[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 4 (Monday, January 9, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E59-E60]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              THE LORTON CORRECTIONAL COMPLEX CLOSURE ACT

                                 ______


                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, January 9, 1995

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, how long do residents of the District of 
Columbia have to endure the sound of gunfire ringing through their 
neighborhoods? How long will the people of Washington, DC, the Nation's 
Capital and capital of the free world, fear for their and their 
children's lives? How long will we tolerate drug sales in broad 
daylight on street corners in the shadows of the White House and U.S. 
Capitol dome? Law abiding citizens are prisoners in their own homes for 
fear of being murdered, raped, assaulted, or robbed. It is a disgrace 
that the Nation's Capital is a battleground in which law-abiding 
citizens are losing the fight on crime.
  It is time to take back the streets of the Nation's Capital. That 
cannot happen, though, unless we take back control of the Lorton 
correctional complex. How can we expect the dedicated law enforcement 
personnel who patrol the streets of Washington to combat crime when we 
can't control substance abuse, murder, assault, sexual harassment, 
bribery, and corruption in the D.C. prison system? Without focusing on 
the violence, drug abuse, corruption, overcrowding and dilapidated 
facilities at Lorton, the crime problem in Washington can never be 
adequately addressed.
  Because I believe, based on conversations with D.C. police and 
correctional officers, FBI agents, and U.S. attorneys, that the crime 
problem in our great Federal City is inextricably linked to the 
reprehensible conditions at Lorton prison, I am introducing 
legislation, with Representatives Jim Moran and Tom Davis, which 
addresses these problems.
  The bill that we are introducing addresses these problems of 
overcrowding and funding by immediately incarcerating new District of 
Columbia felons in Bureau of Prisons facilities. Then, within 5 years, 
all remaining felons in Lorton will have to be turned over to the 
control of the Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. This will 
immediately alleviate problems at Lorton and put it on track for 
closure within 5 years. The D.C. Department of Corrections would still 
have responsibility for juveniles, misdemeanants, and pretrial 
detainees.
  We also set up a commission of locally appointed representatives to 
help devise a plan for the closure of the Lorton correctional complex. 
The involvement of the local community is essential is establishing a 
smooth transition and ensures that local residents will have all their 
concerns heard. The plan is to identify actions with respect to each of 
the following:
  First, the future use of the land on which the complex is located 
including, if appropriate, plans for a regional park at the site.
  Second, the need to address the impact on local and regional 
transportation resources;
  Third, if appropriate, the transfer of real property and improvements 
thereon to Federal agencies, including the Bureau of Prisons, for 
Federal use;
  Fourth, if appropriate, the disposal of real property or improvements 
thereon; and
  Fifth, changes in law or regulation to effect the purposes of this 
act and the closure of the Lorton correctional complex. [[Page E60]] 
  This legislation is not punitive. It is an effort to make the 
District a jewel of the Nation. It is an effort by us to extend a hand 
to the new mayor and city council in an effort to work on a truly 
bipartisan basis to resolve a long festering problem. This is an effort 
to give the prisoners at Lorton hope and an opportunity to rehabilitate 
themselves so that they can become productive members of society. Last, 
it is an effort to remove a dangerously malfunctioning facility from 
Virginia which poses concerns for residents of Fairfax and Prince 
William Counties.
  I believe that the D.C. Department of Corrections has done a good job 
with limited resources and my remarks today are not meant in any way to 
criticize them. I believe, however, that nothing short of radical 
reform is required. This is not a new issue. I introduced legislation 
in the 102nd and 103d Congresses to address this problem. 
Unfortunately, that legislation received little attention. The new 
Congress, however, presents us with a new opportunity to move this 
bill. I am now prepared to work with the mayor and city council on 
embarking on an ambitious plan to stop the revolving crime door at 
Lorton. It is in the interest of the District of Columbia, Fairfax 
County, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the Federal Government to 
cooperate in resolving the problems at Lorton. As partners, 
contributing to the reform of this system, these goals can be 
accomplished.
  Lorton prison is a finishing school for criminals. Recidivism rates 
among Lorton inmates have been reported as high as 90 percent. A 1987 
U.S. General Accounting Office [GAO] study found that nearly 7 of 10 
adult inmates living at Lorton at the time of the study had previously 
been convicted of a felony offense in the District of Columbia and 
incarcerated at Lorton. About one-third of the adult inmates have been 
previously convicted and incarcerated at Lorton more than once. The 
sample used by the GAO was necessarily restrictive which means figures 
of recidivism are most likely higher.
  Inmates should not leave the confines of Lorton prepared with 
master's degrees in drug trafficking, assault, and murder. 
Unfortunately, rehabilitation programs such as industry work programs, 
vocational training programs, GED education programs, and drug 
rehabilitation programs are woefully inadequate. Instead of 
participating in rehabilitation programs, many inmates only lift 
weights or play basketball all day, wander the grounds of the central 
facility aimlessly and unsupervised, watch mindnumbing hour after 
mindnumbing hour of television, and perfect their deviant criminal 
skills.
  I have made many trips to the prison. Years ago I participated in a 
prisoner counseling program called Man-to-Man. From that experience I 
learned that one can't put a man behind bars for years, fail to give 
him work, fail to give him skills, fail to offer the opportunity for 
him to educate himself, fail to lend structure to his life and expect 
him to reemerge a changed person.
  In 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt established a commission to 
study overcrowding at the District of Columbia's jail and to make 
recommendations to correct overcrowding at the District of Columbia's 
jail. In providing Congress with the results of that Commission's work 
in 1909, President Roosevelt wrote:

       The report sets forth vividly the really outrageous 
     conditions in the workhouse and jail. The overcrowding is 
     great in the workhouse, and greater still in the jail where, 
     of the 600 inmates, 500 are serving sentences in absolute 
     idleness, with no employment and no exercise. * * * It is no 
     longer a question as to what shall be done, but only a 
     question whether something shall be done, for it is quite 
     impossible that the existing condition should continue. The 
     present antiquated and unsatisfactory plan ought not to be 
     considered for a moment.

