of the proposed allocations within the Administration of the functions of the agencies and subdivisions that are not related directly to ensuring the safety of food intended for human consumption.
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(c) Modification of plan
The President may, on the basis of consultations with the appropriate congressional committees, modify, or revise any part of the plan until that part of the plan becomes effective in accordance with subsection (d).
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(d) Effective date
(1) In general
The reorganization plan described in this section, including any modifications or revisions of the plan under subsection (c), shall become effective for an agency on the earlier of— (A) the date specified in the plan (or the plan as modified pursuant to subsection (c)), except that such date may not be earlier than 90 days after the date the President has transmitted the reorganization plan to the appropriate congressional committees pursuant to subsection (a); or (B) the end of the transition period.
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(2) Statutory construction
Nothing in this subsection may be construed to require the transfer of functions, personnel, records, balances of appropriations, or other assets of an agency on a single date. (3) Supercedes existing law
Paragraph (1) shall apply notwithstanding section 905(b) of title 5, United States Code. 503.
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Transitional authorities
(a) Provision of assistance by officials
Until the transfer of an agency to the Administration, any official having authority over or function relating to the agency immediately before the effective date of this Act shall provide the Administrator such assistance, including the use of personnel and assets, as the Administrator may request in preparing for the transfer and integration of the agency to the Administration. (b) Services and personnel
During the transition period, upon the request of the Administrator, the head of any executive agency may, on a reimbursable basis, provide services or detail personnel to assist with the transition.
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(c) Acting officials
(1) In general
During the transition period, pending the advice and consent of the Senate to the appointment of an officer required by this Act to be appointed by and with such advice and consent, the President may designate any officer whose appointment was required to be made by and with such advice and consent and who was such an officer immediately before the effective date of this Act (and who continues to be in office) or immediately before such designation, to act in such office until the same is filled as provided in this Act.
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(2) Compensation
While acting pursuant to paragraph (1), such officers shall receive compensation at the higher of— (A) the rates provided by this Act for the respective offices in which they act; or (B) the rates provided for the offices held at the time of designation. (3) Limitation
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to require the advice and consent of the Senate to the appointment by the President to a position in the Administration of any officer whose agency is transferred to the Administration pursuant to this Act and whose duties following such transfer are germane to those performed before such transfer.
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(d) Transfer of personnel, assets, obligations, and function
(1) In general
Consistent with section 1531 of title 31, United States Code, the personnel, assets, liabilities, contracts, property, records, and unexpended balances of appropriations, authorizations, allocations, and other funds that relate to the functions transferred under subsection (a) from a Federal agency shall be transferred to the Administration. (2) Unexpended funds
Unexpended funds transferred under this subsection shall be used by the Administration only for the purposes for which the funds were originally authorized and appropriated. 504.
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Savings provisions
(a) Completed administrative actions
The enactment of this Act or the transfer of functions under this Act shall not affect any order, determination, rule, regulation, permit, personnel action, agreement, grant, contract, certificate, license, registration, privilege, or other administrative action issued, made, granted, or otherwise in effect or final with respect to that agency on the day before the transfer date with respect to the transferred functions (b) Pending proceedings
Subject to the authority of the Administrator under this Act— (1) pending proceedings in an agency, including notices of proposed rulemaking, and applications for licenses, permits,
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certificates, grants, and financial assistance, shall continue notwithstanding the enactment of this Act or the transfer of the agency to the Administration, unless discontinued or modified under the same terms and conditions and to the same extent that such discontinuance could have occurred if such enactment or transfer had not occurred; and (2) orders issued in such proceedings, and appeals therefrom, and payments made pursuant to such orders, shall issue in the same manner on the same terms as if this Act had not been enacted or the agency had not been transferred, and any such order shall continue in effect until amended, modified, superceded, terminated,
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set aside, or revoked by an officer of the United States or a court of competent jurisdiction, or by operation of law. (c) Pending civil actions
Subject to the authority of the Administrator under this Act, any civil action commenced with regard to that agency pending before that agency on the day before the transfer date with respect to the transferred functions shall continue notwithstanding the enactment of this Act or the transfer of an agency to the Administration.
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(d) References
(1) In general
After the transfer of functions from a Federal agency under this Act, any reference in any other Federal law, Executive order, rule, regulation, directive, document, or other material to that Federal agency or the head of that agency in connection with the administration or enforcement of the food safety laws shall be deemed to be a reference to the Administration or the Administrator, respectively.
