I 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6241 
To provide for programs and activities with respect to the prevention of 
underage drinking. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 29, 2010 
Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD (for herself, Mr. WAMP, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. WOLF, Mr. 
WATT, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. WATSON, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. 
THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. JACKSON of Illi-
nois, Ms. CLARKE, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. 
HINOJOSA, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of 
California, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, and Ms. 
EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To provide for programs and activities with respect to the 
prevention of underage drinking. 
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 ‘‘Sober Truth on Pre-
venting Underage Drinking Act’’ or the ‘‘STOP Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE 
ACT. 
Section 519B of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 290bb–25b) is amended by striking subsections (a) 
through (f) and inserting the following: 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘alcohol beverage industry’ 
means the brewers, vintners, distillers, importers, 
distributors, and retail or online outlets that sell or 
serve beer, wine, and distilled spirits. 
‘‘(2) The term ‘school-based prevention’ means 
programs, which are institutionalized, and run by 
staff members or school-designated persons or orga-
nizations in any grade of school, kindergarten 
through 12th grade. 
‘‘(3) The term ‘youth’ means persons under the 
age of 21. 
‘‘(b) 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 drink-
ing in the United States. A coordinated approach to 
prevention, intervention, treatment, enforcement, 
and research is key to making progress. This section 
recognizes the need for a focused national effort, 
and addresses particulars of the Federal portion of 
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that effort, as well as Federal support for State ac-
tivities. 
‘‘(2) The Secretary of Health and Human Serv-
ices shall continue to conduct research and collect 
data on the short and long-range impact of alcohol 
use and abuse upon adolescent brain development 
and other organ systems. 
‘‘(3) States and communities, including colleges 
and universities, are encouraged to adopt com-
prehensive prevention approaches, including— 
‘‘(A) evidence-based screening, programs 
and curricula; 
‘‘(B) brief intervention strategies; 
‘‘(C) consistent policy enforcement; and 
‘‘(D) science-based strategies to reduce un-
derage drinking. 
‘‘(4) Public health groups, consumer groups, 
and the alcohol beverage industry should continue 
and expand evidence-based efforts to prevent and re-
duce underage drinking. 
‘‘(5) The entertainment industries have a pow-
erful impact on youth, and they should use rating 
systems and marketing codes to reduce the likeli-
hood that underage audiences will be exposed to 
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movies, recordings, or television programs with un-
suitable alcohol content. 
‘‘(6) The National Collegiate Athletic Associa-
tion, its member colleges and universities, and ath-
letic conferences should affirm a commitment to a 
policy of discouraging alcohol use among underage 
students and other young fans. 
‘‘(7) Alcohol is a unique product and should be 
regulated differently than other products by the 
States and Federal Government. States have pri-
mary authority to regulate alcohol distribution and 
sale, and the Federal Government should support 
and supplement these State efforts. States also have 
a responsibility to fight youth access to alcohol and 
reduce underage drinking. Continued State regula-
tion and licensing of the manufacture, importation, 
sale, distribution, transportation and storage of alco-
holic beverages are clearly in the public interest and 
are critical to promoting responsible consumption, 
preventing illegal access to alcohol by persons under 
21 years of age from commercial and non-commer-
cial sources, maintaining industry integrity and an 
orderly marketplace, and furthering effective State 
tax collection. 
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‘‘(8) The age-21 minimum drinking law, en-
acted in 1984, has been a remarkably effective pub-
lic health and safety policy, as evidenced by the fact 
that the percentage of 12th graders who have drunk 
alcohol in the past month has fallen by one third 
since its enactment. 
‘‘(9) The age-21 law has also has been signifi-
cantly effective in reducing drinking and driving 
traffic fatalities, as the National Highway Traffic 
Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that the 
age-21 law has saved over 17,000 lives since its in-
ception. 
‘‘(10) Community awareness, support, and mo-
bilization provide an important context for the effec-
tive enforcement of the age-21 minimum drinking 
law. 