  The parallels between the present situation and those described by 
President Roosevelt in 1908 are remarkable. Today, more than 85 years 
later, District of Columbia prisoners still serve their sentences in 
absolute idleness and many of the concerns that led to the 
establishment of Lorton 85 years ago still exist.
  Idleness results in unmanageable prisoners. Prison guards fear 
personal injury; thus they ease the tense situation by allowing 
prisoners free reign to conduct their daily business. Inmates make 
unsupervised phone calls to the outside and conduct illegal activity 
from behind the walls. Inmates control the use of the phones and sell 
phone time to one another. Inmates are not even required to wear 
similar prison uniforms.
  Many youthful offenders view matriculation to Lorton as a right-of-
passage. Many of their friends and relatives have passed through the 
institution and made useful contacts for future criminal activity, 
thereby perfecting their criminal skills so that, upon release, they 
are more proficient at exploiting the innocent and vulnerable. In 
simple terms these individuals are committing serious crimes, serving 
time at Lorton, leaving Lorton and returning to the District of 
Columbia to commit more crimes.
  The news is littered with stories of former residents of Lorton who 
commit further acts of violence upon release. The Washington, DC, 
community was horrified by the story of the shooting of veteran D.C. 
police officer Hank Daley and FBI special agents Martha Dixon Martinez 
and John Michael Miller at the D.C. police headquarters. The suspect in 
that senseless shooting served time at Lorton. We were also stunned by 
the report of the senseless murder of young Meredith Miller in a 
carjacking outside her Arlington apartment house. One suspect in the 
murder, who had a record of attempted burglary, unlawful entry, theft, 
destruction of public property, possession of drugs, and parole 
violations, had been at Lorton. A number of other serious crimes have 
been perpetrated by former Lorton residents.
  While there are many instances of former Lorton inmates wreaking 
havoc when they are released, there are also many untold stories of 
dangerous crimes which occur inside the prison. According to court 
documents, an inmate was playing basketball while wearing a gold chain 
around his neck worth $1,200, two diamond rings worth $300 a piece, and 
a watch worth $100. When the inmate left the gymnasium, he was accosted 
by two masked inmates, was stabbed and robbed. It is unthinkable, 
unbelievable, irresponsible, and totally inappropriate that this inmate 
had jewelry in the first place, and second that this violent attack 
even occurred.
  Originally, Lorton was designed as a workcamp for misdemeanants and 
drunkards, in which men lived and worked side by side in dormitories in 
an effort to rehabilitate themselves. Today, Lorton's facilities are 
outmoded, outdated, and its present use is contrary to the purposes for 
which it was originally intended. The same dormitories which were 
designed to hold nonviolent, minimum security prisoners currently house 
up to 150 notoriously dangerous convicts. Making matters worse, these 
dangerous men are guarded by one unarmed guard. In some circumstances 
they go unguarded. I have heard story after story of inmates attacking 
inmates and guards.
  These are not isolated incidents. Every year, there are many murders, 
assaults, and malicious woundings in the prison. Drugs are as easy to 
obtain as procuring them on the street. Guards deal in narcotics or 
they look the other way--partly because some are corrupt, partly 
because some don't care, and partly because some know there is little 
control and they are fearful of a riot. The problems are so bad that 
there are seven FBI agents and three assistant U.S. attorneys who work 
on criminal investigations and prosecutions at Lorton.
  Because the prison budget is so strained, there has been public 
discussion that District officials may consider closing one facility, 
thereby exacerbating overcrowding and its related dangers. They may 
close several guard towers, they may return hundreds of felons now in 
Federal facilities on a reimbursable basis and other States' facilities 
to Lorton, or may cut back further on staff. I believe the time is 
right and the time is now for Congress to address these important 
issues in partnership with the mayor and city council, and solve these 
daunting problems.
  Mr. Speaker, clearly this reform agenda is ambitious. This situation 
is such that it requires a bold new direction. President William Howard 
Taft, who succeeded Theodore Roosevelt as President, commented on the 
D.C. jail in 1909:

       It is a reproach to the National Government that almost 
     under the shadow of the Capitol dome prisoners should be 
     confined in a building destitute of the ordinary decent 
     appliances requisite to cleanliness and sanitary conditions.

  That condition, and worse still exists today at Lorton. This bill is 
the first step in the process to reform D.C. prisoners, combat crime in 
the District, and renew Washington, DC.
  Mr. Speaker, in closing I would like to reiterate my intention to 
reach out to all the interested parties to forge a win-win proposal for 
the District, Virginia, and the inmates who live in Lorton. I would 
like to thank all those people who are working toward this common goal, 
including William Moschella of my staff who has worked tirelessly for 
several years on a solution to this challenging problem.

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