[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 114 (Thursday, September 14, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H6561-H6579]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    FEDERAL PRISON INDUSTRIES COMPETITION IN CONTRACTING ACT OF 2006

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 997 and rule 
XVIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of the Whole House 
on the State of the Union for the consideration of the bill, H.R. 2965.

                              {time}  1132


                     In the Committee of the Whole

  Accordingly, the House resolved itself into the Committee of the 
Whole House on the State of the Union for the consideration of the bill 
(H.R. 2965) to amend title 18, United States Code, to require Federal 
Prison Industries to compete for its contracts minimizing its unfair 
competition with private sector firms and their noninmate workers and 
empowering Federal agencies to get the best value for taxpayers' 
dollars, to provide a 5-year period during which Federal Prison 
Industries adjusts to obtaining inmate work opportunities through other 
than its mandatory source status, to enhance inmate access to remedial 
and vocational opportunities and other rehabilitative opportunities to 
better prepare inmates for a successful return to society, to authorize 
alternative inmate work opportunities in support of nonprofit 
organizations and other public service programs, and for other 
purposes, with Mr. Boozman in the chair.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered read the 
first time.
  The gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner) and the gentleman 
from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) each will control 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Wisconsin.
  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2965, the Federal 
Prison Industries Competition and Contracting Act of 2006. This bill is 
substantially similar to H.R. 1829, which this body passed 
overwhelmingly during the 108th Congress by a vote of 350-65.
  As reported by the Judiciary Committee, the bill includes additional 
bipartisan improvements that resulted from negotiations with the 
Justice Department, prison fellowship, and other interested parties.
  Since my early days in the Congress, I have been committed to 
reforming Federal Prison Industries, or FPI, because I believe the 
manner in which this program currently operates imposes unacceptable 
burdens on government agencies, taxpayers, inmates, and private sector 
businesses.
  Under the current system, Federal agencies are required by law to 
purchase FPI products that meet the agencies' requirements and do not 
exceed current market prices. The mandatory source requirement 
eliminates competition with the private sector, harming businesses and 
stifling the creation of new jobs for law-abiding Americans. FPI enjoys 
a mandatory market for its goods, a facility to produce them in and 
cheap labor to manufacture them.
  Despite these advantages, government agencies frequently pay more for 
FPI products than if they were purchased from the private sector. The 
Government Accountability Office concluded in a 1988 report that ``The 
only limitation on FPI's price is that it may not exceed the upper end 
of the current market price range.'' The GAO report also raised 
questions about the timeliness of delivery of these products and the 
quality of FPI products.
  While the FPI has had serious problems, this legislation does not 
seek to eliminate it, but would reform FPI to require that it compete 
for Federal Government contracts in the same manner as other 
businesses. FPI is well equipped to succeed in the competitive 
marketplace because it is not faced with the same operating costs as 
average businesses, such as providing health insurance, retirement 
benefits, or paying union wages. And the facilities, of course, that 
FPI does use in the manufacturing process are Federal prisons and not 
on property tax rolls.
  In recent years, FPI has demonstrated its competitiveness by 
obtaining several large, multiyear contracts with the Department of 
Defense and other Federal agencies, even though government procurement 
policies have been changed to permit these agencies to determine 
whether FPI products meet competitive pricing and quality benchmarks.
  This legislation also helps inmates by establishing a position of 
Inmate Work Training Administrator to create additional inmate work 
opportunities, and allows FPI to create a program that will allow 
inmates to perform jobs that are being performed outside the United 
States. The bill also addresses concerns about providing meaningful 
training for inmates by requiring FPI to devote some of its earnings to 
additional inmate vocational training, education opportunities, and 
release preparation.
  The bill increases access to educational opportunities, including 
remedial and modern, hands-on vocational programs which have been shown 
to be effective in reducing recidivism. The bill provides alternative 
inmate work opportunities by authorizing the production of products or 
services for donation to community service organizations, and allows 
Federal inmates to perform public service work for units of local 
government.
  Finally, the bill addresses concerns about the low wages paid to 
inmates by requiring the Secretary of Labor to establish an inmate 
training wage in consultation with the Attorney General for those 
performing FPI jobs.
  Mr. Chairman, as Members of Congress, we have a duty to ensure that 
government corporations do not take away opportunities from small 
businesses. We have a duty to ensure that the taxpayers' money is 
wisely spent. Neither of these things can be guaranteed under the 
current FPI regime. By passing this legislation we will ensure that all 
Federal Government agencies will have the ability to utilize taxpayer 
dollars in the most efficient manner possible, and that private 
industry will have the right to compete with FPI for contracts.
  H.R. 2965 will also ensure the continued viability of FPI, and 
provides many avenues for FPI to pursue alternative rehabilitative work 
and training opportunities for inmates.
  Mr. Chairman, I am proud of this comprehensive legislation to reform 
the Federal Prison Industries. I urge Members to support it.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself as much time as I may 
consume.
  Ladies and gentlemen of the Congress, this is a very important and 
sensitive issue that is being brought by Chairman Sensenbrenner and 
myself

[[Page H6562]]

today in support of H.R. 2965: How do we deal with the rehabilitation 
of prisoners and balance it against the rising unemployment that is 
affecting and afflicting this Nation so much?
  As currently drafted, this bill, to me, strikes the appropriate 
balance between the needs of Federal inmates versus the needs of 
everyday men and women looking for gainful employment in the civilian 
workforce; and this was arrived at through a great deal of activity and 
negotiation with Members on both sides of the aisle.
  First, the legislation establishes a gradual phaseout of the current 
mandatory source requirement. As many know, the mandatory source 
requirement compels all Federal agencies to purchase their goods and 
services from the Federal Prison Industries program. A phaseout of this 
requirement will allow private sector companies to effectively compete 
for additional Federal contracts, which in turn will produce an 
increase in private sector jobs, many to be filled by members of our 
local labor unions across the country.
  The second thing we do here is to ensure that the Federal inmates 
continue to have adequate access to training opportunities during and 
after the phaseout. The legislation authorizes a minimum of $75 million 
a year for purposes of educating inmates and teaching them valuable 
vocational skills. This new language was added to the text of the 
underlying bill at my request and will guarantee that all Federal 
inmates are equipped with the necessary skills to successfully reenter 
society upon their release from prison.
  This has been a very difficult problem in the corrections arena over 
the years. This is not new. It is something we have been working on for 
a long time, and we have come to this new agreement that is embodied in 
H.R. 2965.
  And, finally, to protect against inmate idleness and assure that the 
safety of prison guards is intact, the legislation includes what has 
been referred to as a safety valve. The safety valve would allow the 
Attorney General to direct the award of a sole-source contract to the 
Federal Prison Industries whenever necessary to, ``prevent 
circumstances that could reasonably be expected to significantly 
endanger the safe and effective administration'' of a particular 
prison.
  Now, we all know that the job market, and the economy as a whole for 
that matter, have not fared well under the current administration. In 
Michigan alone the State's unemployment rate is roughly 7 percent, but 
in some areas it is 5 or 6 times that much, which, as of this summer, 
tied Michigan's unemployment rate for the second highest in the Nation.
  Something has to be done to help these hardworking men and women 
obtain jobs in the private sector and yet continue the support for 
Prison Industries which has worked so well, and this bill represents 
the best thinking in that regard. That is why this legislation has been 
endorsed by the United Automobile Workers, the Teamsters, the Food and 
Commercial Workers, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, the 
Machinists United, and many others. I think that we finally reached the 
kind of a compromise that takes both of these matters into 
consideration, how we deal with the problem of rising unemployment in 
the private sector, and with the great challenge to prepare those who 
are coming out of incarceration to gain valuable vocational skills and 
prepare themselves for returning to our society.
  I urge your serious consideration of this matter.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CONYERS. I yield 7 minutes to my colleague who has worked on this 
matter for many years, Bobby Scott, a distinguished member of the 
Judiciary Committee from Virginia.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to H.R. 
2965, the Federal Prison Industries Competition in Contracting Act.
  The Federal Prison Industries program was signed into law by 
President Roosevelt in 1934, in the midst of the Great Depression. This 
program was enacted as a way to protect the public by teaching 
prisoners real work habits and skills, so that when they are released, 
they will be better able to find and hold a job to support themselves 
and their families and be less likely to commit crimes in the future.

                              {time}  1145

  It is clear that the program has done just that. Follow-up studies 
covering as much as 16 years of data have shown that inmates who 
participate in Prison Industries are much more likely to be employed 
and much less likely to commit crimes than prisoners who do not 
participate in the program. While this certainly benefits offenders and 
their families, the real public policy benefit is that, as a result of 
this program, there are fewer victims of crime.
  Contrary to the indication given by the proponents of this bill, the 
FPI program does not have a significant impact on business and labor. 
In its first year of operation, the percent of Federal contract 
procurement from FPI represented one-fourth of 1 percent of total 
annual Federal agency procurement dollars; and it is the same today, 
one-fourth of 1 percent, and this is just Federal procurement. It is 
obviously a minuscule portion of the total economy.
  Critics, who were philosophically opposed to the program back in the 
1930s and they are still opposed today, suggest that FPI has caused 
substantial losses in jobs for law-abiding citizens. The furniture and 
apparel industries are the two industries in which FPI has 
traditionally done most of its work. When asked under oath, 
representatives of these industries testified that the FPI sales 
represent an insignificant and negligible portion of their industries. 
At our last hearing, the office furniture industry representative was 
not able to point to any loss to his industry caused by FPI.
  I am the first to concede that there may be problems with FPI that 
need improvement, and we have made improvements through activities in 
Congress and the FPI board over the last 10 years. While it is 
understandable that every company that does not get a contract that FPI 
gets may be disappointed, just as they would be disappointed if another 
company got the same contract, the public safety and institutional 
safety and management benefits of this program have an insignificant 
impact on business and labor, and it is a public policy success story.
  All able inmates in the Federal system are required, by law, to work. 
Non-FPI inmate jobs pay about $0.12 to $0.30 an hour, while FPI jobs 
pay about $1 up to $1.15 per hour. There are currently enough FPI jobs 
for only 18 percent of the work-eligible population. The other 82 
percent of the prisoners work in non-FPI-related maintenance jobs.
  In 2000, FPI jobs represented 25 percent of the prison jobs. In 
recent years, however, because we have passed restrictions like there 
are in this bill, there are fewer jobs and that has caused the 
elimination of over 2,000 jobs at the same time that the prison 
population has increased by 23,000 inmates, and it is still increasing. 
This bill will shrink FPI jobs even more.
  We need to promote, not reduce, Federal Prison Industries jobs 
because the FPI program strongly supports education. To hold down an 
FPI job, an inmate must have completed high school, or be making steady 
progress towards obtaining a GED, and maintain a good record of 
behavior. This is not only true for those who hold FPI jobs but also 
those who are on the waiting list for a job, as well as those seeking 
to establish eligibility to be placed on the waiting list; and once in 
an FPI job, an inmate cannot earn more than $0.40 an hour until he 
earns a GED. That is why FPI is not only a great job skills development 
and education development tool, but it is also a great management tool 
to help ensure prisons operate efficiently and safely for prison 
employees as well as inmates. I have never met a prison administrator 
who does not support this program.
  Few offenders enter the program with marketable work skills. The vast 
majority do not even have basic work habits, such as showing up for 
work on time each day and working cooperatively and productively with 
others. Such work habits are required to maintain an FPI job. These are 
the same work habits required to be a good, productive, desirable 
worker anywhere, and that is why inmates who have FPI work experience 
have been found to be significantly more employable than those that do 
not.

