I 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6224 
To establish a Federal incentive grant program for States that implement 
effective measures to prevent and reduce underage consumption of bev-
erage alcohol, to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of anti-underage 
drinking programs funded with Federal dollars, and to provide appro-
priate reporting of Federal underage drinking data. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 27, 2006 
Mr. WHITFIELD (for himself, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. PORTER, Mr. GORDON, Ms. 
BERKLEY, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, and Mr. 
WYNN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To establish a Federal incentive grant program for States 
that implement effective measures to prevent and reduce 
underage consumption of beverage alcohol, to evaluate 
the effectiveness and efficiency of anti-underage drinking 
programs funded with Federal dollars, and to provide 
appropriate reporting of Federal underage drinking data. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Underage Drinking 
Prevention Act of 2006’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds as follows: 
(1) The consumption of beverage alcohol by un-
derage youth is an ongoing national concern. About 
10.8 million Americans between the ages of 12 to 
20—for whom alcohol is illegal—report current alco-
hol use, approximately 29 percent of that age group. 
(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Ad-
ministration; 2004 National Survey on Drug Use 
and Health.) 
(2) Despite the seriousness of the problem that 
exists, significant declines have been noted over the 
past decade among 8th, 10th and 12th graders. 
Since 1991, ‘‘binge drinking’’ has declined by 19 
percent for 8th graders; 8 percent for 10th graders; 
and 6 percent for 12th graders, and ‘‘past month 
drinking’’ has declined by 32 percent for 8th grad-
ers; 22 percent for 10th graders; and 13 percent for 
12th graders (2005 Monitoring the Future Survey). 
(3) However, 42 percent of college students re-
port having five or more drinks in a row at least 
once in the past two weeks. Sixty-eight percent re-
port drinking alcohol within the past month. Con-
sumption patterns in this category have remained 
flat over the last decade. (Johnson, et al., 2004 
Monitoring the Future Study.) 
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(4) Sixty-five percent of underage youth who 
drink obtain alcohol from family and friends. Seven 
percent of youth report they obtained alcohol from 
retailers who failed to check for identification (Teen-
age Research Unlimited, Omnibus 2003). 
(5) Data from the National Academy of 
Sciences/Institute of Medicine, the Federal Trade 
Commission and the American Medical Association 
show that most youth who drink obtain alcohol pri-
marily through non-commercial sources, such as 
family and friends. 
(6) In 2000, an estimated $71 million of feder-
ally appropriated funding was dedicated to the pre-
vention of underage drinking. Many Federal agen-
cies have program activities that include the preven-
tion of underage drinking, but for which agency offi-
cials have not isolated funding specific to alcohol. 
For example, $769 million in funding was used for 
activities that addressed the prevention of alcohol 
and other drug use that targeted either youth or 
both youth and the broader community. (GAO–01– 
503, Underage Drinking, Information on Federal 
Funds Targeted at Prevention, 2001.) 
(7) The Department of Health and Human 
Services/Substance Abuse and Mental Health Serv-
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ices Administration stated that programs that have 
not been rigorously evaluated cannot be assumed to 
be effective. Programs that are funded by the Fed-
eral Government should have evidence of effective-
ness (A Comprehensive Plan for Preventing and Re-
ducing Underage Drinking, 2006). 
(8) Based upon evidence of effectiveness, exist-
ing Federal funding should be reallocated to pro-
grams and grants to States with effective measures 
to prevent and reduce underage drinking. 
SEC. 3. ADMINISTRATION; CONSULTATION. 
(a) ADMINISTRATION.—This Act shall be carried out 
by the Secretary of Health and Human Services on behalf 
of the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Preven-
tion of Underage Drinking (referred to in this Act as 
‘‘ICCPUD’’). 
(b) CONSULTATION
WITH
NONFEDERAL
ENTI-
TIES.—In carrying out this Act, the Secretary shall con-
sult with States, public and private entities, including col-
leges and universities; public health and consumer organi-
zations; and the beverage alcohol industry. 
SEC. 4. EVALUATION OF FEDERAL UNDERAGE DRINKING 
PROGRAMS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall in accordance 
with subsection (b) evaluate programs that are carried out 
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in whole or in part with Federal funds and are intended 
to prevent and reduce the consumption of beverage alcohol 
by minors (referred to in this Act as ‘‘underage drink-
ing’’). 
(b) CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out sub-
section (a), the Secretary shall— 
(1) identify Federal underage drinking pro-
grams— 
(A) that primarily make awards of grants, 
cooperative agreements, or contracts to States 
or local governments; and 
(B) that primarily make such awards to 
private entities; 
(2) determine the cost of each of the programs, 
with allocations specific to Federal, State, local, and 
private expenditures; and 
(3) evaluate all programs and require grantees 
to build the evaluation costs into grant proposals. 
(c) CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS.—With respect to eval-
uations under subsection (a): 
(1) The Secretary shall work jointly with the 
funded entity to develop evaluation criteria appro-
priate to each program. 
(2) The Secretary shall determine that all eval-
uations are properly completed in a timely fashion. 
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