[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3893 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3893

    To amend the Crime Control Act of 1990 with respect to the work 
requirement for Federal prisoners and to amend title 18, United States 
  Code, with respect to the use of Federal prison labor by nonprofit 
                   entities, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 19, 1998

Mr. Ensign (for himself and Mr. Gibbons) introduced the following bill; 
          which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend the Crime Control Act of 1990 with respect to the work 
requirement for Federal prisoners and to amend title 18, United States 
  Code, with respect to the use of Federal prison labor by nonprofit 
                   entities, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Common Sense Prison Work and Victim 
Restitution Act of 1998''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) work is inherently American and honorable;
            (2) work is of fundamental importance to any orderly 
        society which reveres such common values as responsibility, 
        independence, and respect for others;
            (3) in order to reduce recidivism, provide restitution to 
        victims, reparations to communities, and promote the values of 
        responsibility, independence, and respect for others, the 
        Federal Government should enact policies which expand work, 
        educational, and life skills opportunities for prisoners 
        incarcerated in Federal and State penal institutions;
            (4) American taxpayers are justified to expect that 
        prisoners reimburse the United States Treasury for the cost of 
        their incarceration, and in addition, that prisoners should 
        make monetary restitution to a fund which benefits the victims 
        of crime;
            (5) prisoners should be prohibited from engaging in certain 
        types of activities which are not healthy and conducive to 
        their successful rehabilitation and restitution;
            (6) prisoners should not have access to certain amenities 
        which are unnecessary, enhance leisure activities, or do not 
        promote successful rehabilitation;
            (7) existing Federal laws limit prisoners from engaging in 
        work, and do not impose mandatory work requirements for 
        prisoners;
            (8) existing barriers to prisoner labor should be removed 
        and Federal laws should be strengthened to ensure that 
        prisoners, their victims, taxpayers, and society in general 
        reap the maximum benefits and positive values associated with 
        work; and
            (9) when implemented effectively, shock incarceration, or 
        ``boot camp'' programs, can provide offenders with a heightened 
        sense of personal responsibility, confidence, self-discipline, 
        and an increased ability to make a successful return to the 
        community while maximizing and fostering a safe and orderly 
        work environment for corrections' personnel.

SEC. 3. WORK REQUIREMENT FOR FEDERAL PRISONERS.

    (a) Work Requirement.--Section 2905 of the Crime Control Act of 
1990 (18 U.S.C. 4121 note) is amended by adding at the end of 
subsection (a) the following: ``Subject to this section, such inmates 
shall engage in work for not less than 50 hours weekly. In addition 
inmates shall engage job-training and educational and life skills 
preparation study. In the event that opportunities otherwise provided 
by law for inmates to work are not sufficient to meet the requirements 
of the preceding sentence, notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
the services of prisoners may also be made available to nonprofit 
entities to carry out any of their business or other functions. Each 
authority of the United States that makes grants to nonprofit entities 
shall take appropriate action to inform such entities of the 
availability of inmates for this purpose. The Attorney General shall 
make rules governing the provision of services by inmates to such 
entities and the payment of any wages or other compensation for such 
services.''.
    (b) Use of Prison Labor by Private Entities.--The Attorney General 
shall, not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, submit legislative recommendations to Congress to permit Federal 
prisoners to perform work for private employers while minimizing the 
economic impact on the private sector of this expansion of the use of 
prison labor.
    (c) Use of Revenues From Prison Labor.--
            (1) There is established in the Treasury a Fund 
        (hereinafter in this subsection referred to as the ``Fund'').
            (2) All proceeds and wages, less any taxes or withholding 
        required by Federal or State law, from prison labor performed 
        by inmates under the supervision of the Attorney General shall 
        be placed in the Fund.
            (3) The Fund shall be used, under guidelines established by 
        the Attorney General, as follows:
                    (A) One third shall be used to offset the costs of 
                prisoner incarceration.
                    (B) One third shall be used for victim restitution.
                    (C) One tenth to be held in a non-interest bearing 
                account for the individual prisoner, to be paid on 
                release from prison, but if the prisoner will not be 
                eligible for release, then this portion shall be 
                immediately available for use under subparagraph (B).
                    (D) The remainder to States and local jurisdictions 
                that operate correctional facilities to benefit the 
                dependents of prisoners, but only to those States the 
                Attorney General determines have substantially the same 
                prison work requirements and prison conditions as 
                established for Federal prisoners.

SEC. 4. PRISON CONDITIONS.

    The Bureau of Prisons shall ensure that Federal prisoners--
            (1) do not possess, view, or read pornographic or sexually 
        explicit materials;
            (2) are subject not less often than once each month to a 
        combination of random and regularly scheduled testing for drugs 
        and illegal substances;
            (3) do not possess microwave ovens, hot plates, toaster 
        ovens, or televisions (unless provided by the prison for group 
        viewing), or VCRs;
            (4) do not possess, or listen to, music which contains 
        lyrics that are violent, sexually explicit, vulgar, glamorize 
        gang membership or activities, demean women or disrespect law 
        enforcement;
            (5) do not view cable television which is not educational 
        in nature; and
            (6) do not engage in sexual activity.

SEC. 5. REPORT ON DRUG TESTING COSTS.

    Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Attorney General, in consultation with the General Accounting 
Office, shall report to Congress the then anticipated annual costs, for 
each of the 5 following fiscal years, of implementing a monthly drug 
testing program for all Federal prisoners.

SEC. 6. DRUG DETECTION DOG PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall establish a program 
to utilize drug detection dogs in inmate work areas, living quarters, 
and delivery areas for the purpose of detecting narcotics.
    (b) Authorization.--There is authorized to be appropriated 
$10,000,000 to carry out subsection (a).

SEC. 7. ELIMINATION OF SENTENCING INEQUITIES FOR DRUG OFFENDERS.

    (a) In General.--Subparagraph (B) of section 3621(e)(2) of title 
18, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
                    ``(B) Administration of treatment programs.--The 
                Attorney General shall ensure through the use of all 
                appropriate and available incentives and sanctions that 
                eligible prisoners undergo a program of substance abuse 
                treatment.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--The heading for paragraph (2) of section 
3621(e) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by striking 
``Incentive for prisoners' successful completion of treatment program'' 
and inserting ``Treatment requirement''.
    (c) Eligibility.--Clause (ii) of section 3621(e)(5)(B) of title 18, 
United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
                            ``(ii) within 24 months of the date of 
                        release, or is otherwise designated by the 
                        Bureau of Prisons for participation in a 
                        residential substance abuse treatment program; 
                        and''.

SEC. 8. BOOT CAMP REQUIREMENT.

    Section 4046 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) by striking ``may'' and inserting ``shall, 
                except as provided in subsection (d),''; and
                    (B) by striking ``of more than 12'' and all that 
                follows through the end of such subsection and 
                inserting a period;
            (2) in subsection (b), by striking ``not to exceed 6 
        months'' and inserting ``which shall be not less than 4 
        weeks''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) An inmate who, in the judgment of the Bureau of Prisons, 
either does not successfully complete the required period of shock 
incarceration or is physically or mentally unfit to participate in the 
activities required by shock incarceration, shall be confined to that 
inmate's cell for not less than 23 hours each day during the portion of 
the term of imprisonment that would otherwise be spent in shock 
incarceration and shall, during the remainder of that term, be granted 
no privileges other than those required by law.''.
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