SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Underage Drinking 
Prevention Act of 2007’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds as follows: 
(1) While underage drinking has been on the 
decline for more than 20 years, the consumption of 
beverage alcohol by underage youth is an ongoing 
national concern. According to the Substance Abuse 
and Mental Health Services Administration, 10.8 
million Americans between the ages of 12 to 20 for 
whom alcohol is illegal report current alcohol use, 
approximately 28 percent of that age group. 
(2) Data from the National Academy of 
Sciences/Institute of Medicine, the Federal Trade 
Commission, the Century Council and the American 
Medical Association show that most youth who drink 
obtain alcohol primarily through noncommercial 
sources, such as family and friends. 
(3) According to research conducted by Teen-
age Research Unlimited (TRU) for the Century 
Council, 10–18 year olds say parents and school 
teachers should begin discussing the dangers and 
consequences of underage drinking with children by 
age 11. 
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(4) The role of parents in reducing underage 
drinking, particularly among middle-school aged 
children, is critical. Numerous studies confirm the 
crucial role parents play in shaping the behavior and 
decisionmaking skills of their children. For example, 
a study reported in Health Education and Behavior, 
February 2001, suggests that parental involvement 
is associated with a 67 percent less likelihood of 
drinking. 
(5) The Surgeon General’s 2007 Call to Action 
to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking recog-
nizes that significant social transitions, such as mov-
ing from elementary school to middle school or from 
middle school to high school may increase the likeli-
hood that adolescents will use alcohol, in part be-
cause they increase adolescent stress levels. Addi-
tionally, evidence shows that youth who spend more 
time engaged in volunteering, sports, music, aca-
demics and leadership are less likely to engage in 
risky behaviors, such as alcohol use. 
(6) According to a 2004 study published in the 
Journal of Adolescent Health, ‘‘Adults’ Approval 
and Adolescents’ Alcohol Use,’’ one in five teens re-
ported drinking alcohol that was provided by a par-
ent or a friend’s parent at a party. Additionally, re-
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searchers found that such provision of alcohol sig-
nificantly increased the likelihood of regular and 
binge drinking. 
(7) A 2003 report submitted to Congress by the 
National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine 
recommended that underage drinking cannot be suc-
cessfully addressed by focusing on youth alone. Two 
out of three teens (aged 13 to 18) said it is easy to 
get alcohol from their homes without their parents 
knowing it. Thirty-three percent of teens responded 
that it is easy to obtain alcohol from their own par-
ents (knowingly); this increases to 40 percent when 
it is from a friend’s parent. 
(8) The Surgeon General’s 2007 Call to Action 
to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking supports 
holding adults accountable for underage drinking at 
house parties, even when those adults are not at 
home. 
(9) In nearly 20 States, legislatures are consid-
ering bills to increase penalties for adults who pro-
vide alcohol to people under the age of 21. Those 
penalties include higher fines, driver’s license sus-
pensions and even jail. 
(10) The Surgeon General’s 2007 Call to Ac-
tion to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking in-
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cludes the need for complete and timely information 
on patterns and trends in youth alcohol consumption 
in order to develop and evaluate prevention strate-
gies. Additionally, reports from the General Account-
ing Office and the Department of Health and 
Human Services demonstrate the need for better 
data collection and effective evaluation of on-going 
programs. 
SEC. 3. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of the Congress that: 
(1) Understanding which programs are effective 
in reducing underage drinking will maximize scarce 
Federal resources and help the nation confront un-
derage drinking in a more effective and cost-efficient 
manner and enable local communities to implement 
the most effective tactics to reduce underage drink-
ing. 
(2) Evaluation is necessary. Therefore the Sub-
stance Abuse and Mental Health Services Adminis-
tration should explore ways to expand and improve 
evaluation efforts while preserving and continuing 
current programs and funding in the interest of 
achieving maximum effectiveness. 
(3) The Substance Abuse and Mental Health 
Services Administration should continue to improve 
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evaluation efforts and national outcome measures 
(NOMS) reporting in the Substance Abuse Preven-
tion and Treatment Block Grant and other grant 
programs, when appropriate. 
(4) Federal agencies should strive to evaluate 
all federally funded underage drinking programs and 
modify programs as needed to reach maximum effec-
tiveness in reducing underage drinking. 
SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT AND PUBLIC EDUCATION GRANTS 
TO REDUCE SOCIAL SOURCES OF UNDERAGE 
DRINKING. 