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(2) Statutory reporting requirements
Statutory reporting requirements that applied in relation to such an agency immediately before the effective date of this Act shall continue to apply following such transfer if they refer to the agency by name. 505. Conforming amendments
(a) Executive schedule
Section 5313 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting at the end the following new item: Administrator of Food Safety.. (b) Repeal of certain provisions
Section 18 of the Poultry Products Inspection Act ( 21 U.S.C.
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467 ), section 401 of the Federal Meat Inspection Act ( 21 U.S.C. 671 ), and section 18 of the Egg Products Inspection Act ( 21 U.S.C. 1047 ) are repealed. 506. Additional technical and conforming amendments
Not later than 60 days after the submission of the reorganization plan under section 502, the President shall prepare and submit proposed legislation to Congress containing necessary and appropriate technical and conforming amendments to the Acts listed in section 3(15) of this Act to reflect the changes made by this Act. 507.
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Regulations
The Administrator may promulgate such regulations as the Administrator determines are necessary or appropriate to perform the duties of the Administrator. 508. Authorization of appropriations
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out this Act. 509.
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Limitation on authorization of appropriations
For the fiscal year that includes the effective date of this Act, the amount authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act shall not exceed— (1) the amount appropriated for that fiscal year for the Federal agencies identified in section 102(b) for the purpose of administering or enforcing the food safety law; or (2) the amount appropriated for those agencies for that purpose for the preceding fiscal year, if, as of the effective date of this Act, appropriations for those agencies for the fiscal year that includes the effective date have not yet been made. 510.
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Effective date
This Act takes effect on the date of enactment of this Act.
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1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Justice and Understanding By IMF Loan Elimination and Equity Act of 2004 or the JUBILEE Act of 2004. 2. Findings
The Congress finds the following: (1) Many poor countries have been struggling under the burden of international debts for many years. (2) Many poor countries have debts that are odious because they were incurred by dictatorships that did not use the funds in ways that benefitted the population of the country.
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(3) The international Jubilee coalitions have been working to raise awareness of the needs of these impoverished countries for full debt cancellation. (4) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has imposed onerous structural adjustment requirements on many poor countries as a condition of past loans and of participation in debt relief programs. (5) Justice requires that debts owed by these countries to the IMF be cancelled. 3. Cancellation of debt owed to the IMF by eligible poor countries
Title XVI of the International Financial Institutions Act (22 U.S.C.
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262p–262p–8) is amended by adding at the end the following: 1626. Cancellation of debt owed to the IMF by eligible poor countries
(a) In general
(1) Cancellation of debt
In order to achieve multilateral debt cancellation and promote human and economic development and poverty alleviation in eligible poor countries, the Secretary of the Treasury shall commence immediate efforts, within the Paris Club of Official Creditors, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and other appropriate multilateral development institutions,
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to accomplish the following: (A) The IMF shall cancel all debts owed to the IMF by eligible poor countries, and finance the debt cancellation from ongoing operations, procedures, and accounts of the IMF established as of the end of the most recent fiscal year, including the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (formerly known as the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility or ESAF ). (B) Any waiting period before receiving debt cancellation shall not exceed 1 month from the date of an eligible poor country’s application for debt cancellation.
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(C) The government of each eligible poor country shall be encouraged to allocate at least 20 percent of its national budget, including the savings from the cancellation of debt owed by the country to the IMF, for the provision of basic health care services, education services, and clean water services to individuals in the country. In providing such services, the government should seek input from a broad cross-section of members of civil society.
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(2) Prohibition of privilege for imf credit
In order to ensure that the interests of the United States are fully protected and that the IMF does not have undue influence over the policies and finances of poor countries, the Secretary of the Treasury shall commence immediate efforts, within the Paris Club of Official Creditors, the IMF, and other appropriate multilateral development institutions, to ensure that the IMF does not require any country receiving new concessional loans to privilege the IMF as a creditor over the United States. (3) Establishment of framework for creditor transparency
In order to ensure that creditor activity is known and assessed by all stakeholders,
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the Secretary of the Treasury shall commence immediate efforts, within the Paris Club of Official Creditors, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and other appropriate multilateral development institutions, to ensure that each international financial institution (as defined in section 1701(c)(2))— (A) continues to make efforts to promote greater transparency regarding the activities of the institution, including project design, project monitoring and evaluation, project implementation, resource allocation, and decisionmaking; and (B) supports continued efforts to allow informed participation and input by affected communities, including translation of information on proposed projects, provision of information through information technology application,
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oral briefings, and outreach to and dialogue with community organizations and institutions in affected areas.