‘‘(c) INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COMMITTEE; AN-
NUAL REPORT ON STATE UNDERAGE DRINKING PREVEN-
TION AND ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES.— 
‘‘(1) INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COMMITTEE 
ON THE PREVENTION OF UNDERAGE DRINKING.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in col-
laboration with the Federal officials specified in 
subparagraph (B), shall continue to support 
and enhance the efforts of the interagency co-
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ordinating committee, that began operating in 
2004, focusing on underage drinking (referred 
to in this subsection as the ‘Committee’). 
‘‘(B) OTHER AGENCIES.—The officials re-
ferred to in subparagraph (A) are the Secretary 
of Education, the Attorney General, the Sec-
retary of Transportation, the Secretary of the 
Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, the Sur-
geon General, the Director of the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention, the Director of 
the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Al-
coholism, the Administrator of the Substance 
Abuse and Mental Health Services Administra-
tion, the Director of the National Institute on 
Drug Abuse, the Assistant Secretary for Chil-
dren and Families, the Director of the Office of 
National Drug Control Policy, the Adminis-
trator of the National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration, the Administrator of the Office 
of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 
the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commis-
sion, and such other Federal officials as the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services deter-
mines to be appropriate. 
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‘‘(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, provided, however, that nothing in 
this section shall be construed as transferring 
regulatory or program authority from an Agen-
cy to the Coordinating Committee. 
‘‘(E) CONSULTATIONS.—The Committee 
shall actively seek the input of and shall consult 
with all appropriate and interested parties, in-
cluding States, public health research and inter-
est groups, foundations, and alcohol beverage 
industry trade associations and companies. 
‘‘(F) ANNUAL REPORT.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, on 
behalf of the Committee, shall annually 
submit to the Congress a report that sum-
marizes— 
‘‘(I) all programs and policies of 
Federal agencies designed to prevent 
and reduce underage drinking, focus-
ing particularly on programs and poli-
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cies that support the adoption and en-
forcement of State policies designed to 
prevent and reduce underage drinking 
as specified in paragraph (2); 
‘‘(II) the extent of progress in 
preventing and reducing underage 
drinking at State and national levels; 
‘‘(III) data that the Secretary 
shall collect with respect to the infor-
mation specified in clause (ii); and 
‘‘(IV) such other information re-
garding underage drinking as the Sec-
retary determines to be appropriate. 
‘‘(ii) CERTAIN
INFORMATION.—The 
report under clause (i) shall include infor-
mation on the following: 
‘‘(I) Patterns and consequences 
of underage drinking as reported in 
research and surveys such as, but not 
limited to Monitoring the Future, 
Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance 
System, the National Survey on Drug 
Use and Health, and the Fatality 
Analysis Reporting System. 
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‘‘(II) Measures of the availability 
of alcohol from commercial and non- 
commercial sources to underage popu-
lations. 
‘‘(III) Measures of the exposure 
of underage populations to messages 
regarding alcohol in advertising and 
the entertainment media. 
‘‘(IV) Surveillance data, includ-
ing information on the onset and 
prevalence of underage drinking, con-
sumption patterns, beverage pref-
erences, prevalence of drinking among 
students at institutions of higher edu-
cation, correlations between adult and 
youth drinking, and the means of un-
derage access, including trends over 
time for these surveillance data. The 
Secretary shall develop a plan to im-
prove the collection, measurement and 
consistency of reporting Federal un-
derage alcohol data. 
‘‘(V) Any additional findings re-
sulting from research conducted or 
supported under subsection (f). 
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‘‘(VI) Evidence-based best prac-
tices to prevent and reduce underage 
drinking including a review of the re-
search literature related to State laws, 
regulations, and policies designed to 
prevent and reduce underage drink-
ing, 
as 
described 
in 
paragraph 
(2)(B)(i). 
