II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1005

To amend title 23, United States Code, to provide for national minimum

sentences for individuals convicted of operating motor vehicles under

the influence of alcohol.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 11, 1999

Mr. LAUTENBERG introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

A BILL

To amend title 23, United States Code, to provide for national minimum sentences for individuals convicted of

operating motor vehicles under the influence of alcohol.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Deadly Driver Reduc5 tion Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. NATIONAL MINIMUM SENTENCES FOR INDIVIDUALS

2 CONVICTED OF OPERATING MOTOR VEHI3 CLES WHILE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF AL4 COHOL.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 164 of title 23, United

6 States Code, is amended to read as follows:

7 ‘‘§ 164. National minimum sentences for individuals

8 convicted of operating motor vehicles

9 while under the influence of alcohol

10 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

11 ‘‘(1) BLOOD ALCOHOL CONCENTRATION.—The

12 term ‘blood alcohol concentration’ means grams of

13 alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood or grams of alco14 hol per 210 liters of breath.

15 ‘‘(2) DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE.—The

16 term ‘driving under the influence’ means operating

17 a motor vehicle while having a blood alcohol con18 centration above the limit established by the State in

19 which the motor vehicle is operated.

20 ‘‘(3) MOTOR VEHICLE.—The term ‘motor vehi21 cle’ means a vehicle driven or drawn by mechanical

22 power and manufactured primarily for use on public

23 highways, but does not include a vehicle operated

24 solely on a rail line or a commercial vehicle.
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1 ‘‘(4) OPERATE.—The term ‘operate’, with re2 spect to a motor vehicle, means to drive or be in ac3 tual physical control of the motor vehicle.

4 ‘‘(b) WITHHOLDING OF APPORTIONMENTS FOR NON5 COMPLIANCE.—

6 ‘‘(1) FISCAL YEAR 2003.—The Secretary shall

7 withhold 5 percent of the amount required to be ap8 portioned to any State under each of paragraphs

9 (1), (3), and (4) of section 104(b) on October 1,

10 2002, if the State does not meet the requirements

11 of paragraph (3) on that date.

12 ‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT FISCAL YEARS.—The Sec13 retary shall withhold 10 percent (including any

14 amounts withheld under paragraph (1)) of the

15 amount required to be apportioned to any State

16 under each of paragraphs (1), (3), and (4) of section

17 104(b) on October 1, 2003, and on October 1 of

18 each fiscal year thereafter, if the State does not

19 meet the requirements of paragraph (3) on that

20 date.

21 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.—

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A State meets the re23 quirements of this paragraph if the State has

24 enacted and is enforcing a law that provides for
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1 a minimum sentence consistent with the fol2 lowing and with subparagraph (B):

3 ‘‘(i) Except as provided in clause (ii),

4 in the case of the first conviction of an in5 dividual for driving under the influence, a

6 sentence requiring—

7 ‘‘(I) revocation of the individual’s

8 driver’s license for 6 months;

9 ‘‘(II) payment of a $500 fine by

10 the individual; and

11 ‘‘(III)(aa) an assessment of the

12 individual’s degree of alcohol abuse;

13 and

14 ‘‘(bb) appropriate treatment.

15 ‘‘(ii) In the case of the first conviction

16 of an individual for operating a motor vehi17 cle with a blood alcohol concentration of

18 .16 or greater, a sentence requiring—

19 ‘‘(I) revocation of the individual’s

20 driver’s license for 6 months, or for 2

21 years if, at the time of arrest, the in22 dividual refused to take a breath test

23 to determine the individual’s blood al24 cohol concentration;
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1 ‘‘(II) imposition of a requirement

2 on the individual prohibiting the indi3 vidual from operating a motor vehicle

4 with a blood alcohol concentration of

5 .05 or greater for 5 years;

6 ‘‘(III) impoundment or immo7 bilization of the individual’s motor ve8 hicle for 30 days;

9 ‘‘(IV) imposition of a require10 ment on the individual requiring the

11 installation of an ignition interlock

12 system on the individual’s motor vehi13 cle for 180 days;

14 ‘‘(V) payment of a $750 fine by

15 the individual;

16 ‘‘(VI) 10 days of imprisonment

17 of, or 60 days of community service

18 by, the individual; and

19 ‘‘(VII)(aa) an assessment of the

20 individual’s degree of alcohol abuse;

21 and

22 ‘‘(bb) appropriate treatment.