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(4) Availability on treasury department website of remarks of united states executive directors at meetings of international financial institutions boards of directors
The Secretary of the Treasury shall make available on the website of the Department of the Treasury the full record of the remarks of the United States Executive Director at meetings of the Board of Directors of each international financial institution and the International Monetary Fund, about cancellation or reduction of debts owed to the institution involved, with redaction by the Secretary of the Treasury of material deemed too sensitive for public distribution, but showing the topic, amount of material redacted, and reason for the redaction.
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(5) Report from the comptroller general
Within 90 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the Comptroller General of the United States shall prepare and submit to the Committee on Banking and Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate a report on the availability of the ongoing operations, procedures, and accounts of the IMF for canceling the debt of eligible poor countries.
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(6) Annual reports from the President
Not later than December 31 of each year, the President shall submit to the Committees on Banking and Financial Services, and on International Relations of the House of Representatives and the Committees on Foreign Relations and on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate a report, which shall be made available to the public, on the activities undertaken under this section, and other progress made in accomplishing the purposes of this section, for the prior fiscal year.
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The report shall include a list of the countries that have received debt cancellation, a list of the countries whose request for such debt cancellation has been denied and the reasons therefor, and a list of the countries whose requests for such debt cancellation are under consideration. (b) Promotion of equitable burden sharing
In order to promote equitable burden sharing by bilateral, multilateral, and private creditors, the Secretary of the Treasury shall commence immediate efforts to ensure that such creditors draw upon their own resources to finance debt reduction to the extent possible without diverting funds from other high-priority poverty alleviation programs.
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(c) Eligible poor country defined
In this section, the term eligible poor country means Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Kenya, Lao PDR, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Peru, Philippines, Republic of Congo,
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Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Vietnam, Yemen, and Zambia, but not if— (1) the government of the country has an excessive level of military expenditures; (2) the government of the country has repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism, as determined by the Secretary of State under section 6(j)(1) of the Export Administration Act of 1979 ( 50 U.S.C. App.
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2405(j)(1) ), or section 620A(a) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 ( 22 U.S.C. 2371(a) ); (3) the government of the country is failing to cooperate on international narcotics control matters; (4) the government of the country (including its military or other security forces) engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights; or (5) in the case of Haiti, the government of the country has not been elected through free and fair elections.. 1626.
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Cancellation of debt owed to the IMF by eligible poor countries
(a) In general
(1) Cancellation of debt
In order to achieve multilateral debt cancellation and promote human and economic development and poverty alleviation in eligible poor countries, the Secretary of the Treasury shall commence immediate efforts, within the Paris Club of Official Creditors, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and other appropriate multilateral development institutions, to accomplish the following: (A) The IMF shall cancel all debts owed to the IMF by eligible poor countries, and finance the debt cancellation from ongoing operations, procedures,
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and accounts of the IMF established as of the end of the most recent fiscal year, including the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (formerly known as the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility or ESAF ). (B) Any waiting period before receiving debt cancellation shall not exceed 1 month from the date of an eligible poor country’s application for debt cancellation.
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(C) The government of each eligible poor country shall be encouraged to allocate at least 20 percent of its national budget, including the savings from the cancellation of debt owed by the country to the IMF, for the provision of basic health care services, education services, and clean water services to individuals in the country. In providing such services, the government should seek input from a broad cross-section of members of civil society.
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(2) Prohibition of privilege for imf credit
In order to ensure that the interests of the United States are fully protected and that the IMF does not have undue influence over the policies and finances of poor countries, the Secretary of the Treasury shall commence immediate efforts, within the Paris Club of Official Creditors, the IMF, and other appropriate multilateral development institutions, to ensure that the IMF does not require any country receiving new concessional loans to privilege the IMF as a creditor over the United States. (3) Establishment of framework for creditor transparency
In order to ensure that creditor activity is known and assessed by all stakeholders,
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the Secretary of the Treasury shall commence immediate efforts, within the Paris Club of Official Creditors, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and other appropriate multilateral development institutions, to ensure that each international financial institution (as defined in section 1701(c)(2))— (A) continues to make efforts to promote greater transparency regarding the activities of the institution, including project design, project monitoring and evaluation, project implementation, resource allocation, and decisionmaking; and (B) supports continued efforts to allow informed participation and input by affected communities, including translation of information on proposed projects, provision of information through information technology application,
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oral briefings, and outreach to and dialogue with community organizations and institutions in affected areas.