[[Page H6563]]

  I oppose this bill because it will obviously reduce job 
opportunities. The bill amends the current requirement in law for 
agencies to purchase goods from FPI and establishes a competitive bid 
process for agency purchases of goods and services from FPI, unless the 
Attorney General and the Bureau of Prisons certify that they cannot 
safely run the prisons without the particular contract award. It is 
unrealistic to expect that any official would publicly admit such a 
level of incompetence in order to obtain a contract, so it is unlikely 
that that provision will ever be used.
  The bill claims to make an effort to replace mandatory source and 
service contracts by providing a transition preference program for 
agencies using FPI, by authorizing new options such as providing 
products or services to charitable and nonprofit organizations 
contingent on appropriations, by allowing FPI to provide services and 
products to Federal agencies on a noncompetitive basis if they would 
otherwise be provided from offshore, and by authorizing work training 
programs for FPI to produce goods and services for private companies if 
the goods and services are not produced anywhere in the United States.
  However, there is no basis for concluding that these authorities 
would replace the loss of jobs now available and legally sanctioned, 
and it is unlikely to suspect that the appropriations would be made or 
that the job training programs will be sufficient because most of the 
job training programs are 2 years at most. Obviously, people with 
longer sentences cannot benefit from that.
  So before we decimate what the Department of Justice defines as the 
most important rehabilitation program, without a reliable replacement 
for those jobs, I believe we should direct a comprehensive study of its 
impact on labor and business and its beneficial impact on public safety 
before we do anything else.
  In the face of all the good that this program does, I do not believe 
that we should throw the baby out with the bath water. Mr. Chairman, I 
would hope that we would defeat the bill and we maintain these jobs.

  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman 
from Michigan (Mr. Hoekstra), the author of the bill.
  Mr. HOEKSTRA. Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank the chairman of the 
Judiciary Committee, as well as the ranking member of the committee, 
for the great work that we have been able to do together and the 
support that I have gotten from various individuals, as well as Mr. 
Frank, Mr. Coble, Mrs. Maloney. We have put together a very effective 
bipartisan team to work on this issue.
  My colleague from Wisconsin calls me the Johnny-come-lately to this 
issue, and he was working on this well before I did. I feel honored to 
have him call me the author of this bill, and I am only the author of 
this bill because in all the other things that the chairman of 
Judiciary Committee is working on he has given me the opportunity to 
lead on this issue.
  But I very much appreciate the work that we have done with Mr. 
Conyers as well. It has been a very, very effective group.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. HOEKSTRA. I yield to the gentleman from the great State of 
Michigan.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank Mr. Hoekstra personally 
for the great work that he has done, not just on this bill but earlier 
bills as well. This is not a subject on which you have just jumped 
onboard. I appreciate, across the years, our working together on it.
  Mr. HOEKSTRA. Well, thank you very much, and it is because of this 
kind of cooperation.
  My objective is still to get our other colleague over there, Mr. 
Scott, onboard. We have evolved this bill a long way to try to get Mr. 
Scott to be onboard in terms of the phase-in and phase-out of the 
provisions of this bill, the number of other work opportunities that we 
have put into this bill, the opportunities to work with not-for-profits 
and those types of things, but we are not quite there yet. Are we 
there?
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. HOEKSTRA. I yield to the gentleman from Virginia.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for 
yielding.
  I would tell my friend from Michigan that you would get my support if 
you just guaranteed that the jobs would be there. We need people 
working on these jobs. If they are working on jobs, there will be less 
crime. So anything that will guarantee the jobs I can support.
  Mr. HOEKSTRA. Reclaiming my time, I think the bill allows the 
Attorney General and gives the Attorney General the responsibility to 
make sure that the Attorney General can take the actions necessary to 
keep prisons safe and to allow workers or prisoners to get the skills 
that they need.
  We have put together a very, very good coalition, the business 
groups, the Teamsters, the organized labor, UAW, UNITE-HERE, 
Machinists, Carpenters and a lot of other folks.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Chairman, if the gentleman would yield to just allow 
me this, because I think what the gentleman from Virginia raised is a 
very important point, somebody better guarantee me the jobs, too, 
because that is what this is all about. We are not just writing 
language to go into the law books. We want some action, and I do not 
know who gives out guarantees around here, but I will be the first one 
in line to get it. I am glad that that is your position as well.
  Mr. HOEKSTRA. Mr. Chairman, I will reclaim my time. I am sure Mr. 
Scott is going to have a little bit more time.
  If I could complete my statement, I recognize the difference, but I 
would hope that folks on both sides would recognize the tremendous 
effort that we have put in bringing together a lot of different folks 
to address the issues, both from the workers and the industries that 
may be affected, but also the individuals in the prisons.
  This effort is also supported by Prison Fellowship, that has a very 
great passion for making sure that people who have found their way into 
our prison systems, that when they come out, that they have developed 
the skills that have enabled them to integrate effectively back into 
society.
  I think, with the support that we have developed, it is a clear 
indication that this is a well-balanced approach between those 
competing interests.
  I will close with my comments. It is just good to be able to stand 
here on this bill, to be able to work with the chairman and to be able 
to work across the aisle and to take a look at the consensus that we 
have developed on this bill. It is how the House should work.
  I encourage my colleagues to support this bill that has come through 
the Judiciary Committee. Let us move this forward and let us work 
together to get something done in the Senate as well.
  Mr. Chairman, H.R. 1965, the Hoekstra-Frank-Maloney-Sensenbrenner-
Conyers-Coble Federal Prison Industries Competition in Contracting Act 
of 2006 will bring fundamental, comprehensive, and balanced reform to 
Federal Prison Industries, Inc. (FPI).
  Because of FPI's status as a mandatory source, non-inmate workers and 
the firms that employ them are completely precluded from having the 
opportunity to even bid on $800 million in Federal contracting 
opportunities. Non-inmate workers and the firm's that employ them are 
denied the job opportunities funded by their tax dollars.
  That is why the bill is supported by a broad Coalition of business 
groups, led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce NFIB, and NAM. That is why 
the bill is concurrently supported by many unions in organized labor 
including the Teamsters, UAW, UNITE-HERE, Machinists, Carpenters, and 
UFCW.
  Because of FPI's mandatory source status, FPI's captive Federal 
agency customers cannot get the best value for the taxpayer dollars 
entrusted to their care. That is why H.R. 1829 enjoys the support of 
federal managers represented by the Federal Managers Association.
  The justification for FPI's mandatory source status is that inmate 
work opportunities helps combat idleness and better prepares inmates 
for a successful return to society. Neither of those cited benefits are 
linked to the corrosive manner in which FPI is currently permitted to 
operate in the Federal market.
  Frequently cited is the statistic that inmates participating in 
prison industry program are 24% less likely to return to prison. That 
finding is drawn from the report on a multi-year study by the Federal 
Bureau of Prisons, the Post-Release Employment Project (PREP). What

[[Page H6564]]

the proponents of the status quo forget to mention is that the same 
PREP study demonstrated that inmates participating in remedial and 
vocational educational programs were 33 percent less likely to return 
to prison. Such programs better prepare inmates for a successful return 
to society, but FPI does not use one dime of its gross profits, which 
were $117 million in Fiscal Year 2004, to fund such educational 
programs. No, those gross profits are devoted exclusively to FPI's 
expansion.
  Thanks to the work of my friend from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) and my 
friend from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) the bill expands the 
opportunities for Federal inmates to participate in remedial and modern 
hands-on vocational training programs. Those that are more likely to 
reduce recidivism.
  Similarly, the H.R. 2965 provides alternative work opportunities for 
inmate by authorizing them to do work for non-profit entities and units 
of local governments and special purpose districts, like school 
districts.
  During the Committee's consideration of the bill a Work-based 
Employment Preparation Program for Federal inmates. This program will 
provide Federal inmates with
  FPI's current model's cause real problems. H.R. 2965 provides the 
fundamental, comprehensive, and balanced solutions.
  I urge my colleagues to support our bill.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis), my friend and colleague, who has 
worked on this area for a long time.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the work that the 
Judiciary Committee has spent dealing with this very difficult and 
complex issue, and I want to thank the gentleman from Michigan for 
yielding.
  All of us know that one of the biggest problems facing inmates when 
they get out of prison is the ability to get a job. The best way that 
you can convince a potential employer that you understand the world of 
work is that you have been working. Therefore, this program which 
provides inmates an opportunity to work needs all of the protection 
that it can possibly get.
  I agree that we need to change some things about it. I would agree 
that we need to find a way to pay the inmates more, especially as they 
get close to release time so that maybe when they get out, they have 
got a little bit of money in their pocket that they can get started 
with back in civilian life.
  But to do anything that would reduce the possibility of individuals 
working while they are incarcerated goes against the grain. It does not 
benefit our correctional system. It does not benefit our correctional 
institutions.
  I spend time in the Federal prisons, and every administrator that I 
have come into contact with supports this program and wants to see it 
expanded, not reduced or possibly eliminated.
  I again thank the gentleman from Michigan.
  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman 
from North Carolina (Mr. Coble).
  Mr. COBLE. Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman for yielding.
  Mr. Chairman, this body has deliberated the role of Federal Prison 
Industries for several years. In 2003, the House approved a version of 
the vote by a decisive vote, and while that bill was not enacted, the 
House Judiciary Committee has continued to deliberate on reforming FPI.

