[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 84 (Monday, June 10, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1040]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          MANDATORY FEDERAL PRISON DRUG TREATMENT ACT OF 1996

                                 ______


                               speech of

                     HON. MICHAEL PATRICK FLANAGAN

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 4, 1996

  Mr. FLANAGAN. Mr. Speaker, on June 4, 1996, the House unanimously 
passed H.R. 2650, the Mandatory Federal Prison Drug Treatment Act 
introduced by my Judiciary Committee colleague, Congressman Fred 
Heineman. This legislation helps rectify an inequity in the law that 
occurred when Congress passed the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law 
Enforcement Act, also known as the 1994 crime bill, 2 years ago.
  Presently, by completing a drug treatment program a prisoner can get 
out of jail up to 1 year earlier than someone who does not have an 
abuse problem. Preferential treatment is thus given to the person who 
has illegally used drugs rather than to the person who is drug free. 
This sentencing disparity must end, It is absurd that prisoners with 
drug problems are able to have sentences reduced while those who are 
drug free do not have the same advantage. The law actually benefits 
those with drug addictions rather than those who are substance abuse 
free.
  It is a bit absurd that a prisoner who does not have an abuse problem 
cannot receive credit for his or her good behavior while someone who 
has a drug problem can. This is a little like a school rewarding a 
student who behaves well on Halloween, after having been malicious the 
year before, for good behavior while the student who never got into 
trouble receives nothing. It is simply not equitable. No one should be 
rewarded for avoiding bad behavior that should not have occurred in the 
first place.
  Fortunately, H.R. 2650 corrects this disparity. The legislation 
eliminates the Bureau of Prison's discretionary authority to grant 
early release to nonviolent drug addicted prisoners in the same way 
that nondrug addicts are granted early release. It also stops the 
accrual of early release time that a ``treated'' prisoner can earn 
through good behavior and requires that prisoners be drug free upon 
their release from prison.
  I applaud this legislation and especially compliment Congressman Fred 
Heineman for his yeoman like work on this initiative. I hope the other 
body will quickly act on this legislation and that the President will 
soon sign this much needed reform into law.

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