-PEP ACT GETS 33rd SENATE COSPONSOR, 27th IN HOUSE

(6/22/00) Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK), who introduced federal legislation (Senate Bill 1159) to make $400 million available to schools for physical education programs, has obtained 33 Senate cosponsors and has called on the fitness industry to recruit even more legislators to sign on to this important measure.

Congressmen Joseph Crowley (D-NY) and John Sweeney (R-NY) have introduced the PEP Act into the House of Representatives. H.R. 4536 already has 27 cosponsors.

Under the bill, called the Physical Education for Progress (PEP) Act, the Education Department will administer grants, which
will be paid out over a five year period, to kindergarten through 12th grade programs that include minimum weekly requirements for physical education.

Stevens, who is chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, cited the poor health of today's youth and stated that the nation is simply not doing enough to live up to the recommendations put forth in the U.S. Surgeon General's 1996 Report on Physical Activity and Health.

The 33 Senate cosponsors are:
*       Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-AK)
*       Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL)
*       Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
*       Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
*       Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT)
*       Sen. Max Cleland (D-GA)
*       Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI)
*       Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA)
*       Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN)
*       Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
*       Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA)
*       Sen. John Kerry (D-MA)
*       Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME)
*       Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)
*       Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI)
*       Sen. Rod Grams (R-MN)
*       Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-MN)
*       Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS)
*       Sen. John Edwards (D-NC)
*       Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)
*       Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-NE)
*       Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE)
*       Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)
*       Sen. Pete Dominici (R-NM)
*       Sen. Michael DeWine (R-OH)
*       Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA)
*       Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee (R-RI)
*       Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-SC)
*       Sen. Thomas Daschle (D-SD)
*       Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD)
*       Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT)
*       Sen. James Jeffords (R-VT)
*       Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)

The 27 House cosponsors are:
*       Rep. Ed Pastor (D-AZ)
*       Rep. James H. Maloney (D-CT)
*       Rep. Carrie P. Meek (D-FL)
*       Rep. Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (D-GA)