Congress to Launch New 'Stop DUI Caucus'

WHAT: News conference and reception where Members of Congress, the National Commission Against Drunk Driving (NCADD) and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) will launch the new Congressional Stop DUI Caucus, kick off the broadcast industry's new "Stop Drunk Driving Now" public awareness campaign, and discuss statistics concerning the high-risk 100 deadly days of summer on the nation's highways.

WHEN: WEDNESDAY, MAY 19, 2004 at 1:00 p.m.

WHERE: Room 325, Russell Senate Office Building, First Street and Constitution Avenue, NE, Washington, DC

WHO: * Members of the new Congressional Stop DUI Caucus, co-chaired by Reps. Jon Porter (NV), Shelley Berkley (NV) and Jim DeMint (SC). Other members to date include: Senators DeWine (OH), Dorgan (ND) and Ensign (NV), and Reps. Barrett (SC), Brown (SC), Clyburn (SC), Cummings (MD), Gibbons (NV), Kind (WI), Pallone (NJ), Rogers (MI), Ruppersberger (MD), Spratt (SC), Udall (NM), Van Hollen (MD), Wilson (SC) and Wynn (MD).

* Robert Stempel, chairman, National Commission Against Drunk Driving

* John Moulden, president, National Commission Against Drunk Driving

* Edward O. Fritts, president & CEO, National Association of Broadcasters

* Ms. Sandy Heverly, executive director of STOP DUI citizens' coalition. She and her husband, four children and mother were injured in two separate drunk driving crashes.

* Chief Joseph Samuels Jr., immediate past president of International Association of Chiefs of Police and former chief of police, Richmond (CA) Police Department.

WHY: After a dramatic 38 percent drop in alcohol-related traffic deaths from 1980 to 1994, DUI deaths stagnated at about 17,000 for five years before starting to climb again in 2000, 2001 and 2002. The latest statistics will show that the summer holidays of Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day weekends were the most deadly holidays of any season on the nation's highways in 2002 due to an increase in alcohol-related crashes.

In response, the NAB and NCADD (www.ncadd.com) will launch a "Stop Drunk Driving Now" public awareness program for local broadcasters to let audiences know how they can fight drunk driving. And, as Congress continues to debate reauthorization of the federal transportation legislation (TEA-21), the Congressional Stop DUI Caucus will work with states and local communities to help renew the nationwide war on drunk driving, which is still the most frequently committed violent crime in the nation.

Broadcasters
PRNewswire -- May 17