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(4) Availability on treasury department website of remarks of united states executive directors at meetings of international financial institutions boards of directors
The Secretary of the Treasury shall make available on the website of the Department of the Treasury the full record of the remarks of the United States Executive Director at meetings of the Board of Directors of each international financial institution and the International Monetary Fund, about cancellation or reduction of debts owed to the institution involved, with redaction by the Secretary of the Treasury of material deemed too sensitive for public distribution, but showing the topic, amount of material redacted, and reason for the redaction.
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(5) Report from the comptroller general
Within 90 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the Comptroller General of the United States shall prepare and submit to the Committee on Banking and Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate a report on the availability of the ongoing operations, procedures, and accounts of the IMF for canceling the debt of eligible poor countries.
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(6) Annual reports from the President
Not later than December 31 of each year, the President shall submit to the Committees on Banking and Financial Services, and on International Relations of the House of Representatives and the Committees on Foreign Relations and on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate a report, which shall be made available to the public, on the activities undertaken under this section, and other progress made in accomplishing the purposes of this section, for the prior fiscal year.
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The report shall include a list of the countries that have received debt cancellation, a list of the countries whose request for such debt cancellation has been denied and the reasons therefor, and a list of the countries whose requests for such debt cancellation are under consideration. (b) Promotion of equitable burden sharing
In order to promote equitable burden sharing by bilateral, multilateral, and private creditors, the Secretary of the Treasury shall commence immediate efforts to ensure that such creditors draw upon their own resources to finance debt reduction to the extent possible without diverting funds from other high-priority poverty alleviation programs.
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(c) Eligible poor country defined
In this section, the term eligible poor country means Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Kenya, Lao PDR, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Peru, Philippines, Republic of Congo,
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Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Vietnam, Yemen, and Zambia, but not if— (1) the government of the country has an excessive level of military expenditures; (2) the government of the country has repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism, as determined by the Secretary of State under section 6(j)(1) of the Export Administration Act of 1979 ( 50 U.S.C. App.
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2405(j)(1) ), or section 620A(a) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 ( 22 U.S.C. 2371(a) ); (3) the government of the country is failing to cooperate on international narcotics control matters; (4) the government of the country (including its military or other security forces) engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights; or (5) in the case of Haiti, the government of the country has not been elected through free and fair elections. 4.
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Prohibition of structural adjustment programs
Title XVI of the International Financial Institutions Act (22 U.S.C. 262p–262p–8) is further amended by adding at the end the following: 1627. Prohibition of structural adjustment programs
(a) Prohibition of structural adjustment conditions
In order to promote human and economic development and poverty alleviation in eligible poor countries (as defined in section 1626(c)), the Secretary of the Treasury shall commence immediate efforts within the Paris Club of Official Creditors, as well as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), the International Monetary Fund (IMF),
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and other appropriate multilateral development institutions, to ensure that the provision of debt cancellation to the countries is not conditioned on any agreement by such a country to implement or comply with policies that deepen poverty or degrade the environment, including any policy that— (1) implements or extends user fees on primary education or primary health care, including prevention and treatment efforts for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and infant, child, and maternal well-being; (2) provides for increased cost recovery from poor people to finance basic public services such as education, health care, or sanitation;
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(3) would have the effect of increasing the cost to consumers with incomes of less than $2 per day for access to clean drinking water through— (A) decreased public subsidy for water supply, treatment, disposal, distribution, or management; (B) reduced intrasectoral or intersectoral subsidization of residential water consumers with incomes of less than $2 per day; (C) reduced government ability to regulate; or (D) mandated privatization of water; or (4) undermines workers’ ability to exercise effectively their internationally recognized worker rights, as defined under section 526(e) of the Foreign Operations,
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Export Financing and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1995 ( 22 U.S.C. 262p–4p ).
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(b) Annual reports to the Congress
Not later than December 31 of each year, the President shall submit to the Committees on Banking and Financial Services and on International Relations of the House of Representatives and the Committees on Foreign Relations and on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate a report, which shall be made available to the public, on the activities undertaken under this section, and other progress made in accomplishing the purposes of this section, for the prior fiscal year.. 1627. Prohibition of structural adjustment programs 5.
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Conditional ban on providing funds to the IMF
(a) In General
None of the funds appropriated in any Act may be obligated or made available to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) unless— (1) the IMF has cancelled all debts owed to it by eligible poor countries as described in section 1626(a)(1) of the International Financial Institutions Act; (2) the IMF has terminated its involvement in the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility and any other program to condition debt relief on implementation of structural adjustment;
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and (3) the Secretary of the Treasury has certified to the Congress that the conditions referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection have been met. (b) Limitation
Subsection (a) shall not apply to any funds appropriated to provide debt relief to poor countries.
