I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2161
To amend title 18 of the United States Code to prohibit shipping alcohol
to minors.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 10, 1999
Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD (for herself, Mr. EHRLICH, Mr. WEINER, Mr.
FORD, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. OWENS, Ms. DAN-
NER, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Ms. KILPATRICK, Ms. BROWN of Flor-
ida, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. BLAGOJEVICH, Mr. DAVIS of Illi-
nois, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. MCGOVERN,
Mr. RANGEL, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. PALLONE, Mrs. CLAYTON, Ms. CAR-
SON, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. WYNN, Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin, Mr. MAR-
TINEZ, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Ms. NORTON, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr.
GUTIERREZ, Ms. RIVERS, and Mr. LUTHER) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend title 18 of the United States Code to prohibit
shipping alcohol to minors.
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 ‘‘Alcohol Shipment to
Minors Prohibition Act’’.
SEC. 2. SHIPMENT OF ALCOHOL TO MINORS PROHIBITED.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 59 of title 18, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing:
‘‘§ 1266. Shipment of alcohol to minors
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Whoever violates the labelling
requirements of subsection (b) or the age verification re-
quirements of subsection (d) shall be fined under this title
or imprisoned not more than one year, or both. Whoever
violates the sender disclosure requirements of subsection
(c) or the adult signature requirements of subsection (e)
shall be fined under this title.
‘‘(b) ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE LABEL.—Any package
placed for shipment in interstate commerce that contains
any alcoholic beverage shall bear a conspicuous label, in
accordance with such regulations as the Secretary of the
Treasury may prescribe, stating that the package contains
an alcoholic beverage and that the signature of a person
of legal drinking age is required for delivery.
‘‘(c) SENDER DISCLOSURE.—Any package placed for
shipment in interstate commerce that contains any alco-
holic beverage shall be accompanied by documentation
showing the full legal name and address of the person
placing the package for such shipment.
‘‘(d) AGE VERIFICATION.—Whoever places for ship-
ment in interstate commerce a package containing any al-
coholic beverage shall, prior to shipment, verify that the
recipient is of legal drinking age.
‘‘(e) ADULT SIGNATURE REQUIRED.—Whoever deliv-
ers a package shipped in interstate commerce that con-
tains any alcoholic beverage and is labelled pursuant to
subsection (b) shall, upon delivery, obtain the signature
of a person of legal drinking age, and verify such age.
‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section—
‘‘(1) the term ‘alcoholic beverage’ means any
spiritous, vinous, malted, fermented, or other fer-
mented liquor, or any compound containing any
spiritous, vinous, malted, fermented, or other fer-
mented liquor fit for use for beverage purposes;
‘‘(2) the term ‘legal drinking age’ means the
minimum lawful age for the purchase of an alcoholic
beverage in the State or locality to which the pack-
age is shipped; and
‘‘(3) the term ‘verify’ means to confirm, by use
of official documentation establishing both age and
identity.’’.
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections
at the beginning of chapter 59 of title 18, United States
Code, is amended by adding after the item relating to sec-
tion 1265 the following:
‘‘1265. Shipment of alcohol to minors’’.
Æ