                              {time}  1200

  I want to applaud the diligence of Chairman Sensenbrenner and 
Chairman Hoekstra, the distinguished gentleman from Michigan (Mr. 
Conyers), the ranking member of the full committee, and even though my 
good friend from Tidewater, Virginia, is misguided on this bill, we 
continue to be good friends. We have all worked together, and I think 
it is a good bill.
  I supported FPI reform in 2003, Mr. Chairman. While I still support 
this reform today, I am pleased with the changes in the bill to ensure 
that FPI will not be discouraged by its implementation of the bill 
before us. I have always argued that the sole source rule was really 
not justified and worked inevitably to the detriment of the private 
sector.
  Office furniture is an enormous business, as we all know. H.R. 2965 
will balance the playing field in the market for supply furniture to 
the Federal Government. Furniture manufacturing is an economic engine 
in the Sixth District of North Carolina, which I represent, and would 
welcome the opportunity to compete with FPI.
  Mr. Chairman, recidivism in our Federal penitentiaries is of grave 
concern. H.R. 2965, it appears to me, should not be construed as a 
movement away from inmate training. And, finally, the Second Chance 
Act, which Mr. Scott and I have nurtured through the House Judiciary 
Committee, is another example of this new trend regarding incarceration 
and, of course, that bill will be examined at a subsequent date.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Chairman, I would like at this time to recognize the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) for 2 minutes.
  (Mrs. MALONEY asked and was given permission to revise and extend her 
remarks.)
  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding and 
for leading so strongly on this important issue, and I rise in strong 
support of H.R. 2965, of which I have been a lead sponsor in many prior 
Congresses.
  This bill will bring comprehensive, fundamental, and balanced reform 
to the Federal Prison Industries, which is long overdue. This bill 
before us reflects improvements upon the bill in the 108th Congress, 
which passed 350-65.
  At the core of the bill is providing access to the Federal contract 
opportunities, now reserved for FPI because of its status as a 
mandatory source of supply for the various Federal agencies. In fiscal 
year 2004, that amounted to $802 million in business opportunities upon 
which private sector firms had no opportunity to bid. It will also 
protect jobs of American workers. FPI will no longer be able to come in 
and arbitrarily announce that they are taking their work, their 
contracts away, which happened to my constituents.
  Like many in this Chamber, I came to this issue from a problem 
created by FPI. FPI was about to take the contract that Glamour Glove, 
a manufacturer in my district, had won from the Department of Defense 
on a competitive basis. Glamour Glove, now called Glove Street, was the 
last union shop glove manufacturer in New York, and its proud members 
are members of UNITE.
  Working with my friend from Michigan, Mr. Hoekstra, and the 
leadership of UNITE, we were able to persuade the FPI board to change 
its plans. I know that my constituents were wondering why they had to 
seek the mercy of six people in Washington and the FPI board of 
directors to maintain their jobs.
  Out of that experience, Mr. Hoekstra and I began working together to 
put forward an opportunity for American workers to compete for these 
jobs. Each year, the bill has been modified to provide alternative 
rehab work opportunities for Federal inmates, and I congratulate Mr. 
Frank for his leadership and Mr. Conyers on the amendments they have 
added to improve the bill.
  From the outset of our effort, Mr. Frank led our effort to find 
alternative-inmate work opporunties for Federal inmates that would not 
provide unfair competition with non-inmate workers. First, by doing 
public service work for non-profit organizations that serve the poor. 
This first step has been broadened in each succeeding year.
  In the last Congress, we granted authority for Federal inmates to 
provide work in support of units of local government and special 
purpose districts, such as school districts. Protections were included 
against any displacement of non-inmate workers, either public employees 
or private sector.
  During the Committee's consideration H.R. 2965, they added a Work-
based Employment Preparation Program for Federal inmates. This program 
will provide Federal inmates with access to work-based training under 
the tuteledge of real-world employers. Again, the new provision has 
clear and enforceable protections against unfair competition with non-
inmate workers and the firms that employ them.
  When H.R. 2965 is enacted into law, working men and women, who 
perform contracts for the Federal Government will no longer have to be 
concerned that FPI will simply be able to take their work 
opportunities. They will have a chance to bid on the Federal contracts 
that are funded by their tax dollars.
  I look forward to this debate. The proponents are on the right side 
and have the strong support of the business community and organized 
labor, as well as federal managers, represented by the Federal Managers 
Association.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to my friend and brother, 
the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott).
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate Mr. Conyers giving

[[Page H6565]]

me the opportunity to respond to my friend from North Carolina, who 
suggested that I was misguided by opposing the bill. Perhaps I am 
misguided, because the bill increases crime and I am trying to reduce 
crime.
  We know that increasing jobs will reduce crime. This bill, we know, 
reduces jobs. The goal of FPI has been traditionally for 25 percent of 
the jobs to be FPI jobs. As a result of the initiatives in this bill, 
many of which were enacted in 2001, the percentage of jobs has gone 
from 25 to 18, 2,000 fewer jobs. And if we had maintained the 25 
percent, there would be 9,000 more people working in FPI jobs, with a 
much lower chance of getting into trouble when they are released.
  This reduction in jobs will increase crime. Maybe opposing an 
increase in crime is misguided, but I think we ought to reguide 
ourselves and support those initiatives, which will actually reduce 
crime, not increase crime, as this bill does.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 1 minute to point out that 
this bill does not increase crime because we have got a vocational 
educational training program for inmates that will prepare them not 
only in vocational skills but prepare them as a whole person.
  So to say that we are increasing crime because we are phasing out 
this Federal Prison Industries program is not exactly accurate. 
Besides, there is a not-for-profit section that we are going to ramp 
up. Local governments, school districts, and religious organizations 
will all be able to benefit under this new provision to create more 
jobs.
  And so I just want to guarantee everybody, and particularly my friend 
from Virginia, that if this doesn't create more jobs, then I want to 
change the law myself. But to predict that this is what we are doing is 
not exactly accurate.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts 
(Mr. Frank).
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Chairman, I thank the ranking member, 
and I speak strongly in support of this bill. I have not yet had anyone 
explain to me why it is our strong policy to ban the products of prison 
labor that come over in trade, but we then encourage them to compete 
with American workers if it is domestic prison labor.
  I agree it is a good idea for inmates to have work opportunities, but 
I am hoping that marketing is not one of those things in which 
prisoners engage. That is, it is the actual process of making the 
product that has its rehabilitative effect. And as the gentleman from 
Michigan just mentioned, it is the intention of many of us to increase 
the extent to which prisoners could be used to make products that could 
be distributed to various entities in our society in a way that 
wouldn't be competitive with the market.
  But I do not understand how you tell low-wage workers, because the 
level at which the prison products exist is at the low-wage level, how 
do we tell low-wage workers they are going to lose their jobs because 
of prisoners? How do you tell people who have been hardworking people 
trying to support themselves and their families that prisoners are 
taking their jobs because of the inherent subsidy that is involved?
  Now, the way to resolve that, it seems to me, is to leave the market, 
to the extent that we can, to people who are in the market, in the 
private sector; and try, as the gentleman from Michigan said, as we try 
in this legislation, to increase the extent to which prisoners can be 
employed and learn skills and make products that will be distributed to 
the nonmarket segment. And there is no loss there. Again, the marketing 
is not part of the prison experience and shouldn't be.
  So it is entirely possible to have prisoners learning skills, 
improving their skills by producing things that can then be distributed 
to a nonmarket segment. But the fundamental principle that we should 
not allow prison labor to take jobs away from hardworking people, 
particularly at the low-wage level, is at the core of this bill.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Chairman, I would yield 1 minute more, this is very 
unusual, but I will yield 1 minute more to Mr. Scott.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for 
yielding, because, as I indicated, as a result of the initiatives that 
are in this bill, we have already lost thousands of jobs. And if we had 
had the law as it was in 2000, we would have about 9,000 more people 
working.
  The gentleman from Massachusetts has said there are other 
alternatives. If we were guaranteed funding for that, I would support 
it. The problem is that the FPI pays for itself, so it doesn't need 
appropriation. If we can guarantee the funding, there wouldn't be any 
debate on this. The job training also may not have funding. So we don't 
know that that is going to take place. So there is no guarantee.
  The problem with this approach is that there is no guarantee for 
funding. The FPI program pays for itself, and has been paying for 
itself for over 70 years. It works well. We know it works, and the 
replacements are just speculative.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
Massachusetts.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. My problem with my friend from Virginia's 
argument, well, there are two; first of all, if there are 9,000 fewer 
jobs in Prison Industries, that means there are 9,000 more jobs in the 
private sector.
  So the second point is that he concedes that if we funded this it 
wouldn't be a problem. Well, rather than put the burden on lower-wage 
working people in the garment industry, the furniture industry, et 
cetera, then let us work to get the funding. It is not a huge amount. 
But there is, to some extent, a replacement of prison jobs and private 
sector jobs.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. I yield to the gentleman from Virginia.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. First of all, we will work together on the 
funding, no question about that. Furthermore, there is not a one-to-one 
replacement. You have about four people in prison working on what would 
otherwise be one job.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Well, then I would say this. Then that 
furthers reinforces the point. Because what you are then saying is the 
underpayment, the subsidy element is such that you are still losing 
private sector jobs to prison jobs.
  And I would say to the gentleman, let us end on a note of approval. 
Yes, I look forward to working with the gentleman for better funding, 
and if things go well in November it will be easier than it has been.
  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman 
from Minnesota (Mr. Gutknecht).
  Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman of the committee 
for yielding time.
  I rise in opposition to this bill. Now, I represent two prisons in my 
district, and grandma used to say that idle hands are the devil's 
workshop. We have to find ways to keep these people busy; but, more 
importantly, we have to give them real job skills.
  Now, I understand that in some cases this may be taking jobs away 
from the private sector, but that is very rare, Members. Mostly what we 
are doing in those prisons today are jobs that either aren't done in 
the United States much any more, or they are jobs that nobody wants. 
And we need to keep these guys busy. We need to give them some job 
skills. And I am afraid we are going to throw this baby out with the 
bath water today.
  Now, it may well be that we have to reform the Federal Prison 
Industries a bit. And I hear the talk about, well, we can find $75 
million for job training programs. Maybe that is true. But in the 
middle are these folks who are working in the Federal Prison Industries 
in my district who are earning a little bit of money, who are making a 
difference, and are providing products that the United States military 
needs.
  Mr. Chairman, I rise to speak in opposition to this legislation. I 
represent a number of employees and inmates at the Federal Correctional 
Institution in Waseca, Minnesota, and they have a vested interest in 
this matter.
  Federal Prison Industries employs approximately 200 inmates in 
Waseca. The jobs they have give these inmates real-life skills that 
offer opportunity for rehabilitation and a chance at success when they 
leave prison. The program is carefully overseen by trained prison 
employees.
  Mr. Chairman, changes might be necessary to improve the FPI program, 
but I am not convinced that the legislation before us accomplishes 
that. H.R. 2965 would authorize a $75