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1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Patriotic Employer Act of 2004. 2. Requirement for employers to post notice of rights and duties under USERRA
(a) Notice
Chapter 43 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 4334.
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Notice of rights and duties
(a) Requirement to post notice
Each employer shall post in a conspicuous place in the place of employment for persons entitled to rights and benefits under this chapter a notice of the rights, benefits, and obligations of such persons and such employers under this chapter. (b) Content of notice
The Secretary shall provide to employers the text of the notice to be provided under this section.. (b) Clerical amendment
The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding at the end the following new item: 4334. Notice of rights and duties.
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(c) Implementation
(1) Not later than the date that is 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall make available to employers the notice required under section 4334 of title 38, United States Code, as added by subsection (a). (2) The amendments made by this section shall apply to employers under chapter 43 of such title on and after the first date referred to in paragraph (1). 4334.
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Notice of rights and duties
(a) Requirement to post notice
Each employer shall post in a conspicuous place in the place of employment for persons entitled to rights and benefits under this chapter a notice of the rights, benefits, and obligations of such persons and such employers under this chapter. (b) Content of notice
The Secretary shall provide to employers the text of the notice to be provided under this section.
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1. Indemnification extension
Section 70113(f) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking December 31, 2004. and inserting December 31, 2009.. 2. Study
Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall enter into an arrangement with a nonprofit entity for the conduct of an independent comprehensive study of the liability risk sharing regime in the United States for commercial space transportation under section 70113 of title 49, United States Code.
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To ensure that Congress has a full analysis of the liability risk sharing regime, the study shall assess methods by which the current system could be eliminated, including an estimate of the time required to implement each of the methods assessed. The study shall assess whether any alternative steps would be needed to maintain a viable and competitive United States space transportation industry if the current regime were eliminated. In conducting the assessment under this section, input from commercial space transportation insurance experts shall be sought.
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The study also shall examine liability risk sharing in other nations with commercial launch capability and evaluate the direct and indirect impact that ending this regime would have on the competitiveness of the United States commercial space launch industry in relation to foreign commercial launch providers and on United States assured access to space.
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1. Short title; table of contents
(a) Short title
This Act may be cited as the Sober Truth on Preventing Underage Drinking Act , or the STOP Underage Drinking Act. (b) Table of contents
The table of contents for this Act is as follows: Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents Sec. 2. Findings Sec. 3. Definitions Title I—Sense of Congress Sec. 101. Sense of Congress Title II—Interagency coordinating committee; annual report card Sec. 201.
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Establishment of interagency coordinating committee to prevent underage drinking Sec. 202. Annual report card Sec. 203. Authorization of appropriations Title III—National media campaign Sec. 301. National media campaign to prevent underage drinking Title IV—Interventions Sec. 401. Community-based coalition enhancement grants to prevent underage drinking Sec. 402. Grants directed at reducing higher-education alcohol abuse Title V—Additional research Sec. 501. Additional research on underage drinking Sec. 502. Authorization of appropriations 2.
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Findings
The Congress finds as follows: (1) Drinking alcohol under the age of 21 is illegal in each of the 50 States and the District of Columbia. Enforcement of current laws and regulations in States and communities, such as minimum age drinking laws, zero tolerance laws, and laws and regulations which restrict availability of alcohol, must supplement other efforts to reduce underage drinking.
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(2) Data collected annually by the Department of Health and Human Services shows that alcohol is the most heavily used drug by children in the United States, and that— (A) more youths consume alcoholic beverages than use tobacco products or illegal drugs; (B) by the end of the eighth grade, 45.6 percent of children have engaged in alcohol use, and by the end of high school, 76.6 percent have done so; and (C) the annual societal cost of underage drinking is estimated at $53 to $58 billion.
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(3) Data collected by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Transportation indicate that alcohol use by youth has many negative consequences, such as immediate risk from acute impairment; traffic fatalities; violence; suicide; and unprotected sex. (4) Research confirms that the harm caused by underage drinking lasts beyond the underage years.
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Compared to persons who wait until age 21 or older to start drinking, those who start to drink before age 14 are, as adults, four times more likely to become alcohol dependent; seven times more likely to be in a motor vehicle crash because of drinking; and more likely to suffer mental and physical damage from alcohol abuse. (5) Alcohol abuse creates long-term risk developmentally and is associated with negative physical impacts on the brain. (6) Research indicates that adults greatly underestimate the extent of alcohol use by youths, its negative consequences, and its use by their own children.
