December 3, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 192 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session
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GOOD CONDUCT TIME CREDITS FOR CERTAIN ELDERLY NONVIOLENT OFFENDERS; Congressional Record Vol. 165, No. 192
(House of Representatives - December 03, 2019)
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[Pages H9191-H9192] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] GOOD CONDUCT TIME CREDITS FOR CERTAIN ELDERLY NONVIOLENT OFFENDERS Mr. DEUTCH. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4018) to provide that the amount of time that an elderly offender must serve before being eligible for placement in home detention is to be reduced by the amount of good time credits earned by the prisoner, and for other purposes, as amended. The Clerk read the title of the bill. The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 4018 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. GOOD CONDUCT TIME CREDITS FOR CERTAIN ELDERLY NONVIOLENT OFFENDERS. Section 231(g)(5)(A)(ii) of the Second Chance Act of 2007 (34 U.S.C. 60541(g)(5)(A)(ii)) is amended by striking ``to which the offender was sentenced'' and inserting ``reduced by any credit toward the service of the prisoner's sentence awarded under section 3624(b) of title 18, United States Code''. SEC. 2. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined by reference to the latest statement titled ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation'' for this Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, provided that such statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Deutch) and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Cline) each will control 20 minutes. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Florida. General Leave Mr. DEUTCH. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the bill under consideration. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Florida? There was no objection. Mr. DEUTCH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4018 is a modest, but important, bill that I introduced with Ranking Member Collins to address an inadvertent drafting error in the Second Chance Act, one that has prevented elderly offenders who qualify for early release under a pilot program for compassionate release from receiving credit for the good conduct time they have accrued while in custody. Our Nation's Federal prison population is rapidly aging. Of the 1.5 million adults currently in State and Federal prisons, there has been a 300 percent spike in the elderly population since 1999. By 2050, it is estimated that one-third of the prison population of the United States will be over age 50. Today more people die of old age in U.S. prisons than ever before, and from 2001 to 2007 alone, nearly 8,500 people over age 55 died behind bars. The Federal prisoner reentry initiative, a pilot program created under the Second Chance Act, allows offenders who are elderly and have served at least two-thirds of their sentence to petition for release from prison and to serve their remaining term of imprisonment in a halfway house. This program is not only humane, it is fiscally responsible. The increasing number of elderly prisoners is leading to soaring costs for the Bureau of Prisons. With a more elderly prisoner population, prison infrastructure must be outfitted or equipped to accommodate the unique needs of elderly prisoners. Prisons need to be outfitted with ramps, lower bed heights, bunk beds eliminated, handrails installed in showers, and other structural changes. Also, prison staff need to be trained to work with elderly prisoners and move elderly prisoners around the facilities. We imprison too many elderly inmates unnecessarily for far too long, and the data reveals that the recidivism rate is reduced dramatically as the population ages. Good conduct time is provided to all prisoners who have satisfactory behavior in the Bureau of Prisons. A prisoner can earn 54 days of good conduct time or days off their sentence per year, however, due to an inadvertent error in the Federal prisoner reentry initiative, elderly inmates are not permitted to receive credit for good conduct. Elderly inmates, who otherwise have satisfactory behavior, should not lose the good conduct time they have earned solely as a result of this drafting error. Such an unjust result was not the intent of Congress when drafting the Second Chance Act, as the intent behind this compassionate program is to release a vulnerable population from prison when they present little risk to their communities. H.R. 4018 would correct this problem, and therefore, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this important bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. CLINE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4018, the elderly offender good conduct time legislation. Last year, Ranking Member Collins and Congressman Hakeem Jeffries led the way in drafting and shepherding through Congress the First Step Act. Attorney General Barr has repeatedly stated his intent to fully implement the provisions of the act. Our job as legislators in this space is twofold; first, to conduct oversight to ensure the First Step Act is responsibly implemented; and, two, to address issues in that implementation. One such technical issue is addressed by H.R. 4018. This bill would allow the Bureau of Prisons to transfer eligible elderly, nonviolent offenders from BOP facilities into home confinement when they have reached 60 years of age and served two-thirds of the term of imprisonment to which they were sentenced. This is a bill technical in nature designed to correct a flaw in the First Step Act that will promote fairness in the implementation of good conduct time, as reformed in the First Step Act, and ensure our prisons do not become nursing homes. I believe that if we do not ensure that this act works, we will lose credibility with the American people, and any future efforts to reform our criminal justice system will fail. Mr. Speaker, I support this legislation and urge my colleagues to do the same. I thank the gentleman for his support of this fine legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time Mr. DEUTCH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Cline, Chairman Nadler, Ranking Member Collins, and Mr. Jeffries for their leadership on this effort. Mr. Speaker, the process for earning time off for good conduct in prison is important as a matter of fairness and also effective prison administration. Individuals who earn good conduct time should not lose credit for this time because of an error in a statute, and elderly, nonviolent offenders should receive credit for the time they have earned. Therefore, H.R. 4018 is required to address an unfortunate, inadvertent [[Page H9192]] error. I am glad that it will. I appreciate the support, and for all of these reasons I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this good, bipartisan bill. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Deutch) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4018, as amended. The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed. A motion to reconsider was laid on the table. ____________________
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