[[Page H6566]]

million work-based training program to replace FPI. The likelihood that 
Congress will not appropriate these dollars threatens to make a bad 
situation worse. Stresses on our federal budget could lead to a worse-
case scenario of having no education or job training program at all for 
these inmates.
  Many products made by FPI are used by our armed forces, and very few 
of these products are made by U.S. companies who make these products. 
In fact, the private sector companies who procure them already make 
their purchases from foreign manufacturers, not U.S. companies.
  Mr. Chairman, the existing FPI program works well. This is a classic 
case of Congress trying to fix something that is not broken. I urge my 
colleagues to oppose this legislation and to work to improve the FPI 
program for inmates and small businesses alike.
  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 1 minute.
  Mr. Chairman, it is pretty hard for somebody in the private sector 
that pays taxes on their manufacturing equipment, that pays property 
taxes on the building that is used to house the manufacturing 
equipment, that pays their employees a decent wage, that takes out 
Social Security and State and Federal income taxes and, hopefully, 
provides benefits, including health care benefits, to compete against 
those who are working in the prison where the taxpayers pay for the 
medical benefits, the taxpayers pay for the room and board, and the 
land and the prison is completely tax exempt.
  Now, the gentleman from Minnesota says that what FPI provides is 
bought by the Department of Defense. What this bill does is to provide 
the same reforms that were provided a few years earlier with FPI 
contracting with the Department of Defense. The gentleman from 
Minnesota says it has worked with the Department of Defense. What we 
want to do is to have it work with every other Federal agency as 
successfully as it has done with the Department of Defense.
  Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2965. This 
bill restores a modicum of sense to our current government procurement 
system.
  Let me highlight two important aspects of this bill. One, the bill 
helps federal agencies manage taxpayer dollars more responsibly. For 
the first time, private-sector firms will be free to bid on federal 
contracting opportunities currently reserved for Federal Prison 
Industries. To assure that a buying agency is getting adequate value 
for the taxpayer dollars being spent on clothing, textiles, 
electronics, office furniture, equipment, services, or other 
procurement items, the buying agency--rather than FPI--would be 
empowered to determine whether the offered product and delivery 
schedule meet the buying agency's needs. Similarly, the buying agency 
would be empowered to determine whether FPI's offered price meets the 
procurement standard for a ``fair and reasonable price.''
  Two, the bill is eminently more fair to contractors. Let me give you 
one example of the egregiously unfair practices under the current 
system. Back in 2003, the FAA was seeking to procure office furniture 
for its headquarters building. Through the General Services 
Administration, it solicited bids for the contract. On April 16, 2003, 
Steelcase (which is a major office furniture manufacturer based in my 
district) submitted its final bid for this contract to the GSA. A week 
later, Steelcase was informed by GSA that they were likely the winning 
bid on the contract. On May 7, they were informed by GSA that FPI had 
copied the proposal word for word and exactly matched Steelcase's bid. 
FPI asserted its sole source authority and decided not to grant a 
waiver for this contract. This was completely unfair as Steelcase had 
spent over 1,000 man hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars 
preparing the design, construction schedule, labor and material costs 
and other elements of this bid, only to have FPI duplicate the offer 
and undercut them. Thankfully, FPI eventually relented after 
considerable political pressure was brought to bear by myself and 
others.
  We cannot continue to fight these kinds of situations on a case-by-
case basis. That is why I support comprehensive FPI reform. If FPI can 
compete on quality and price, then great! Let me note that the bill 
does not alter a broad array of other advantages that FPI enjoys when 
it competes with private-sector firms, including extremely low wage 
rates, low overhead costs and no tax liability. But the current 
mandatory source privilege is anathema to principles of the free market 
and open enterprise.
  I commend my colleague, Mr. Hoekstra, for his steadfast dedication to 
addressing this problem and for working with all the interested 
stakeholders. I urge everyone to support this bill.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the bill. Before I 
make some comments, let me say I have great respect for the gentleman 
from Michigan (Mr. Hoekstra). He is a good person. But I do not believe 
this approach is the way to go.
  I appreciate the hard work of Mr. Hoekstra and his staff in trying to 
develop a bill that addresses concerns raised by myself and others, 
including the Justice Department. And while I appreciate his genuine 
efforts to address the issue of providing additional opportunities for 
inmates, I remain concerned that the alternatives provided in this 
proposal will not be enough to replace the mandatory source authority 
currently relied upon by Federal Prison Industries (FPI).
  H.R. 2965 would decimate the FPI program by eliminating the mandatory 
source preference without an adequate replacement. Mandatory source 
preferences account for the majority of inmate jobs in the program.
  I also want to acknowledge Mr. Hoekstra's efforts to work with the 
Justice Department to craft a workable alternative to the currert 
mandatory source authority that is responsible for many of jobs 
currently available through FPI. While there have been a number of 
changes from the proposal that was considered during the last Congress, 
the Department of Justice has stated that they cannot support this bill 
in the current form.
  The Department of Justice calls FPI ``the Department's most important 
correctional management tool.'' DOJ has a fiduciary relationship in 
running these prisons and I certainly wish they had been stronger in 
articulating their concerns. However, the fact remains that the bill 
before us does not have their support.
  Winston Churchill said one of the best tests of whether we are truly 
a civilized people is the temper, the mood of the public in regard to 
the treatment of crime and criminals.
  I like to think of myself as a compassionate conservative. I've had 
the chance to work with prisoners. Before I was elected, I was involved 
in a program at Lorton Prison called ``Man to Man'' where we would meet 
with and counsel the inmates. Knowing what this bill could do in terms 
of prison work opportunities, I think this bill should be defeated.
  You cannot put a man in prison for years and expect him to be 
rehabilitated without work. The Bible says, ``Remember the prisoner as 
though in prison with them.''
  Currently, FPI is a self-supporting government program that provides 
job skills opportunities to federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) inmates by 
producing products and services for federal agencies. The FPI prison 
inmate work program fosters BOP prison safety by helping to keep 
thousands of prison inmates productively occupied in labor-intensive 
work activities and furthers BOP prisoner rehabilitation by providing 
prison inmates with opportunities to develop job skills that will allow 
them to reenter our communities as productive, law-abiding citizens.

  This bill would make it difficult to operate a prison. Inmates 
without work who are idle are prisoners that are going to later come 
back and commit a crime. Prisoners that participate in the FPI program 
have a 24 percent lower recidivism rate than prisoners who are not in 
the program.
  This bill also has major budget impacts. To those on my side of the 
aisle who talk about balancing the budget, the cost of this bill over 5 
years will be $500 million. In an era of limited discretionary funding, 
I have to ask: does it make sense to replace the self-sustaining FPI 
program with an alternative work program that would cost hundreds of 
millions a year, without considering any additional staffing needs that 
would arise from a loss of FPI jobs?
  The FPI program provides those incarcerated with a unique opportunity 
to learn discipline, responsibility, and job skills needed to re-enter 
society. We should be supporting these prisoners as they serve their 
time and seek to make the transition back into society, not 
undercutting one of the most important programs offered by the prison 
system to help them do so. I am very concerned that the bill before us 
does not set up an alternative system that can ensure FPI will be able 
to continue offering inmate work and training opportunities in the 
future.
  In the last four years, the percentage of inmates able to participate 
in FPI has plummeted from 25 percent to 17 percent, with the BOP 
estimating a continued decline if this legislation passes. That is the 
key. There is no alternative system for ensuring there will continue to 
be jobs if these reforms are implemented. That would be tragic.
  If this bill is not amended, I believe, and I may be wrong, that this 
bill, as surely as the night follows the day, will make it very 
difficult to operate prisons. With the opportunity to work comes the 
chance to restore dignity. Later, I am offering a commonsense amendment 
with my colleagues Messrs. Lungren, Chabot and Scott that would simply 
postpone the mandatory source phase-out for one year if the FPI 
prisoner enrollment falls below the current level of 17 percent.

[[Page H6567]]

  In a time of low national unemployment, it is hard to believe that we 
are about to make it harder for incarcerated Americans to learn 
discipline, responsibility, and job skills that working develops.
  I urge my colleagues to vote against this underlying bill and for the 
Lungren-Chabot-Wolf-Scott amendment.
  Mr. MANZULLO. Mr. Chairman, Federal Prison Industries takes jobs away 
from law-abiding citizens of this nation. Many people are concerned 
about their future job security or where their next job will come from. 
If it is within one of the more than 250 industries FPI already is in, 
watch out!
  We all understand the need to control a potentially violent prison 
population. This bill points to a better way to train prisoners for 
real jobs in the outside world than to have them unfairly compete 
against small businesses for the precious few contracts with the 
Federal Government. It will also allow FPI to manufacture products that 
are no longer made in America and to also perform work in support of 
non-profits such as Habitat for Humanity.
  The jobs of law-abiding citizens--the forgotten Americans--who get up 
every day, dress their kids for school, and set off for a long hard day 
of work should not be sacrificed for convicted felons. The unintended 
and indirect message from FPI to the forgotten American is that if you 
want a job, commit a crime. That's not the American way! Some of my 
small business constituents from northern Illinois have had difficulty 
in selling to the Federal Government because of the unfair competition 
from FPI.
  I support H.R. 2965 because it will simply require that FPI compete 
like every other business for contracts with the Federal Government. 
FPI already has many advantages off the bat, such as a captive below 
minimum wage work force and no health care, worker's compensation or 
other benefits to pay for. Even with these advantages, small businesses 
still believe they can beat FPI because various government agencies 
have long complained about the quality and timeliness of delivery of 
products from FPI.
  Mr. Chairman, let's allow small businesses to compete against FPI. We 
should convey the message to the forgotten American that if you play by 
the rules, you have a fair shot at all the opportunities this society 
has to offer. Convicted felons should not receive better treatment than 
law-abiding citizens. I urge a ``yes'' vote on FPI and a ``no'' vote on 
any amendment that weakens this well-thought out bill.
  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Chairman, can you, or another member, tell me why we 
are considering this legislation? Why when we have the largest prison 
population in the world, why when we have one of the worst recidivism 
rates in the world, why when we have enormous expense from crime and 
imprisonment, and why when America's historic and ethical attitude 
towards crime is based predominantly on a redemptive view of human 
nature, why are we doing this?
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of H.R. 2965, the Federal 
Prison Industries Competition in Contracting Act of 2005.
  I thank my colleagues in the Committee on the Judiciary for their 
overwhelming support of the ``sense of Congress'' language I offered 
during Full Committee markup that would clarify the work-based program 
newly established in Section 17 of this legislation. As previously 
drafted, the ``heart'' of the wage provision of the work-based program 
was only an alternative to a scenario where the Secretary of Labor--at 
her discretion--would promulgate an inmate training wage. If the 
Secretary fails to do so within 180 days, she would be able to 
prescribe an interim training wage that is no less than 50% of the 
prevailing federal minimum wage--a provision that, in and of itself, is 
conditional.
  I was elected to Congress in 1991, and I have continually stressed 
the importance of providing individuals, who have paid their debt to 
society, a realistic opportunity to transition from federal prison back 
into the community. The truth is that the current system, sets them up 
for failure. By turning them out on the street without a dime in their 
pocket many of the individuals who are fortunate enough to make it out 
of the system will start ``in the red.'' Already faced with the 
pressing need to provide for food, shelter, and healthcare, with no 
money in their pockets they are left with few alternatives to pay for 
baby formula, HIV medication, a hot meal for one night, or even a place 
to stay.
  For these reasons, during the 108th Congress, my language was 
accepted to establish a $2.50 minimum wage ``floor'' to eradicate the 
severe economic disparities created by the existing wage scale, which 
spans from $0.23 to a mere $1.15 per hour for inmates whose term of 
imprisonment will expire within 2 years. I thank my colleagues for 
retaining this important language, because it takes a good first step 
toward providing a realistic and livable economic base for individuals 
reentering the community from the federal system.
  By and large, the individuals for whom I make my most passionate 
appeals are those who deserve a second chance--those who did not commit 
heinous and violent crimes and who have truly paid their debt to 
society. In the real world, individuals who reenter the community from 
incarceration already have families who depend upon them and they have 
no job waiting for them. To further exacerbate this situation, many 
employers will outright reject their application for a job once they 
discover that an applicant has a criminal record.
  Nevertheless, the work-based program established in this bill makes a 
good effort to help these individuals by giving them a chance to earn 
an apprenticeship certificate to substantiate their work experience. In 
fact, the spirit of this program is consistent with the ``Prisoner Re-
entry Initiative'' proposed by President Bush in his State of the Union 
Address when he called for a four-year, $300 million initiative to--and 
I quote--``reduce recidivism and the societal costs of reincarceration 
by helping inmates find work when they return to their communities.''
  Therefore, I support this legislation and ask that my colleagues vote 
yes on its final passage.