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The IOM report concluded that underage drinking cannot be successfully addressed by focusing on youth alone. Ultimately, adults are responsible for young people obtaining alcohol by selling, providing, or otherwise making it available to them. Parents are the most important channel of influence on their children’s underage drinking, according to the IOM report, which also recommends a national adult-oriented media campaign. (7) Research shows that public service health messages, in combination with community-based efforts, can reduce health-damaging behavior.
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The Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council have undertaken a public health campaign targeted at parents to combat underage alcohol consumption. The Ad Council estimates that, for a typical public health campaign, it receives an average of $28 million per year in free media through its 28,000 media outlets nationwide. (8) A significant percentage of the total alcohol consumption in the United States each year is by underage youth. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reports that the percentage is over 11 percent. (9) Youth are exposed to a significant amount of alcohol advertising through a variety of media.
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Some studies indicate that youth awareness of alcohol advertising correlates to their drinking behavior and beliefs. (10) According to the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth, in 2002, the alcoholic beverage industry spent $990.2 million on product advertising on television, and $10 million on television advertising designed to promote the responsible use of alcohol. For every one television ad discouraging underage alcohol use, there were 609 product ads. (11) Alcohol use occurs in 76 percent of movies rated G or PG and 97 percent of movies rated PG-13.
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The Federal Trade Commission has recommended restricting paid alcohol beverage promotional placements to films rated R or NC-17. (12) Youth spend 9 to 11 hours per week listening to music, and 17 percent of all lyrics contain alcohol references; 30 percent of those songs include brand-name mentions. (13) Studies show that adolescents watch 20 to 27 hours of television each week, and 71 percent of prime-time television episodes depict alcohol use and 77 percent contain some reference to alcohol. (14) College and university presidents have cited alcohol abuse as the number one health problem on college and university campuses.
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(15) According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, two of five college students are binge drinkers; 1,400 college students die each year from alcohol-related injuries, a majority of which involve motor vehicle crashes; more than 70,000 students are victims of alcohol-related sexual assault; and 500,000 students are injured under the influence of alcohol each year.
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(16) According to the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth, in 2002, alcohol producers spent a total of $58 million to place 6,251 commercials in college sports programs, and spent $27.7 million advertising during the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, which had as many alcohol ads (939) as the Super Bowl, World Series, College Bowl Games and the National Football League’s Monday Night Football broadcasts combined (925). (17) The IOM report recommended that colleges and universities ban alcohol advertising and promotion on campus in order to demonstrate their commitment to discouraging alcohol use among underage students.
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(18) According to the Government Accountability Office ( GAO ), the Federal Government spends $1.8 billion annually to combat youth drug use and $71 million to prevent underage alcohol use. (19) The GAO concluded that there is a lack of reporting about how these funds are specifically expended, inadequate collaboration among the agencies, and no central coordinating group or office to oversee how the funds are expended or to determine the effectiveness of these efforts.
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(20) There are at least three major, annual, government funded national surveys in the United States that include underage drinking data: the National Household Survey on Drug Use and Health, Monitoring the Future, and the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. These surveys do not use common indicators to allow for direct comparison of youth alcohol consumption patterns. Analyses of recent years’ data do, however, show similar results.
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(21) Research shows that school-based and community-based interventions can reduce underage drinking and associated problems, and that positive outcomes can be achieved by combining environmental and institutional change with theory-based health education—a comprehensive, community-based approach. (22) Studies show that a minority of youth who need treatment for their alcohol problems receive such services. Further, insufficient information exists to properly assist clinicians and other providers in their youth treatment efforts. 3.
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Definitions
For purposes of this Act: (1) The term binge drinking means a pattern of drinking alcohol that brings blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08 gm percent or above. For the typical adult, this pattern corresponds to consuming 5 or more drinks (male), or 4 or more drinks (female), in about 2 hours. (2) The term heavy drinking means five or more drinks on the same occasion in the past 30 days. (3) The term frequent heavy drinking means five or more drinks on at least five occasions in the last 30 days.
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(4) The term alcoholic beverage industry means the brewers, vintners, distillers, importers, distributors, and retail outlets that sell and serve beer, wine, and distilled spirits. (5) The term school-based prevention means programs, which are institutionalized, and run by staff members or school-designated persons or organizations in every grade of school, kindergarten through 12th grade. (6) The term youth means persons under the age of 21.
