[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 66 (Tuesday, May 6, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E879]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           PUBLIC SAFETY ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. TED STRICKLAND

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, May 6, 2003

  Mr. STRICKLAND. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing the Public Safety 
Act, a bill designed to put a stop to the privatization of an extremely 
important public safety responsibility of government: the incarceration 
of criminals.
  The Public Safety Act, which I have introduced in each of the last 
two Congresses, enjoys the wide support of many groups that represent 
the interests of correctional officers. The American Federation of 
Government Employees (AFGE), the American Federation of State, County, 
and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and the Service Employees 
International Union (SEIU), as well as several other prison interest 
groups, all support this legislation.
  When governments contract out their responsibility to incarcerate 
inmates to private prison corporations, taxpayers lose much of the 
valuable oversight that they have of government agencies. Nevertheless, 
taxpayers are still forced to assume much of the financial and legal 
liability associated with the operation of private prisons. If there 
are riots or breakouts, local government authorities are often called 
in to handle the situation. Furthermore, when a private prison official 
violates an inmate's rights, the taxpayers from the community--not the 
prison corporation--foot the bill for the lawsuit. To address these 
growing concerns, I will be reintroducing the Public Safety Act, which 
would prohibit the privatization of federal prisons. The bill also 
would prohibit state and local governments from using any federal funds 
made available to them for the purpose of providing core correctional 
services (such as the housing, safe-guarding, protecting, and 
disciplining of inmates) to contract out those services to private 
corporations.
  A common argument used by privateers is that the private sector can 
incarcerate prisoners more cheaply, thereby saving taxpayer dollars. 
Having worked in a prison, however, I know that the easiest way to cut 
costs in a correctional facility is to cut the wages and benefits of 
the personnel. The result of this is to employ a poorly trained staff 
with little experience, creating a danger for everyone who works in the 
facility and everyone who lives in the surrounding community. The 
result of cutting expenses in corrections is cutting corners, and 
cutting corners is unacceptable when it comes to protecting public 
safety.
  My bill will prohibit the Federal Government from contracting out its 
responsibility to incarcerate criminals. The bill would also prevent 
States and local governments from using federal funds to contract out 
core correctional services to private corporations. Even as I speak, 
the Bureau of Prisons is asking Congress to appropriate money for a new 
contract facility for female inmates, which is a giant step in the 
wrong direction from the BOP'S request from last year for dollars to 
build a government facility for female inmates. The Office of 
Management and Budget is also forcing the BOP to contract out part of 
its own workforce. The assault on public safety is not only at the 
federal level, however. There is even greater concern at the state and 
local levels that governments experiencing tough financial times may 
contract out their responsibilities with the hope of saving money. The 
Public Safety Act will prevent States and local governments from using 
federal dollars in the form of Homeland Security block grants or 
otherwise to forfeit their responsibility to administer justice.
  I urge all my colleagues to support this important piece of 
legislation so that we can ensure that the Federal government fulfills 
its responsibility to provide for public safety, and I hope that the 
Public Safety Act will be considered by the House of Representatives 
soon.

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