                              {time}  1215

  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIRMAN (Mr. Gillmor). All time for general debate has 
expired.
  Pursuant to the rule, the committee amendment in the nature of a 
substitute printed in the bill shall be considered as an original bill 
for the purpose of amendment under the 5-minute rule and shall be 
considered read.
  The text of the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute is 
as follows:

                               H.R. 2965

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

       (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Federal 
     Prison Industries Competition in Contracting Act of 2006''.
       (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act 
     is as follows:

Sec. 1 Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Governmentwide procurement policy relating to purchases from 
              Federal Prison Industries.
Sec. 3. Public participation regarding expansion proposals by Federal 
              Prison Industries.
Sec. 4. Transitional mandatory source authority.
Sec. 5. Authority to perform as a Federal subcontractor.
Sec. 6. Inmate wages and deductions.
Sec. 7. Clarifying amendment relating to services.
Sec. 8. Conforming amendment.
Sec. 9. Rules of construction relating to chapter 307.
Sec. 10. Providing additional rehabilitative opportunities for inmates.
Sec. 11. Re-entry employment preparation through work-based training 
              and apprenticeship.
Sec. 12. Restructuring the Board of Directors.
Sec. 13. Providing additional management flexibility to Federal Prison 
              Industries operations.
Sec. 14. Transitional personnel management authority.
Sec. 15. Federal Prison Industries report to Congress.
Sec. 16. Definitions.
Sec. 17. Implementing regulations and procedures.
Sec. 18. Rules of construction.
Sec. 19. Effective date and applicability.
Sec. 20. Clerical amendments.

     SEC. 2. GOVERNMENTWIDE PROCUREMENT POLICY RELATING TO 
                   PURCHASES FROM FEDERAL PRISON INDUSTRIES.

       Section 4124 of title 18, United States Code, is amended to 
     read as follows:

     ``Sec. 4124. Governmentwide procurement policy relating to 
       purchases from Federal Prison Industries

       ``(a) In General.--Purchases from Federal Prison 
     Industries, Incorporated, a wholly owned Government 
     corporation, as referred to in section 9101(3)(E) of title 
     31, may be made by a Federal department or agency only in 
     accordance with this section.
       ``(b) Solicitation and Evaluation of Offers and Contract 
     Awards.--(1)(A) If a procurement activity of a Federal 
     department or agency has a requirement for a specific product 
     or service that is authorized to be offered for sale by 
     Federal Prison Industries, in accordance with section 4122 of 
     this title, and is listed in the catalog referred to in 
     subsection (g), the procurement activity shall solicit an 
     offer from Federal Prison Industries, if the purchase is 
     expected to be in excess of the micro-purchase threshold (as 
     defined by section 32(f) of the Office of Federal Procurement 
     Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 428(f))).
       ``(B) The requirements of subparagraph (A) shall also apply 
     to a procurement that a Federal

[[Page H6568]]

     department or agency intends to meet by placing an order 
     against a contract maintained by the General Services 
     Administration under the Multiple Award Schedule Contracts 
     Program.
       ``(C) Federal Prison Industries, upon its request, shall be 
     listed on any Schedule, referred to in subparagraph (B), as 
     offering products or services which Federal Prison Industries 
     believes to be comparable to those products and services 
     being offered by commercial contractors through the Multiple 
     Award Schedule Contracts Program.
       ``(2) A contract award for such product or service shall be 
     made using competitive procedures in accordance with the 
     applicable evaluation factors, unless a determination is made 
     by the Attorney General pursuant to paragraph (3) or an award 
     using other than competitive procedures is authorized 
     pursuant to paragraph (7).
       ``(3) The procurement activity shall negotiate with Federal 
     Prison Industries on a noncompetitive basis for the award of 
     a contract if the Attorney General determines that--
       ``(A) Federal Prison Industries cannot reasonably expect 
     fair consideration to receive the contract award on a 
     competitive basis; and
       ``(B) the contract award is necessary to maintain work 
     opportunities otherwise unavailable at the penal or 
     correctional facility at which the contract is to be 
     performed to prevent circumstances that could reasonably be 
     expected to significantly endanger the safe and effective 
     administration of such facility.
       ``(4) Except in the case of an award to be made pursuant to 
     paragraph (3), a contract award shall be made with Federal 
     Prison Industries only if the contracting officer for the 
     procurement activity determines that--
       ``(A) the specific product or service to be furnished will 
     meet the requirements of the procurement activity (including 
     any applicable prequalification requirements and all 
     specified commercial or governmental standards pertaining to 
     quality, testing, safety, serviceability, and warranties);
       ``(B) timely performance of the contract can be reasonably 
     expected; and
       ``(C) the contract price does not exceed a current market 
     price.
       ``(5) A determination by the Attorney General pursuant to 
     paragraph (3) shall be--
       ``(A) supported by specific findings by the warden of the 
     penal or correctional institution at which a Federal Prison 
     Industries workshop is scheduled to perform the contract;
       ``(B) supported by specific findings by Federal Prison 
     Industries regarding why it does not expect to win the 
     contract on a competitive basis; and
       ``(C) made and reported in the same manner as a 
     determination made pursuant to section 303(c)(7) of the 
     Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 
     U.S.C. 253(c)(7)).
       ``(6) If the Attorney General has not made the 
     determination described in paragraph (3) within 30 days after 
     Federal Prison Industries has been informed of a contracting 
     opportunity by a procurement activity, the procurement 
     activity may proceed to conduct a procurement for the product 
     or service in accordance with the procedures generally 
     applicable to such procurements by the procurement activity.
       ``(7) A contract award may be made to Federal Prison 
     Industries using other than competitive procedures if such 
     product or service is only available from Federal Prison 
     Industries and the contract may be awarded under the 
     authority of section 2304(c)(1) of title 10 or section 303(c) 
     of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 
     1949 (41 U.S.C. 253(c)(1)), as may be applicable, and 
     pursuant to the justification and approval requirements 
     relating to such noncompetitive procurements specified by law 
     and the Governmentwide Federal Acquisition Regulation.
       ``(8) A contract award may be made to Federal Prison 
     Industries using other than competitive procedures by the 
     Federal Bureau of Prisons.
       ``(9) A solicitation for a contract shall first be made to 
     Federal Prison Industries using other than competitive 
     procedures if the product or service to be acquired would 
     otherwise be furnished by a contractor performing the work 
     outside of the United States.
       ``(c) Offers From Federal Prison Industries.--(1) A timely 
     offer received from Federal Prison Industries to furnish a 
     product or service to a Federal department or agency shall be 
     considered for award without limitation as to the dollar 
     value of the proposed purchase, unless the contract 
     opportunity has been reserved for competition exclusively 
     among small business concerns pursuant to section 15(a) of 
     the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 644(a)) and its 
     implementing regulations.
       ``(2)(A) Any offer made by Federal Prison Industries to 
     furnish a product or service may exclude from the offer the 
     price of the following:
       ``(i) The costs related to security of the facilities at 
     which the contract will be performed.
       ``(ii) The costs of educating and training the prison work 
     force performing the contract.
       ``(iii) Excess capital costs of machinery and excess 
     inventories used within a prison environment that are the 
     result of the unique environment of prison life.
       ``(iv) Other costs of performing the contract resulting 
     from the unique environment of prison facilities.
       ``(d) Performance by Federal Prison Industries.--Federal 
     Prison Industries shall perform its contractual obligations 
     under a contract awarded by a Federal department or agency to 
     the same extent as any other contractor.
       ``(e) Finality of Contracting Officer's Decision.--(1) A 
     decision by a contracting officer regarding the award of a 
     contract to Federal Prison Industries or relating to the 
     performance of such contract shall be final, unless reversed 
     on appeal pursuant to paragraph (2) or (3).
       ``(2)(A) The Chief Operating Officer of Federal Prison 
     Industries may protest a decision by a contracting officer 
     not to award a contract to Federal Prison Industries pursuant 
     to subsection (b)(4), in accordance with section 33.103, 
     (Protests to the agency) of the Federal Acquisition 
     Regulation (48 C.F.R. part 33.103).
       ``(B) In the event of an adverse decision of a protest 
     filed pursuant to subparagraph (A), the Assistant Attorney 
     General for Administration may request a reconsideration of 
     such adverse decision by the head of the Federal agency or 
     department, which shall be considered de novo and the 
     decision issued by such agency head on a non-delegable basis. 
     Such decision upon reconsideration by the agency head shall 
     be final.
       ``(3) A dispute between Federal Prison Industries and a 
     procurement activity regarding performance of a contract 
     shall be subject to--
       ``(A) alternative means of dispute resolution pursuant to 
     subchapter IV of chapter 5 of title 5; or
       ``(B) final resolution by the board of contract appeals 
     having jurisdiction over the procurement activity's contract 
     performance disputes pursuant to the Contract Disputes Act of 
     1978 (41 U.S.C. 601 et seq.).
       ``(f) Reporting of Purchases.--Each Federal department or 
     agency shall report purchases from Federal Prison Industries 
     to the Federal Procurement Data System (as referred to in 
     section 6(d)(4) of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy 
     Act (41 U.S.C. 405(d)(4))) in the same manner as it reports 
     to such System any acquisition in an amount in excess of the 
     simplified acquisition threshold (as defined by section 4(11) 
     of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 
     403(11))).
       ``(g) Catalog of Products.--Federal Prison Industries shall 
     publish and maintain a catalog of all specific products and 
     services that it is authorized to offer for sale. Such 
     catalog shall be periodically revised as products and 
     services are added or deleted by its board of directors (in 
     accordance with section 4122(b) of this title).
       ``(h) Compliance With Standards.--Federal Prison Industries 
     shall be subject to Federal occupational, health, and safety 
     standards with respect to the operation of its industrial 
     operations.''.

     SEC. 3. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION REGARDING EXPANSION PROPOSALS BY 
                   FEDERAL PRISON INDUSTRIES.