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(7) The term IOM report means the report released in September 2003 by the National Research Council, Institute of Medicine, and entitled Reducing Underage Drinking: A Collective Responsibility. 101. Sense of Congress
It is the sense of the Congress that: (1) A multi-faceted effort is needed to more successfully address the problem of underage drinking in the United States. A coordinated approach to prevention, intervention, treatment, and research is key to making progress. This Act recognizes the need for a focused national effort, and addresses particulars of the Federal portion of that effort.
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(2) States and communities, including colleges and universities, are encouraged to adopt comprehensive prevention approaches, including— (A) evidence-based screening, programs and curricula; (B) brief intervention strategies; (C) consistent policy enforcement; and (D) environmental changes that limit underage access to alcohol. (3) Public health and consumer groups have played an important role in drawing the Nation’s attention to the health crisis of underage drinking. Working at the Federal, State, and community levels, and motivated by grass-roots support, they have initiated effective prevention programs that have made significant progress in the battle against underage drinking.
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(4) The alcohol beverage industry has developed and paid for national education and awareness messages on illegal underage drinking directed to parents as well as consumers generally. According to the industry, it has also supported the training of more than 1.6 million retail employees, community-based prevention programs, point of sale education, and enforcement programs. All of these efforts are aimed at further reducing illegal underage drinking and preventing sales of alcohol to persons under the age of 21.
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All sectors of the alcohol beverage industry have also voluntarily committed to placing advertisements in broadcasts and magazines where at least 70 percent of the audiences are expected to be 21 years of age or older. The industry should continue to monitor and tailor its advertising practices to further limit underage exposure, including the use of independent third party review. The industry should continue and expand evidence-based efforts to prevent underage drinking. (5) Public health and consumer groups, in collaboration with the alcohol beverage industry, should explore opportunities to reduce underage drinking.
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(6) The entertainment industries have a powerful impact on youth, and they should use rating systems and marketing codes to reduce the likelihood that underage audiences will be exposed to movies, recordings, or television programs with unsuitable alcohol content, even if adults are expected to predominate in the viewing or listening audiences. (7) Objective scientific evidence and data should be generated and made available to the general public and policy makers at the local, state, and national levels to help them make informed decisions, implement judicious policies, and monitor progress in preventing childhood/adolescent alcohol use.
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(8) The National Collegiate Athletic Association, its member colleges and universities, and athletic conferences should affirm a commitment to a policy of discouraging alcohol use among underage students and other young fans by ending all alcohol advertising during radio and television broadcasts of collegiate sporting events. 201. Establishment of interagency coordinating committee to prevent underage drinking
(a) In general
The Secretary of Health and Human Services, in collaboration with the Federal officials specified in subsection (b), shall establish an interagency coordinating committee focusing on underage drinking (referred to in this section as the Committee ).
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(b) Other agencies
The officials referred to in subsection (a) are the Secretary of Education, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, the Surgeon General, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the Administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families, the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,
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the Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, and such other Federal officials as the Secretary of Health and Human Services determines to be appropriate. (c) Chair
The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall serve as the chair of the Committee. (d) Duties
The Committee shall guide policy and program development across the Federal Government with respect to underage drinking.
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(e) Consultations
The Committee shall actively seek the input of and shall consult with all appropriate and interested parties, including public health research and interest groups, foundations, and alcohol beverage industry trade associations and companies.
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(f) Annual report
(1) In general
The Secretary of Health and Human Services, on behalf of the Committee, shall annually submit to the Congress a report that summarizes— (A) all programs and policies of Federal agencies designed to prevent underage drinking; (B) the extent of progress in reducing underage drinking nationally; (C) data that the Secretary shall collect with respect to the information specified in paragraph (2); and (D) such other information regarding underage drinking as the Secretary determines to be appropriate.
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(2) Certain information
The report under paragraph (1) shall include information on the following: (A) Patterns and consequences of underage drinking. (B) Measures of the availability of alcohol to underage populations and the exposure of this population to messages regarding alcohol in advertising and the entertainment media. (C) Surveillance data, including information on the onset and prevalence of underage drinking. (D) Any additional findings resulting from research conducted or supported under section 501. (E) Evidence-based best practices to both prevent underage drinking and provide treatment services to those youth who need them. 202.
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Annual report card
(a) In general
The Secretary of Health and Human Services (referred to in this section as the Secretary ) shall, with input and collaboration from other appropriate Federal agencies, States, Indian tribes, territories, and public health, consumer, and alcohol beverage industry groups, annually issue a report card to accurately rate the performance of each state in enacting, enforcing, and creating laws, regulations, and programs to prevent or reduce underage drinking. The report card shall include ratings on outcome measures for categories related to the prevalence of underage drinking in each State.
