Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) President and CEO Craig Wolf today praised President Obama for promptly signing into law a bipartisan bill that included key provisions to reauthorize programs focused on curbing underage drinking.
The Sober Truth On Preventing (STOP) Underage Drinking Act, a measure long supported by WSWA and a coalition of beverage alcohol industry companies, associations, and advocacy organizations, was reauthorized as part of the 21stCentury Cures Act, passed earlier this week by bipartisan majorities in each chamber, and signed into law by the president today.
The STOP Act reauthorization was led by its original author Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) and was cosponsored by Rep Michael Fitzpatrick (R-PA). The Senate version of the STOP Act was authored by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
The reauthorization extends federal programs to combat underage drinking, continues funding for community-based grants, maintains a national media campaign to prevent underage drinking, and provides for enhanced information and resource sharing among agencies at all levels, including a report of state activities.
“Government agencies and the beverage alcohol industry have worked together to tackle head on the challenge of underage drinking—and we have met with success as underage drinking rates continue to fall,” WSWA President and CEO Craig Wolf said.
“But more work remains to be done, and the STOP Act reauthorization is vital tool to aid this important effort. President Obama and Representative Roybal-Allard as well as the bipartisan coalition she assembled, all deserve our thanks for their leadership on an issue that touches every American community,” Wolf added.
WSWA is a national trade association representing the wholesale tier of the wine and spirits industry and is the voice for wholesalers in Congress, the administration, the courts, with the news media and in communities across America.