       Section 4122(b) of title 18, United States Code, is 
     amended--
       (1) by redesignating paragraph (6) as paragraph (13); and
       (2) by striking paragraphs (4) and (5) and inserting the 
     following new paragraphs:
       ``(4)(A) Federal Prison Industries is authorized to offer a 
     new specific product or furnish a new specific service in 
     response to a competitive solicitation or other purchase 
     request issued by a Federal department or agency. No 
     subsequent offering of such product or service may be made by 
     Federal Prison Industries until the board of directors has 
     approved the offering for sale of such new specific product 
     or new specific service, in conformance with the requirements 
     of paragraphs (5) through (9).
       ``(B) Federal Prison Industries may produce a product or 
     furnish a service in excess of the authorized level of 
     production for such product or service, in response to an 
     order placed pursuant to an existing contract with a Federal 
     department or agency, if the agency's need for the product or 
     service is of such an urgency that it would justify the use 
     of procedures other than competitive procedures pursuant to 
     section 2304(c)(2) of title 10 or section 303(c)(2) of the 
     Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 
     U.S.C. 253(c)(2)), as may be applicable.
       ``(5) A decision to authorize Federal Prison Industries to 
     offer a new specific product or specific service or to expand 
     the production of an existing product or service for sale to 
     the Federal Government shall be made by its board of 
     directors in conformance with the requirements of subsections 
     (b), (c), (d), and (e) of section 553 of title 5, and this 
     chapter.
       ``(6)(A) Whenever Federal Prison Industries proposes to 
     offer for sale a new specific product or specific service or 
     to expand production of a currently authorized product or 
     service, the Chief Operating Officer of Federal Prison 
     Industries shall submit an appropriate proposal to the board 
     of directors and obtain the board's approval before 
     initiating any such expansion. The proposal submitted to the 
     board shall include a detailed analysis of the probable 
     impact of the proposed expansion of sales within the Federal 
     market by Federal Prison Industries on private sector firms 
     and their non-inmate workers.
       ``(B)(i) The analysis required by subparagraph (A) shall be 
     performed by an interagency team on a reimbursable basis or 
     by a private contractor paid by Federal Prison Industries.
       ``(ii) If the analysis is to be performed by an interagency 
     team, such team shall be led by the Administrator of the 
     Small Business Administration or the designee of such officer 
     with representatives of the Department of Labor, the 
     Department of Commerce, and the Federal Procurement Data 
     Center.
       ``(iii) If the analysis is to be performed by a private 
     contractor, the selection of the contractor and the 
     administration of the contract shall be conducted by one of 
     the entities referenced in clause (ii) as an independent 
     executive agent for the board of directors. Maximum 
     consideration shall be given to any proposed statement of 
     work furnished by the Chief Operating Officer of Federal 
     Prison Industries.
       ``(C) The analysis required by subparagraph (A) shall 
     identify and consider--
       ``(i) the number of vendors that currently meet the 
     requirements of the Federal Government for the specific 
     product or specific service;
       ``(ii) the proportion of the Federal Government market for 
     the specific product or specific service currently furnished 
     by small businesses during the previous 3 fiscal years;
       ``(iii) the share of the Federal market for the specific 
     product or specific service projected for

[[Page H6569]]

     Federal Prison Industries for the fiscal year in which 
     production or performance will commence or expand and the 
     subsequent 4 fiscal years;
       ``(iv) whether the industry producing the specific product 
     or specific service in the private sector--
       ``(I) has an unemployment rate higher than the national 
     average; or
       ``(II) has a rate of unemployment for workers that has 
     consistently shown an increase during the previous 5 years;
       ``(v) whether the specific product is an import-sensitive 
     product;
       ``(vi) the requirements of the Federal Government and the 
     demands of entities other than the Federal Government for the 
     specific product or service during the previous 3 fiscal 
     years;
       ``(vii) the projected growth or decline in the demand of 
     the Federal Government for the specific product or specific 
     service;
       ``(viii) the capability of the projected demand of the 
     Federal Government for the specific product or service to 
     sustain both Federal Prison Industries and private vendors; 
     and
       ``(ix) whether authorizing the production of the new 
     product or performance of a new service will provide inmates 
     with the maximum opportunity to acquire knowledge and skill 
     in trades and occupations that will provide them with a means 
     of earning a livelihood upon release.
       ``(D)(i) The board of directors may not approve a proposal 
     to authorize the production and sale of a new specific 
     product or continued sale of a previously authorized product 
     unless--
       ``(I) the product to be furnished is a prison-made product; 
     or
       ``(II) the service to be furnished is to be performed by 
     inmate workers.
       ``(ii) The board of directors may not approve a proposal to 
     authorize the production and sale of a new prison-made 
     product or to expand production of a currently authorized 
     product if the product is--
       ``(I) produced in the private sector by an industry which 
     has reflected during the previous year an unemployment rate 
     above the national average; or
       ``(II) an import-sensitive product.
       ``(iii) The board of directors may not approve a proposal 
     for inmates to provide a service in which an inmate worker 
     has access to--
       ``(I) personal or financial information about individual 
     private citizens, including information relating to such 
     person's real property, however described, without giving 
     prior notice to such persons or class of persons to the 
     greatest extent practicable;
       ``(II) geographic data regarding the location of surface 
     and subsurface infrastructure providing communications, water 
     and electrical power distribution, pipelines for the 
     distribution of natural gas, bulk petroleum products and 
     other commodities, and other utilities; or
       ``(III) data that is classified.
       ``(iv)(I) Federal Prison Industries is prohibited from 
     furnishing through inmate labor construction services, unless 
     to be performed within a Federal correctional institution 
     pursuant to the participation of an inmate in an 
     apprenticeship or other vocational education program teaching 
     the skills of the various building trades.
       ``(II) For purposes of this clause, the term `construction' 
     has the meaning given such term by section 2.101 of the 
     Federal Acquisition Regulation (48 C.F.R. part 2.101), as in 
     effect on June 1, 2004, including the repair, alteration, or 
     maintenance of real property in being.
       ``(7) To provide further opportunities for participation by 
     interested parties, the board of directors shall--
       ``(A) give additional notice of a proposal to authorize the 
     production and sale of a new product or service, or expand 
     the production of a currently authorized product or service, 
     in a publication designed to most effectively provide notice 
     to private vendors and labor unions representing private 
     sector workers who could reasonably be expected to be 
     affected by approval of the proposal, which notice shall 
     offer to furnish copies of the analysis required by paragraph 
     (6) and shall solicit comment on the analysis;
       ``(B) solicit comments on the analysis required by 
     paragraph (6) from trade associations representing vendors 
     and labor unions representing private sector workers who 
     could reasonably be expected to be affected by approval of 
     the proposal to authorize the production and sale of a new 
     product or service (or expand the production of a currently 
     authorized product or service); and
       ``(C) afford an opportunity, on request, for a 
     representative of an established trade association, labor 
     union, or other private sector representatives to present 
     comments on the proposal directly to the board of directors.
       ``(8) The board of directors shall be provided copies of 
     all comments received on the expansion proposal.
       ``(9) Based on the comments received on the initial 
     expansion proposal, the Chief Operating Officer of Federal 
     Prison Industries may provide the board of directors a 
     revised expansion proposal. If such revised proposal provides 
     for expansion of inmate work opportunities in an industry 
     different from that initially proposed, such revised proposal 
     shall reflect the analysis required by paragraph (6)(C) and 
     be subject to the public comment requirements of paragraph 
     (7).
       ``(10) The board of directors shall consider a proposal to 
     authorize the sale of a new specific product or specific 
     service (or to expand the volume of sales for a currently 
     authorized product or service) and take any action with 
     respect to such proposal, during a meeting that is open to 
     the public, unless closed pursuant to section 552(b) of title 
     5.
       ``(11) In conformance with the requirements of paragraph 
     (10) of this subsection, the board of directors may--
       ``(A) authorize the donation of products produced or 
     services furnished by Federal industries and available for 
     sale;
       ``(B) authorize the production of a new specific product or 
     the furnishing of a new specific service for donation; or
       ``(C) authorize a proposal to expand production of a 
     currently authorized specific product or specific service in 
     an amount in excess of a reasonable share of the market for 
     such product or service, if--
       ``(i) a Federal agency or department, purchasing such 
     product or service, has requested that Federal Prison 
     Industries be authorized to furnish such product or service 
     in amounts that are needed by such agency or department; or
       ``(ii) the proposal is justified for other good cause and 
     supported by at least two-thirds of the appointed members of 
     the board.''.

     SEC. 4. TRANSITIONAL MANDATORY SOURCE AUTHORITY.

       (a) In General.--Notwithstanding the requirements of 
     section 4124 of title 18, United States Code (as amended by 
     section 2 of this Act), a Federal department or agency having 
     a requirement for a product that is authorized for sale by 
     Federal Prison Industries and is listed in its catalog 
     (referred to in section 4124(g) of title 18, United States 
     Code) shall first solicit an offer from Federal Prison 
     Industries and make purchases on a noncompetitive basis in 
     accordance with this section or in accordance with section 
     2410n of title 10, United States Code, or section 318 of 
     title III of the Federal Property and Administrative Services 
     Act of 1949 (as added by subsection (i)).
       (b) Preferential Source Status.--Subject to the limitations 
     of subsection (d), a contract award shall be made on a 
     noncompetitive basis to Federal Prison Industries if the 
     contracting officer for the procurement activity determines 
     that--
       (1) the product offered by Federal Prison Industries will 
     meet the requirements of the procurement activity (including 
     commercial or governmental standards or specifications 
     pertaining to design, performance, testing, safety, 
     serviceability, and warranties as may be imposed upon a 
     private sector supplier of the type being offered by Federal 
     Prison Industries);
       (2) timely performance of the contract by Federal Prison 
     Industries can be reasonably expected; and
       (3) the negotiated price does not exceed a fair and 
     reasonable price.
       (c) Contractual Terms.--The terms and conditions of the 
     contract and the price to be paid to Federal Prison 
     Industries shall be determined by negotiation between Federal 
     Prison Industries and the Federal agency making the purchase. 
     The negotiated price shall not exceed a fair and reasonable 
     price determined in accordance with the procedures of the 
     Federal Acquisition Regulation.
       (d) Performance of Contractual Obligations.--
       (1) In general.--Federal Prison Industries shall perform 
     the obligations of the contract negotiated pursuant to 
     subsection (c).
       (2) Performance disputes.--If the head of the contracting 
     activity and the Chief Operating Officer of Federal Prison 
     Industries are unable to resolve a contract performance 
     dispute to their mutual satisfaction, such dispute shall be 
     resolved pursuant to section 4124(e)(3) of title 18, United 
     States Code (as added by section 2 of this Act).
       (e) Limitations on Use of Authority.--
       (1) In general.--As a percentage of the sales made by 
     Federal Prison Industries during the base period, the total 
     dollar value of sales to the Government made pursuant to 
     subsection (b) and subsection (c) of this section shall not 
     exceed--
       (A) 90 percent in fiscal year 2007;
       (B) 85 percent in fiscal year 2008;
       (C) 70 percent in fiscal year 2009;
       (D) 55 percent in fiscal year 2010; and
       (E) 40 percent in fiscal year 2011.
       (2) Sales within various business sectors.--Use of the 
     authority provided by subsections (b) and (c) shall not 
     result in sales by Federal Prison Industries to the 
     Government that are in excess of its total sales during the 
     base year for each business sector.
       (3) Limitations relating to specific products.--Use of the 
     authorities provided by subsections (b) and (c) shall not 
     result in contract awards to Federal Prison Industries that 
     are in excess of its total sales during the base period for 
     such product.
       (4) Changes in design specifications.--If a buying agency 
     directs a change to the design specification for a specific 
     product, the costs associated with the implementation of such 
     specification change by Federal Prison Industries shall not 
     be considered for the purposes of computing sales by Federal 
     Prison Industries for the purposes of paragraphs (2) and (3).
       (f) Additional Authority to Sustain Inmate Employment.--
     During the period specified in subsection (g), the authority 
     of section 4122(b)(11)(C)(ii) of title 18, United States Code 
     (as added by section 3), may be used by the Board to sustain 
     inmate employment.
       (g) Duration of Authority.--The preferential contracting 
     authorities authorized by subsection (b) may not be used on 
     or after October 1, 2011, and become effective on the 
     effective date of the final regulations issued pursuant to 
     section 17.
       (h) Definitions.--For the purposes of this section--
       (1) the term ``base period'' means the total sales of 
     Federal Prison Industries during the period October 1, 2003, 
     and September 30, 2004 (Fiscal Year 2004);
       (2) the term ``business sectors'' means the seven product/
     service business groups identified in the 2004 Federal Prison 
     Industries annual report as the Clothing and Textiles 
     Business Group, the Electronics Business Group, the Fleet 
     Management and Vehicular Components

