21 Minivan Donation Made in Honor of the 21st Anniversary of t

In celebration of the 21st anniversary of the lifesaving 21 Minimum Drinking Age Act and the 21st birthday of the Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and Chrysler Group today launched a 21-city tour, "21 Turns 21: Lifesaving Milestones." Chrysler Group donated 21 Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans to MADD to help expand its lifesaving education programs for youth.

The donation of the Chrysler and Dodge minivans and cross-country tour is designed to create awareness of the law's impact on reducing teenage deaths, encourage teens to make smart, healthy choices against underage drinking and support teen driver safety efforts - - all timed with high school prom and graduation season just around the corner. Underage drinking is the leading youth drug problem in America and kills more young people than all illicit drugs combined (Grunbaum, 2002).

MADD National President Wendy Hamilton and Chrysler Group Executive Vice President Eric Ridenour were joined by Sens. Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) as well as National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Acting Chairman Mark Rosenker at a press conference marking the legislation's anniversary this morning in Washington, D.C. Dole and Lautenberg both played critical roles in the enactment of the landmark legislation 21 years ago. The group was also joined by other members of Congress, their staffs and key program supporters.

"As our nation celebrates the 21st anniversary of this important and lifesaving legislation, we know that amid the celebrating there is much more work to be done," said Wendy Hamilton, president of MADD. "The 21 minivan tour to 21 cities will reach teens with positive health and safety messages at a time when the pressures and celebrations of prom and graduation season are at an all time high."

On July 17, 1984, President Ronald Reagan signed the national 21 minimum drinking age legislation into law to eliminate the deadly "blood borders" between states that had differing minimum drinking age laws. The legislation was originally introduced by Sen. Lautenberg, the late-Congressman James J. Howard (D-NJ) and former Congressman Michael Barnes (D-MD) after President Reagan's Commission on Drunk Driving recommended this federal action in its final report issued in 1983. As then Secretary of Transportation, Dole was the chief advocate of the federal 21 law in the Reagan Administration.