‘‘(2) ANNUAL
REPORT
ON
STATE
UNDERAGE 
DRINKING PREVENTION AND ENFORCEMENT ACTIVI-
TIES.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, 
with input and collaboration from other appro-
priate Federal agencies, States, Indian tribes, 
territories, and public health, consumer, and al-
cohol beverage industry groups, annually issue 
a report on each State’s performance in enact-
ing, enforcing, and creating laws, regulations, 
and policies to prevent or reduce underage 
drinking based on an assessment of best prac-
tices 
developed 
pursuant 
to 
paragraph 
(1)(F)(ii)(VI) and subparagraph (B)(i). 
‘‘(B) STATE PERFORMANCE MEASURES.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary 
shall develop, in consultation with the 
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Committee, a set of measures to be used in 
preparing the report on best practices as 
they relate to State laws, regulations, poli-
cies and enforcement practices. The Report 
shall be designed as a resource tool for 
Federal agencies assisting States in the 
States’ underage drinking prevention ef-
forts, State public health and law enforce-
ment agencies, State and local policy mak-
ers, and underage drinking prevention coa-
litions including those receiving grants 
pursuant to subsection (e)(1). 
‘‘(ii) STATE REPORT CONTENT.—The 
State Report shall include updates on 
State laws, regulations, and policies in-
cluded in previous Reports to Congress, in-
cluding, but not limited to the following: 
‘‘(I) Whether or not the State 
has 
comprehensive 
anti-underage 
drinking laws such as for the illegal 
sale, purchase, attempt to purchase, 
consumption, or possession of alcohol; 
illegal use of fraudulent ID; illegal 
furnishing or obtaining of alcohol for 
an individual under 21 years; the de-
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gree of strictness of the penalties for 
such offenses; and the prevalence of 
the enforcement of each of these in-
fractions. 
‘‘(II) Whether or not the State 
has comprehensive liability statutes 
pertaining to underage access to alco-
hol such as dram shop, social host, 
and house party laws, and the preva-
lence of enforcement of each of these 
laws. 
‘‘(III) Whether or not the State 
encourages and conducts comprehen-
sive enforcement efforts to prevent 
underage access to alcohol at retail 
outlets, such as random compliance 
checks and shoulder tap programs, 
and the number of compliance checks 
within alcohol retail outlets measured 
against the number of total alcohol re-
tail outlets in each State, and the re-
sult of such checks. 
‘‘(IV) Whether or not the State 
encourages training on the proper 
selling and serving of alcohol for all 
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sellers and servers of alcohol as a con-
dition of employment. 
‘‘(V) Whether or not the State 
has policies and regulations with re-
gard to direct sales to consumers and 
home delivery of alcoholic beverages. 
‘‘(VI) Whether or not the State 
has programs or laws to deter adults 
from purchasing alcohol for minors; 
and the number of adults targeted by 
these programs. 
‘‘(VII) Whether or not the State 
has enacted graduated drivers licenses 
and the extent of those provisions. 
‘‘(iii) NEW CATEGORIES.—In addition 
to the updates of State laws, regulations, 
and policies listed in clause (ii), the Sec-
retary shall consider new categories, in-
cluding but not limited to— 
‘‘(I) whether or not States have 
adopted laws, regulations and policies 
that deter underage alcohol use, as 
described in the Surgeon General’s 
2007 Call to Action to Prevent and 
Reduce Underage Drinking, including 
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restrictions on low-price, high volume 
drink specials, and wholesaler pricing 
provisions; 
‘‘(II) whether or not States have 
adopted laws, regulations and policies 
designed to reduce alcohol advertising 
messages attractive to youth and 
youth exposure to alcohol advertising 
and marketing in measured and 
unmeasured media; 
‘‘(III) whether or not States have 
laws and policies that promote under-
age drinking prevention policy devel-
opment by local jurisdictions; 
‘‘(IV) whether or not States have 
adopted laws, regulations, and policies 
to restrict youth access to alcoholic 
beverages that may pose special risks 
to youth, including but not limited to 
alcoholic mists, gelatins, freezer pops, 
pre-mixed caffeinated alcoholic bev-
erages, and flavored malt beverages; 
‘‘(V) whether or not States have 
adopted uniform best practices proto-
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