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(b) Outcome measures
(1) In general
The Secretary shall develop, in consultation with the Committee established in section 201, a set of outcome measures to be used in preparing the report card. (2) Categories
In developing the outcome measures, the Secretary shall develop measures for categories related to the following: (A) The degree of strictness of the minimum drinking age laws and dram shop liability statutes in each State. (B) The number of compliance checks within alcohol retail outlets conducted measured against the number of total alcohol retail outlets in each State, and the results of such checks.
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(C) Whether or not the State mandates or otherwise provides training on the proper selling and serving of alcohol for all sellers and servers of alcohol as a condition of employment. (D) Whether or not the State has policies and regulations with regard to Internet sales and home delivery of alcoholic beverages. (E) The number of adults in the State targeted by State programs to deter adults from purchasing alcohol for minors. (F) The number of youths, parents, and caregivers who are targeted by State programs designed to deter underage drinking. (G) Whether or not the State has enacted graduated drivers licenses and the extent of those provisions.
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(H) The amount that the State invests, per youth capita, on the prevention of underage drinking, further broken down by the amount spent on— (i) compliance check programs in retail outlets, including providing technology to prevent and detect the use of false identification by minors to make alcohol purchases; (ii) checkpoints; (iii) community-based, school-based, and higher-education-based programs to prevent underage drinking; (iv) underage drinking prevention programs that target youth within the juvenile justice and child welfare systems; and (v) other State efforts or programs as deemed appropriate. 203.
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Authorization of appropriations
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this title $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2005, and such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2006 through 2009. 301. National media campaign to prevent underage drinking
(a) Scope of the campaign
The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall continue to fund and oversee the production, broadcasting, and evaluation of the Ad Council’s national adult-oriented media public service campaign.
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(b) Report
The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall provide a report to the Congress annually detailing the production, broadcasting, and evaluation of the campaign referred to in subsection (a), and to detail in the report the effectiveness of the campaign in reducing underage drinking, the need for and likely effectiveness of an expanded adult-oriented media campaign, and the feasibility and the likely effectiveness of a national youth-focused media campaign to combat underage drinking.
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(c) Consultation requirement
In carrying out the media campaign, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall direct the Ad Council to consult with interested parties including both the alcohol beverage industry and public health and consumer groups. The progress of this consultative process is to be covered in the report under subsection (b). (d) Authorization of appropriations
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, $1,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2005 and 2006, and such sums as may be necessary for each subsequent fiscal year. 401.
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Community-based coalition enhancement grants to prevent underage drinking
(a) Authorization of program
The Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy shall award enhancement grants to eligible entities to design, test, evaluate and disseminate strategies to maximize the effectiveness of community-wide approaches to preventing and reducing underage drinking. (b) Purposes
The purposes of this section are, in conjunction with the Drug-Free Communities Act of 1997 ( 21 U.S.C. 1521 et seq. ), to— (1) reduce alcohol use among youth in communities throughout the United States; (2) strengthen collaboration among communities, the Federal Government,
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and State, local, and tribal governments; (3) enhance intergovernmental cooperation and coordination on the issue of alcohol use among youth; (4) serve as a catalyst for increased citizen participation and greater collaboration among all sectors and organizations of a community that first demonstrates a long-term commitment to reducing alcohol use among youth; (5) disseminate to communities timely information regarding state-of-the-art practices and initiatives that have proven to be effective in reducing alcohol use among youth; and (6) enhance, not supplant, local community initiatives for reducing alcohol use among youth.
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(c) Application
An eligible entity desiring an enhancement grant under this section shall submit an application to the Director at such time, and in such manner, and accompanied by such information as the Director may require. Each application shall include— (1) a complete description of the entity’s current underage alcohol use prevention initiatives and how the grant will appropriately enhance the focus on underage drinking issues; or (2) a complete description of the entity’s current initiatives, and how it will use this grant to enhance those initiatives by adding a focus on underage drinking prevention.
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(d) Uses of funds
Each eligible entity that receives a grant under this section shall use the grant funds to carry out the activities described in such entity’s application submitted pursuant to subsection (c). Grants under this section shall not exceed $50,000 per year, and may be awarded for each year the entity is funded as per subsection (f). (e) Supplement not supplant
Grant funds provided under this section shall be used to supplement, not supplant, Federal and non-Federal funds available for carrying out the activities described in this section.
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