CONGRESSIONAL UPDATE

.08 BAC ISSUE GOES TO CONFERENCE (4/14/98)

House and Senate conferees will soon meet to reconcile the differences in the transportation legislation. This will include consideration of the .08 BAC drunk driving standard for all states.

BACKGROUND
Despite last week's loss in the House Rules Committee, the battle over .08 BAC continues. In March, the Senate included the .08 BAC drunk driving standard in their transportation bill, while the House bill, voted on in April, is silent on this issue. (See the April 2, 1998 Action Alert).

WHAT YOU CAN DO
To help make .08 BAC the national standard, contact members of the House-Senate conference committee on highway reauthorization before they meet to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the bill. If your Representative and/or Senators are conferees, call or write to them at their district offices (most members are home for spring recess) and urge support of the Senate's Lautenberg/DeWine amendment to make .08 BAC drunk driving standard for all states.

Senate Conferees
Wayne Allard (R-CO)
Max Baucus (D-MT)
*Christopher Bond (R-MO)
*Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
*John Chafee (R-RI)
Bob Graham (R-FL)
Tim Hutchinson (R-AR)
James Inhofe (R-OK)
Dirk Kempthorne (R-ID)
*Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)
*Joseph Lieberman (D-CT)
*Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY)
Harry Reid (D-NV)
Jeff Sessions (R-AL)
Robert Smith (R-NH)
Craig Thomas (R-WY)
*John Warner (R-VA)
*Ron Wyden (D-OR)

* indicates this member voted in favor of the .08 BAC amendment when it passed in the Senate 3/4/98. Encourage continued support for the amendment and express your appreciation for earlier support.
House Conferees
Richard Baker (R-LA)
Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY)
Robert Borski (D-PA)
James Clyburn (D-SC)
+Bob Filner (D-CA)
Tillie Fowler (R-FL)
+Steve Horn (R-CA)
Jay Kim (R-CA)
William Lipinski (D-IL)
+James McGovern (D-MA)
Jack Metcalf (R-WA)
Bob Ney (R-OH)
+James Oberstar (D-MN)
Thomas Petri (R-WI)
Nick Rahall (D-WV)
Bud Shuster (R-PA)
Robert Wise (D-WV)
Don Young (R-AK)

+ indicates this member cosponsored the originial bill that provides incentives for states to adopt .08 BAC. Encourage support for the Lautenberg/DeWine amendment and expressappreciation for earlier support of initiative.