[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 138 (Tuesday, December 7, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2195]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   STATE OF THE AFRICAN AMERICAN MALE

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BARBARA LEE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 7, 2004

  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to discuss the State of the African 
American Male conference, a national initiative of the Congressional 
Black Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation to focus our 
Nation's attention on solutions to the escalating crisis in the Black 
community.
  This past Friday, December 3, I hosted this national initiative in 
Oakland. Included were a visit to a prison college program, free health 
screenings at the conference and concurrent solutions-focused 
workshops. It was attended by nearly 400 people, more than 60 of whom 
were formerly incarcerated individuals.
  The focus of the Oakland conference was on solutions for formerly 
incarcerated individuals and the challenges that prevent them from 
smoothly re-entering our communities. The Oakland Police Department 
reports that some 80 percent of the 114 homicides committed in Oakland 
in 2003 involved people on parole or probation. For that reason, I felt 
compelled to focus the conference in my district on the steps that we 
as a community and as Members of Congress can take to begin to reverse 
this alarming trend.
  The Oakland Conference was an important opportunity for us to examine 
closely what were the factors associated with the failure of our 
corrections system. I wanted to look at the needs and solutions for 
successful re-entry to our communities.
  On the morning before the afternoon conference, I invited my 
distinguished colleague from the Judiciary Committee, Sheila Jackson-
Lee, and members of the clergy to join me for a visit to San Quentin 
College. Offering an Associate of Arts degree, the college program at 
San Quentin prison is the only on-site, degree-granting college program 
in the entire California corrections system. It is one of only a few in 
the United States. It is an extension site of Patten University in 
Oakland, California. The curriculum at San Quentin includes courses 
such as American Government, literature, ethics and communication.
  Without the warden and without other prison officials present, we 
spent nearly an hour listening carefully to five prisoners who are 
serving sentences of various lengths. These gentlemen described the 
rewards of getting a college education while serving their sentences. 
Even a prisoner serving a life sentence described the positive 
influence it has had on his life and that he encourages other prisoners 
to get an education. Another prisoner told us how his bond with his 
school-age daughter was strengthened by their sharing each other's 
homework. He talked of the pride he felt at being able to help her with 
her math for the first time. Yet, these prisoners reported that it is 
often difficult to maintain the motivation to make major life changes 
when it takes nearly two weeks for them to receive their mail from 
loved ones, and costs them $15 for a ten-minute telephone call.
  When family and community ties are so essential to a successful 
transition, then why do we permit such barriers to be erected between 
prisoners and the people who care most about them?
  The difficulties these prisoners face during the re-entry process are 
further exacerbated by the fact that since 1994, Pell grants have been 
denied to individuals who are incarcerated. Why do we permit such 
barriers to remain when it is clear that education and job training are 
essential to a successful transition to our communities?
  These funding cuts are part of a broader trend that began in 1977, 
when the California Department of Corrections eliminated rehabilitation 
from its mission and since then its mission has been solely to punish. 
When I was in the California Assembly, my colleagues and I attempted to 
correct this, but were prevented by a prevailing, but ill-informed 
``tough on crime'' ideology. It is outrageous and immoral and in my 
district in the City of Oakland, we saw the consequences in 2003 in the 
114 homicides.
  Cost benefit analyses demonstrating the value of college over prisons 
are well known and well documented. When it is clear that college is 
better than prison, why do we continue to incarcerate more black males 
than we educate?
  At the Oakland conference, education was just one area of the re-
entry process that we examined. In addition, health screenings were 
provided in the areas of HIV, prostate cancer, hypertension, diabetes 
and cholesterol, and all tests were free and open to the public. 
Provided by National Black Nurses Association, Kaiser Permanente, the 
Ethnic Health Institute and California Prevention and Education Project 
this component of the program addressed basic health concerns of Black 
men.
  Congressman Danny Davis, who began the State of the African American 
Male initiative, joined Congresswoman Jackson-Lee and me for the 
Conference. Solutions Conferences have been held around the United 
States in order to create a clearinghouse of best practices. In the 
Oakland Conference in my district, Topics for the concurrent Solutions 
Workshops included: Re-Entry Programs; Record Expungement; Sentencing 
Alternatives; Employment and Training; Health; Housing; Education; and 
Funding Sources. When the workshop moderators reported out their 
solutions, it was abundantly clear that the expertise and assistance 
and innovative programs exist.
  Mr. Speaker, I was proud to announce at the Oakland Conference that 
one Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Scholarship per year in my 
district will be designated for a formerly incarcerated person. I was 
also proud to announce that a second event will be held on Saturday, 
January 22, 2005 where I will bring together 60 attorneys from the 
Charles Houston Bar Association and the San Francisco Bar Association 
to provide record expungement assistance to formerly incarcerated 
individuals. This will be an opportunity for several hundred people to 
get a clean slate.
  What is needed, Mr. Speaker is for such programs to become a national 
priority.
  Rather than setting up people in the correction system for failure by 
offering them little means of turning their lives around, we must 
restore Pell grants to incarcerated individuals. One of the programs in 
Oakland--Project Choice--provides support services to prisoners before 
they get out and stays with them. But Project Choice only has funding 
to support 40 of the 3,000 people paroled each year to Oakland.
  Without programs like San Quentin College, Project Choice and others, 
without the support of their families and communities, these prisoners 
will return to the life that led them to prison in the first place. As 
a nation, we must provide alternatives. This is not only a matter of 
public safety, but is truly our moral responsibility. It is our 
obligation as members of the human race.

                          ____________________