[[Page H6570]]

     Business Group, the Industrial Products Business Group, the 
     Office Furniture Business Group, the Recycling Activities 
     Business Group, and the Services Business Group; and
       (3) the term ``fair and reasonable price'' shall be given 
     the same meaning as, and be determined pursuant to, part 15.8 
     of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (48 C.F.R. 15.8).
       (i) Finding by Attorney General With Respect to Public 
     Safety.--(1) Not later than 60 days prior to the end of each 
     fiscal year specified in subsection (e)(1), the Attorney 
     General shall make a finding regarding the effects of the 
     percentage limitation imposed by such subsection for such 
     fiscal year and the likely effects of the limitation imposed 
     by such subsection for the following fiscal year.
       (2) The Attorney General's finding shall include a 
     determination whether such limitation has resulted or is 
     likely to result in a substantial reduction in inmate 
     industrial employment and whether such reductions, if any, 
     present a significant risk of adverse effects on safe prison 
     operation or public safety.
       (3) If the Attorney General finds a significant risk of 
     adverse effects on either safe prison management or public 
     safety, he shall so advise the Congress.
       (4) In advising the Congress pursuant to paragraph (3), the 
     Attorney General shall make recommendations for additional 
     authorizations of appropriations to provide additional 
     alternative inmate rehabilitative opportunities and 
     additional correctional staffing, as may be appropriate.
       (j) Procedural Requirements for Civilian Agencies Relating 
     to Products of Federal Prison Industries.--Title III of the 
     Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 
     U.S.C. 251 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
     following new section:

     ``SEC. 318. PRODUCTS OF FEDERAL PRISON INDUSTRIES: PROCEDURAL 
                   REQUIREMENTS.

       ``(a) Market Research.--Before purchasing a product listed 
     in the latest edition of the Federal Prison Industries 
     catalog under section 4124(g) of title 18, United States 
     Code, the head of an executive agency shall conduct market 
     research to determine whether the Federal Prison Industries 
     product is comparable to products available from the private 
     sector that best meet the executive agency's needs in terms 
     of price, quality, and time of delivery.
       ``(b) Competition Requirement.--If the head of the 
     executive agency determines that a Federal Prison Industries 
     product is not comparable in price, quality, or time of 
     delivery to products available from the private sector that 
     best meet the executive agency's needs in terms of price, 
     quality, and time of delivery, the agency head shall use 
     competitive procedures for the procurement of the product or 
     shall make an individual purchase under a multiple award 
     contract. In conducting such a competition or making such a 
     purchase, the agency head shall consider a timely offer from 
     Federal Prison Industries.
       ``(c) Implementation by Head of Executive Agency.--The head 
     of an executive agency shall ensure that--
       ``(1) the executive agency does not purchase a Federal 
     Prison Industries product or service unless a contracting 
     officer of the agency determines that the product or service 
     is comparable to products or services available from the 
     private sector that best meet the agency's needs in terms of 
     price, quality, and time of delivery; and
       ``(2) Federal Prison Industries performs its contractual 
     obligations to the same extent as any other contractor for 
     the executive agency.
       ``(d) Market Research Determination Not Subject to 
     Review.--A determination by a contracting officer regarding 
     whether a product or service offered by Federal Prison 
     Industries is comparable to products or services available 
     from the private sector that best meet an executive agency's 
     needs in terms of price, quality, and time of delivery shall 
     not be subject to review pursuant to section 4124(b) of title 
     18.
       ``(e) Performance as a Subcontractor.--(1) A contractor or 
     potential contractor of an executive agency may not be 
     required to use Federal Prison Industries as a subcontractor 
     or supplier of products or provider of services for the 
     performance of a contract of the executive agency by any 
     means, including means such as--
       ``(A) a contract solicitation provision requiring a 
     contractor to offer to make use of products or services of 
     Federal Prison Industries in the performance of the contract;
       ``(B) a contract specification requiring the contractor to 
     use specific products or services (or classes of products or 
     services) offered by Federal Prison Industries in the 
     performance of the contract; or
       ``(C) any contract modification directing the use of 
     products or services of Federal Prison Industries in the 
     performance of the contract.
       ``(2) In this subsection, the term `contractor', with 
     respect to a contract, includes a subcontractor at any tier 
     under the contract.
       ``(f) Protection of Classified and Sensitive Information.--
     The head of an executive agency may not enter into any 
     contract with Federal Prison Industries under which an inmate 
     worker would have access to--
       ``(1) any data that is classified;
       ``(2) any geographic data regarding the location of--
       ``(A) surface and subsurface infrastructure providing 
     communications or water or electrical power distribution;
       ``(B) pipelines for the distribution of natural gas, bulk 
     petroleum products, or other commodities; or
       ``(C) other utilities; or
       ``(3) any personal or financial information about any 
     individual private citizen, including information relating to 
     such person's real property however described, without the 
     prior consent of the individual.
       ``(g) Definitions.--In this section:
       ``(1) The term `competitive procedures' has the meaning 
     given such term in section 4(5) of the Office of Federal 
     Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 403(5)).
       ``(2) The term `market research' means obtaining specific 
     information about the price, quality, and time of delivery of 
     products available in the private sector through a variety of 
     means, which may include--
       ``(A) contacting knowledgeable individuals in government 
     and industry;
       ``(B) interactive communication among industry, acquisition 
     personnel, and customers; and
       ``(C) interchange meetings or pre-solicitation conferences 
     with potential offerors.''.

     SEC. 5. AUTHORITY TO PERFORM AS A FEDERAL SUBCONTRACTOR.

       (a) In General.--Federal Prison Industries is authorized to 
     enter into a contract with a Federal contractor (or a 
     subcontractor of such contractor at any tier) to produce 
     products as a subcontractor or supplier in the performance of 
     a Federal procurement contract. The use of Federal Prison 
     Industries as a subcontractor or supplier shall be a wholly 
     voluntary business decision by the Federal prime contractor 
     or subcontractor, subject to any prior approval of 
     subcontractors or suppliers by the contracting officer which 
     may be imposed by the Federal Acquisition Regulation or by 
     the contract.
       (b) Limitations on Use.--Federal Prison Industries is 
     prohibited from being a subcontractor or supplier at any tier 
     if--
       (1) the product or service is to be acquired by a Federal 
     department or agency pursuant to section 3 of the Javits-
     Wagner-O'Day Act (41 U.S.C. 48); or
       (2) the product to be acquired by the Federal department or 
     agency is subject to section 2533a of title 10, United States 
     Code.
       (c) Commercial Sales Prohibited.--The authority provided by 
     subsection (a) shall not result, either directly or 
     indirectly, in the sale in the commercial market of a product 
     or service resulting from the labor of Federal inmate workers 
     in violation of section 1761(a) of title 18, United States 
     Code. A Federal contractor (or subcontractor at any tier) 
     using Federal Prison Industries as a subcontractor or 
     supplier in furnishing a commercial product pursuant to a 
     Federal contract shall implement appropriate management 
     procedures to prevent introducing an inmate-produced product 
     into the commercial market.
       (d) Prohibitions on Mandating Subcontracting With Federal 
     Prison Industries.--Except as authorized under the Federal 
     Acquisition Regulation, the use of Federal Prison Industries 
     as a subcontractor or supplier of products or provider of 
     services shall not be imposed upon prospective or actual 
     Federal prime contractors or a subcontractors at any tier by 
     means of--
       (1) a contract solicitation provision requiring a 
     contractor to offer to make use of Federal Prison Industries, 
     its products or services;
       (2) specifications requiring the contractor to use specific 
     products or services (or classes of products or services) 
     offered by Federal Prison Industries in the performance of 
     the contract;
       (3) any contract modification directing the use of Federal 
     Prison Industries, its products or services; or
       (4) any other means.

     SEC. 6. INMATE WAGES AND DEDUCTIONS.

       Section 4122(b) of title 18, United States Code (as amended 
     by section 3 of this Act), is further amended by adding after 
     paragraph (11) a new paragraph (12) as follows:
       ``(12)(A) The Board of Directors of Federal Prison 
     Industries shall prescribe the rates of hourly wages to be 
     paid inmates performing work for or through Federal Prison 
     Industries. The Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons 
     shall prescribe the rates of hourly wages for other work 
     assignments within the various Federal correctional 
     institutions. In the case of an inmate whose term of 
     imprisonment is to expire in not more than 2 years, wages 
     shall be earned at an hourly rate of not less than $2.50, but 
     paid at the same rate and in the same manner as to any other 
     inmate, and any amount earned but not paid shall be held in 
     trust and paid only upon the actual expiration of the term of 
     imprisonment.
       ``(B) The various inmate wage rates shall be reviewed and 
     considered for increase on not less than a biannual basis.
       ``(C) The Board of Directors of Federal Prison Industries 
     shall--
       ``(i) not later than September 30, 2008, increase the 
     maximum wage rate for inmates performing work for or through 
     Federal Prison Industries to an amount equal to 50 percent of 
     the minimum wage prescribed by section 6(a)(1) of the Fair 
     Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)); and
       ``(ii) not later than September 30, 2013, increase such 
     maximum wage rate to an amount equal to such minimum wage.
       ``(D) Wages earned by an inmate worker shall be paid in the 
     name of the inmate. Deductions, aggregating to not more than 
     80 percent of gross wages, shall be taken from the wages due 
     for--
       ``(i) applicable taxes (Federal, State, and local);
       ``(ii) payment of fines and restitution pursuant to court 
     order;
       ``(iii) payment of additional restitution for victims of 
     the inmate's crimes (at a rate not less than 10 percent of 
     gross wages);
       ``(iv) allocations for support of the inmate's family 
     pursuant to statute, court order, or agreement with the 
     inmate;
       ``(v) allocations to a fund in the inmate's name to 
     facilitate such inmate's assimilation back into society, 
     payable at the conclusion of incarceration; and
       ``(vi) such other deductions as may be specified by the 
     Director of the Bureau of Prisons.
       ``(E) Each inmate worker working for Federal Prison 
     Industries shall indicate in writing that such person--

[[Page H6571]]

       ``(i) is participating voluntarily; and
       ``(ii) understands and agrees to the wages to be paid and 
     deductions to be taken from such wages.''.

