[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 78 (Thursday, June 13, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5537-S5538]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. KENNEDY (for himself and Mr. Sessions):
  S. 2619. A bill to provide for the analysis of the incidence and 
effects of prison rape in Federal, State, and local institutions and to 
provide information, resources, recommendations, and funding to protect 
individuals from prison rape; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Madam President, as the Supreme Court has made clear, 
``being violently assaulted in prison is simply not part of the penalty 
that criminal offenders pay for their offenses against society.'' 
Government officials have a duty under the Constitution to prevent 
prison violence.
  Too often, however, officials fail to take obvious steps to protect 
vulnerable inmates. Prison rape is a serious problem in our Nation's 
prisons, jails, and detention facilities. Of the two million prisoners 
in the United States, it is conservatively estimated that one in ten 
has been raped. According to a 1996 study, 22 percent of prisoners in 
Nebraska had been pressured or forced to have sex against their will 
while incarcerated. Human Rights Watch recently reported, ``shockingly 
high rates of sexual abuse'' in U.S. prisons.
  Prison rape causes severe physical and psychological pain to its 
victims. It also leads to the increased transmission of HIV, hepatitis, 
and other diseases. The brutalization in prison also makes it more 
likely that prisoners will commit crimes after they are released, as 
600,000 prisoners are each year.
  To deal with this serious problem, Senator Sessions  and I are today 
introducing the Prison Rape Reduction Act of 2002. This bipartisan 
legislation is intended to address the prison-rape epidemic in an 
effective and comprehensive manner, while still respecting the primary 
role of States and local governments in administering prisons and 
jails.
  Our bill directs the Department of Justice to conduct an annual 
statistical review and analysis of the frequency and effects of prison 
rape. It establishes a special panel to conduct hearings on prison 
systems, prisons, and jails where the incidence of rape is high. It 
directs the Attorney General to collect complaints of rape from 
inmates, transmit them to the appropriate authorities, and review how 
the authorities respond. It also directs the Attorney General to 
provide information, assistance, and training to Federal, State, and 
local authorities on the prevention, investigation, and punishment of 
prison rape.
  Our bill also authorizes $40 million in grants to enhance the 
prevention, investigation, and punishment of prison rape. These grants 
will strengthen the ability of state and local officials to prevent 
these abuses.
  Finally, our bill establishes a commission that will conduct hearings 
over two years and recommend national correctional standards on a wide 
range of issues, including inmate classification, investigation of rape 
complaints, trauma case for rape victims, disease prevention, and staff 
training. These standards should apply as soon as possible to the 
Federal Bureau of Prisons. Prison accreditation organizations that 
receive Federal funding should also adopt the standards. States should 
adopt the standards too. If they ``opt out'' by passing a statute, they 
will suffer no penalty, but States that fail to act at all will lose 20 
percent of their prison-related federal funding.
  Our bill is supported by a broad coalition of religious, civil 
rights, and human rights organizations, including the Salvation Army, 
the Southern Baptist Convention, the National Association of 
Evangelicals, Prison Fellowship, Focus on the Family, the Presbyterian 
Church, the Justice Policy Institute, the Sentencing Project, Youth Law 
Center, Human Rights Watch, the National Association for the 
Advancement of Colored People, and the National Council of La Raza. 
Together, these diverse groups have demonstrated impressive moral 
leadership on this issue.
  It is a privilege to work on this legislation with Congressmen Frank 
Wolf and Bobby Scott in the House and Senator Sessions in the Senate. 
While we may disagree on other issues relating to criminal justice, we 
all recognize that rape is unacceptable, and it is long past time to 
end it.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Madam President, I want to commend Senator Kennedy for 
his leadership on the important issue of reducing prison rape. I have 
enjoyed working with him to craft and refine the legislation that we 
are introducing today, the Prison Rape Reduction Act of 2002. Though 
Senator Kennedy and I come from different backgrounds and have 
different political philosophies, we both agree that Congress should 
act to reduce prison rape.
  I would also like to thank Congressman Frank Wolf and Bobby Scott for 
their important leadership on this bill in the House of 
Representatives. Congressman Wolf is a recognized champion for human 
dignity across the globe and this legislation to reduce prison rape is 
consistent with his philosophy. Congressman Scott is very knowledgeable 
on criminal law issues. While he and I have agreed and disagreed on 
many issues over the years, we agree on the need to reduce prison rape.
  As a Federal prosecutor for 15 years and as Attorney General of 
Alabama, I sent many guilty criminals to prison where they belong. I 
believed that they should be treated fairly in court, and I treated 
them fairly. I also believe that they should be treated fairly in 
prison. Most prison wardens and sheriffs are outstanding public 
servants that do an excellent job of supervising inmates, and I commend 
my friends in the law enforcement community for their hard work in this 
area.
  However, knowingly subjecting a prisoner to rape is cruel and unusual 
punishment under the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution of the United 
States. Some studies have estimated that over 10 percent of the inmates 
in certain prisons are subject to rape. I hope that this statistic is 
an exaggeration. Nonetheless, it is the duty of Government officials to 
ensure that criminals who are convicted and sentenced to prison serve 
the sentence imposed by the judge and rape is not a part of any lawful 
sentence.
  This bill responds to the problem of rape of prison inmates in three 
principal ways. First, the bill establishes a bipartisan National 
Commission that will study prison rape at the federal, state, and local 
levels. Within 2 years, the commission will publish the results