23 ‘‘(iii) Except as provided in clause

24 (iv), in the case of the second conviction of
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1 an individual for driving under the influ2 ence, a sentence requiring—

3 ‘‘(I) revocation of the individual’s

4 driver’s license for 1 year, or for 2

5 years if, at the time of arrest, the in6 dividual refused to take a breath test

7 to determine the individual’s blood al8 cohol concentration;

9 ‘‘(II) imposition of a requirement

10 on the individual prohibiting the indi11 vidual from operating a motor vehicle

12 with a blood alcohol concentration of

13 .05 or greater for 5 years;

14 ‘‘(III) impoundment or immo15 bilization of the individual’s motor ve16 hicle for 60 days;

17 ‘‘(IV) imposition of a require18 ment on the individual requiring the

19 installation of an ignition interlock

20 system on the individual’s motor vehi21 cle for 1 year;

22 ‘‘(V) payment of a $1,000 fine by

23 the individual;
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1 ‘‘(VI) 10 days of imprisonment

2 of, or 60 days of community service

3 by, the individual; and

4 ‘‘(VII)(aa) an assessment of the

5 individual’s degree of alcohol abuse;

6 and

7 ‘‘(bb) appropriate treatment.

8 ‘‘(iv) In the case of the third or subse9 quent conviction of an individual for driv10 ing under the influence, or in the case of

11 a second such conviction if the individual’s

12 first such conviction was a conviction de13 scribed in clause (ii), a sentence requiring

14 permanent revocation of the individual’s

15 driver’s license.

16 ‘‘(B) REVOCATIONS.—A revocation of a

17 driver’s license under subparagraph (A) shall

18 not be subject to any exception or condition, in19 cluding an exception or condition to avoid hard20 ship to any individual.

21 ‘‘(c) PERIOD OF AVAILABILITY; EFFECT OF COMPLI22 ANCE AND NONCOMPLIANCE.—

23 ‘‘(1) PERIOD OF AVAILABILITY OF WITHHELD

24 FUNDS.—
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1 ‘‘(A) FUNDS WITHHELD ON OR BEFORE

2 SEPTEMBER 30, 2004.—Any funds withheld

3 under subsection (b) from apportionment to any

4 State on or before September 30, 2004, shall

5 remain available until the end of the third fiscal

6 year following the fiscal year for which the

7 funds are authorized to be appropriated.

8 ‘‘(B) FUNDS WITHHELD AFTER SEP9 TEMBER 30, 2004.—No funds withheld under

10 this section from apportionment to any State

11 after September 30, 2004, shall be available for

12 apportionment to the State.

13 ‘‘(2) APPORTIONMENT OF WITHHELD FUNDS

14 AFTER COMPLIANCE.—If, before the last day of the

15 period for which funds withheld under subsection (b)

16 from apportionment are to remain available for ap17 portionment to a State under paragraph (1)(A), the

18 State meets the requirements of subsection (b)(3),

19 the Secretary shall, on the first day on which the

20 State meets the requirements, apportion to the State

21 the funds withheld under subsection (b) that remain

22 available for apportionment to the State.

23 ‘‘(3) PERIOD OF AVAILABILITY OF SUBSE24 QUENTLY APPORTIONED FUNDS.—
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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any funds appor2 tioned under paragraph (2) shall remain avail3 able for expenditure until the end of the third

4 fiscal year following the fiscal year in which the

5 funds are so apportioned.

6 ‘‘(B) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN FUNDS.—

7 Any funds apportioned under paragraph (2)

8 that are not obligated at the end of the period

9 referred to in subparagraph (A) shall lapse.

10 ‘‘(4) EFFECT OF NONCOMPLIANCE.—If, at the

11 end of the period for which funds withheld under

12 subsection (b) from apportionment are available for

13 apportionment to a State under paragraph (1)(A),

14 the State does not meet the requirements of sub15 section (b)(3), the funds shall lapse.’’.

16 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The analysis for

17 subchapter I of chapter 1 of title 23, United States Code,

18 is amended by striking the item relating to section 164

19 and inserting the following:

‘‘164. National minimum sentences for individuals convicted of operating motor

vehicles while under the influence of alcohol.’’.

Æ