(a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are 
to— 
(1) increase enforcement of underage drinking 
that occurs at house parties across the nation and 
instances of adults providing alcohol to people under 
age 21; 
(2) inform the public of the legal consequences 
of providing alcohol to people under the minimum 
drinking age of 21; 
(3) educate the public that the majority of peo-
ple who drink underage are obtaining their alcohol 
from social sources such as family and friends; and 
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(4) enhance, not supplant, effective local com-
munity initiatives for enforcing underage drinking 
laws. 
(b) AUTHORIZATION OF PROGRAM.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of 
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Programs (in this 
section referred to as the ‘‘Director’’) shall award 
grants to States and units of local government to 
implement and evaluate enforcement and public edu-
cation programs aimed at reducing the provision of 
alcohol by social sources to underage drinkers as 
part of the Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws Pro-
gram. 
(2) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—Funds pro-
vided under this section shall be used to supplement 
and not supplant funds expended for existing pro-
grams related to the prevention of underage drink-
ing and the enforcement of underage drinking laws. 
(c) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a grant 
under subsection (a), a State or unit of local government, 
or a consortia of States or such units, shall prepare and 
submit to the Director an application at such time, in such 
manner, and containing such information as the Director 
may require, which shall include— 
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(1) a description of the activities to be carried 
out under the grant; and 
(2) an assurance that the applicant will submit 
to the Director an annual report concerning the ef-
fectiveness of the programs and activities carried out 
under the grant. 
(d) USES OF FUNDS.—Each State or unit of local 
government that receives a grant under this section shall 
use the grant funds to carry out the activities described 
in the application submitted by such State or unit under 
subsection (c). 
(e) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Not more than 6 
percent of a grant awarded under this section may be ex-
pended for administrative expenses. 
(f) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘social 
source’’ means a noncommercial individual (including fam-
ily members, friends or other individuals) who inten-
tionally provide or serve alcohol to underage drinkers or 
knowingly allow underage drinking to occur on property 
they own, lease or otherwise control (recognizing that 
State laws do provide exceptions for some individuals 
under certain circumstances). 
(g) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
$10,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008 and 2009, 
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and such sums as may be necessary for each subsequent 
fiscal year. 
SEC. 5. IMPROVED DATA COLLECTION AND REPORTING. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 
Human Services, in his role as Chair of the Interagency 
Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage 
Drinking authorized in section 519B(c) of the Public 
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb–25b(c)), shall work 
with members of such Committee to improve Federal col-
lection of data related to underage drinking by ensuring 
that federally funded surveys related to underage drinking 
collect and report data in a consistent manner to accu-
rately reflect underage drinking that allows users of such 
data to— 
(1) compare the results of surveys conducted 
and reports issued by various entities; and 
(2) isolate such data with respect to the demo-
graphic category of individuals who are under the 
age of 21. 
(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF FEDERAL DATA COLLEC-
TION IMPROVEMENT COMMITTEE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 
Human Services, in his role as Chair of the Inter-
agency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of 
Underage Drinking, shall establish a Federal data 
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improvement committee with representatives from 
each member of the Interagency Coordinating Com-
mittee. 
(2) COMMITTEE TASKS.—In working to improve 
Federal data collection on underage drinking, the 
Federal data improvement committee under para-
graph (1) shall undertake the following efforts in ad-
dition to any other tasks requested by the Secretary: 
(A) The committee shall review ways to 
preserve trend data while simultaneously in-
creasing the consistency of data collection. 
(B) The Committee shall review all Fed-
eral data collected on underage drinking and 
ensure that all data collected allows for the de-
mographic breakdown of data related to individ-
uals who are under the age of 21. 
(C) The Committee shall review State data 
that is made available from research conducted 
or supported by States, that is gathered in 
whole or in part with the use of Federal funds 
to ensure timely reporting and publishing of 
State data on underage drinking. 
(D) The Committee shall consult with the 
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 
Administration to ensure continuation and ex-
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pansion of work between State Epidemiological 
Work Groups and statewide advisory commit-
tees for the Strategic Prevention Framework 
State Incentive Grants in improving data collec-
tion on underage drinking. 
(E) The Committee shall establish short- 
term and long-term goals with respect to im-
proving Federal data collection not later than 
one year after the date of the enactment of this 
Act. 
(F) The Committee shall consult with 
States, public and private entities (including in-
stitutions of higher education), public health 
and consumer organizations, the beverage alco-
hol industry, and other users of Federal data 
on underage drinking with respect to the use of 
such Federal data and recommendations for im-
provements to the collection and reporting of 
such Federal data. 
SEC. 6. GRANTS TO INCREASE PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT IN 
SCHOOL-BASED EFFORTS TO PREVENT UN-
DERAGE DRINKING. 
(a) AUTHORIZATION OF PROGRAM.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education 
shall award grants on a competitive basis to local 
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