[[Page S5538]]

of its study and make recommendations on how to reduce prison rape.
  Second, the bill directs the Attorney General to issue a rule for the 
reduction of prison rape in Federal prisons. To avoid a 20 percent 
reduction in certain Federal funds, each State will have to pass a 
statute that either adopts or rejects the standards for State prisons. 
This bill contains no unfunded mandate to order States how to deal with 
prison rape. It does, however, require that they address the issue.
  Third, the bill will require the Department of Justice to conduct 
statistical surveys on prison rape for Federal, State, and local 
prisons and jails. Further, the Department of Justice will select 
officials in charge of certain prisons with an incidence of prison rape 
exceeding the national average by 30 percent to come to Washington and 
testify to the Department about the prison rape problem in their 
institution. If they refuse to testify, the prison will lose 20 percent 
of certain Federal funds.
  In addition, the bill provides for $40 million in grants to States 
for prevention, investigation, and prosecution of prison rape. This 
will help the States to reduce repeat offenses by inmates.
  A broad and bipartisan array of organizations and individuals have 
added their support to this bill. The list includes: American 
Psychological Association; American Values; Biblical Witness 
Fellowship, UCC; Camp Fire USA; Center for Religious Freedom, Freedom 
House; Christian Rescue Committee; Citizens United for Rehabilitation 
of Errants--Virginia, Inc. (Virginia CURE); Disciple Renewal; Focus on 
the Family; Mary Ann Glendon, Learned Hand Professor of Law, Harvard 
Law School; Good News, UMC; Human Rights Watch; Human Rights and the 
Drug War; Institute on Religion and Democracy; Justice Policy 
Institute; Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs; National 
Association for the Advancement of Colored People; National Association 
of Evangelicals; National Association of School Psychologists; National 
Center on Institutions and Alternatives; National Council for La Raza; 
National Network for Youth; National Mental Health Association; Marvin 
Olasky, Editor--World Magazine; Partnership for Responsible Drug 
Information; Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.); Prison Fellowship; Religious 
Action Center of Reform Judaism; Renew Network; Research and Policy 
Reform, Inc.; Salvation Army; The Sentencing Project; Southern Baptist 
Convention; Stop Prison Rape; Unitarian Universalists for Juvenile 
Justice; Volunteers of America; and Youth Law Center.

  I am especially proud of the evangelical Christian groups for their 
work in gathering support for the bill. They have worked tirelessly for 
ethics and compassion in government, and this legislation reflects 
those values.
  I would also like to thank Linda Chavez and Mike Horowitz for the 
ideas that started this legislative initiative. Well-conceived, 
carefully crafted ideas drive many legislative and political 
initiatives that become law after people work together to form a 
bipartisan, moral position.
  I also want to commend the hard work of Bill Pryor, the attorney 
general of Alabama, who will end up dealing with the effects of this 
legislation at the state level. Bill has worked with Prison Fellowship, 
has talked with Alabama prison officials, and has worked with me on 
this legislation. In addition to being an outstanding legal scholar and 
leader among all the States' attorneys general, Bill cares about people 
and demands fairness in how the State treats both victims and 
prisoners. I was very pleased that Attorney General Pryor joined us at 
the press conference to express his support of the bill.
  This bill will address prison rape, not through unfunded mandates and 
lawsuits, but through examining the problem and allowing sunshine to 
expose deficiencies that need to be addressed. This bill is a necessary 
step to reform and a bipartisan step toward justice.
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