     SEC. 7. CLARIFYING AMENDMENT RELATING TO SERVICES.

       (a) In General.--Section 1761 of title 18, United States 
     Code, is amended in subsection (a) and (c) by striking 
     ``goods, wares, or merchandise manufactured, produced, or 
     mined'' each place it appears and inserting ``products 
     manufactured, services furnished, or minerals mined''.
       (b) Completion of Existing Agreements.--Any prisoner work 
     program operated by a prison or jail of a State or local 
     jurisdiction of a State which is providing services for the 
     commercial market through inmate labor on October 1, 2004, 
     may continue to provide such commercial services until--
       (1) the expiration date specified in the contract or other 
     agreement with a commercial partner on October 1, 2004, or
       (2) until September 30, 2010, if the prison work program is 
     directly furnishing the services to the commercial market.
       (c) Approval Required for Long-Term Operation.--A prison 
     work program operated by a correctional institution operated 
     by a State or local jurisdiction of a State may continue to 
     provide inmate labor to furnish services for sale in the 
     commercial market after the dates specified in subsection (b) 
     if such program has been certified pursuant to section 
     1761(c)(1) of title 18, United States Code, and is in 
     compliance with the requirements of such subsection and its 
     implementing regulations.
       (d) Existing Work Opportunities for Federal Inmates.--Any 
     private for-profit business entity having an agreement with 
     Federal Prison Industries in effect on the date of enactment 
     of this Act, under which Federal inmates are furnishing 
     services that are being introduced into the commercial 
     market, may continue to furnish such services for the 
     duration of the term of such agreement.
       (e) Additional Amendment.--Section 1761 of title 18, United 
     States Code, is further amended--
       (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (e); and
       (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the following new 
     subsection:
       ``(d) This section shall not apply to services performed as 
     part of an inmate work program conducted by a State or local 
     government to disassemble, scrap, and recycle products, other 
     than electronic products, that would otherwise be disposed of 
     in a landfill. Recovered scrap from such program may be 
     sold.''.

     SEC. 8. CONFORMING AMENDMENT.

       Section 4122(a) of title 18, United States Code, is amended 
     by striking ``production of commodities'' and inserting 
     ``production of products or furnishing of services''.

     SEC. 9. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION RELATING TO CHAPTER 307.

       Chapter 307 of title 18, United States Code, is further 
     amended by adding at the end the following:

     ``Sec. 4130. Construction of provisions

       ``Nothing in this chapter shall be construed--
       ``(1) to establish an entitlement of any inmate to--
       ``(A) employment in a Federal Prison Industries facility; 
     or
       ``(B) any particular wage, compensation, or benefit on 
     demand, except as otherwise specifically provided by law or 
     regulation;
       ``(2) to establish that inmates are employees for the 
     purposes of any law or program; or
       ``(3) to establish any cause of action by or on behalf of 
     any inmate against the United States or any officer, 
     employee, or contractor thereof.''.

     SEC. 10. PROVIDING ADDITIONAL REHABILITATIVE OPPORTUNITIES 
                   FOR INMATES.

       (a) Additional Educational, Training, and Release-
     Preparation Opportunities.--
       (1) Program established.--There is hereby established the 
     Enhanced In-Prison Educational and Vocational Assessment and 
     Training Program within the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
       (2) Comprehensive program.--In addition to such other 
     components as the Director of the Bureau of Prisons deems 
     appropriate to reduce inmate idleness and better prepare 
     inmates for a successful reentry into the community upon 
     release, the program shall provide--
       (A) in-prison assessments of inmates' needs and aptitudes;
       (B) a full range of educational opportunities;
       (C) vocational training and apprenticeships; and
       (D) comprehensive release-readiness preparation.
       (3) Authorization of appropriations.--For the purposes of 
     carrying out the program established by paragraph (1), 
     $75,000,000 is authorized for each fiscal year after fiscal 
     year 2008, to remain available until expended. It is the 
     sense of Congress that Federal Prison Industries should use 
     some of its net earnings to accomplish the purposes of the 
     program.
       (4) Schedule for implementation.--All components of the 
     program shall be established--
       (A) in at least 25 percent of all Federal prisons not later 
     than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act;
       (B) in at least 50 percent of all Federal prisons not later 
     than 4 years after such date of enactment;
       (C) in at least 75 percent of all Federal prisons not later 
     than 6 years after such date of enactment; and
       (D) in all Federal prisons not later than 8 years after 
     such date of enactment.
       (b) Additional Inmate Work Opportunities Through Public 
     Service Activities.--
       (1) In general.--Chapter 307 of title 18, United States 
     Code, is further amended by inserting after section 4124 the 
     following new section:

     ``Sec. 4124a. Additional inmate work opportunities through 
       public service activities

       ``(a) In General.--Inmates with work assignments within 
     Federal Prison Industries may perform work for an eligible 
     entity pursuant to an agreement between such entity and the 
     Inmate Work Training Administrator in accordance with the 
     requirements of this section.
       ``(b) Definition of Eligible Entities.--For the purposes of 
     this section, the term `eligible entity' means an entity--
       ``(1) that is an organization described in section 
     501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt 
     from taxation under section 501(a) of such Code and that has 
     been such an organization for a period of not less than 36 
     months prior to inclusion in an agreement under this section;
       ``(2) that is a religious organization described in section 
     501(d) of such Code and exempt from taxation under section 
     501(a) of such Code; or
       ``(3) that is a unit of local government, a school 
     district, or another special purpose district.
       ``(c) Inmate Work Training Administrator.--There is hereby 
     established the position of Inmate Work Training 
     Administrator, who shall be responsible for fostering the 
     creation of alternative inmate work opportunities authorized 
     by this section. The Administrator shall be designated by the 
     Chief Executive Officer of Federal Prison Industries, with 
     the approval of the Board of Directors, and be under the 
     supervision of the Chief Operating Officer, but may directly 
     report to the Board.
       ``(d) Proposed Agreements.--An eligible entity seeking to 
     enter into an agreement pursuant to subsection (a) shall 
     submit a detailed proposal to the Inmate Work Training 
     Administrator. Each such agreement shall specify--
       ``(1) types of work to be performed;
       ``(2) the proposed duration of the agreement, specified in 
     terms of a base year and number of option years;
       ``(3) the number of inmate workers expected to be employed 
     in the specified types of work during the various phases of 
     the agreement;
       ``(4) the wage rates proposed to be paid to various classes 
     of inmate workers; and
       ``(5) the facilities, services and personnel (other than 
     correctional personnel dedicated to the security of the 
     inmate workers) to be furnished by Federal Prison Industries 
     or the Bureau of Prisons and the rates of reimbursement, if 
     any, for such facilities, services, and personnel.
       ``(e) Representations.--
       ``(1) Eleemosynary work activities.--Each proposed 
     agreement shall be accompanied by a written certification by 
     the chief executive officer of the eligible entity that--
       ``(A) the work to be performed by the inmate workers will 
     be limited to the eleemosynary work of such entity in the 
     case of an entity described in paragraph (1) or (2) of 
     subsection (b);
       ``(B) the work would not be performed in the United States 
     but for the availability of the inmate workers; and
       ``(C) the work performed by the inmate workers will not 
     result, either directly or indirectly, in the production of a 
     new product or the furnishing of a service that is to be 
     offered for other than resale or donation by the eligible 
     entity or any affiliate of the such entity.
       ``(2) Protections for non-inmate workers.--Each proposed 
     agreement shall also be accompanied by a written 
     certification by the chief executive officer of the eligible 
     entity that--
       ``(A) no non-inmate employee (including any person 
     performing work activities for such governmental entity 
     pursuant to section 607 of subchapter IV of the Social 
     Security Act (42 U.S.C. 607)) of the eligible entity (or any 
     affiliate of the entity) working in the United States will 
     have his or her job abolished or work hours reduced as a 
     result of the entity being authorized to utilize inmate 
     workers; and
       ``(B) the work to be performed by the inmate workers will 
     not supplant work currently being performed in the United 
     States by a contractor of the eligible entity.
       ``(f) Approval by Board of Directors.--
       ``(1) In general.--Each such proposed agreement shall be 
     presented to the Board of Directors, be subject to the same 
     opportunities for public comment, and be publicly considered 
     and acted upon by the Board in a manner comparable to that 
     required by paragraphs (7) and (8) of section 4122(b).
       ``(2) Matters to be considered.--In determining whether to 
     approve a proposed agreement, the Board shall--
       ``(A) give priority to an agreement that provides inmate 
     work opportunities that will provide participating inmates 
     with the best prospects of obtaining employment paying a 
     livable wage upon release;
       ``(B) give priority to an agreement that provides for 
     maximum reimbursement for inmate wages and for the costs of 
     supplies and equipment needed to perform the types of work to 
     be performed;
       ``(C) not approve an agreement that will result in the 
     displacement of non-inmate workers contrary to the 
     representations required by subsection (e)(2) as determined 
     by the Board or by the Secretary of Labor (pursuant to 
     subsection (i)); and
       ``(D) not approve an agreement that will result, either 
     directly or indirectly, in the production of a new product or 
     the furnishing of a service for other than resale by an 
     eligible entity described in paragraph (1) or (2) of 
     subsection (b) or donation.
       ``(g) Wage Rates and Deductions From Inmate Wages.--
       ``(1) In general.--Inmate workers shall be paid wages for 
     work under the agreement at a basic hourly rate to be 
     negotiated between the eligible entity and Federal Prison 
     Industries and specified in the agreement. The wage rates

[[Page H6572]]

     set by the Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons to be 
     paid inmates for various institutional work assignments are 
     specifically authorized.
       ``(2) Payment to inmate worker and authorized deductions.--
     Wages shall be paid and deductions taken pursuant to section 
     4122(b)(12)(D).
       ``(3) Voluntary participation by inmate.--Each inmate 
     worker to be utilized by an eligible entity shall indicate in 
     writing that such person--
       ``(A) is participating voluntarily; and
       ``(B) understands and agrees to the wages to be paid and 
     deductions to be taken from such wages.
       ``(h) Assignment to Work Opportunities.--Assignment of 
     inmates to work under an approved agreement with an eligible 
     entity shall be subject to the Bureau of Prisons Program 
     Statement Number 1040.10 (Non-Discrimination Toward Inmates), 
     as contained in section 551.90 of title 28 of the Code of 
     Federal Regulations (or any successor document).
       ``(i) Enforcement of Protections for Non-Inmate Workers.--
       ``(1) Prior to board consideration.--Upon request of any 
     interested person, the Secretary of Labor may promptly verify 
     a certification made pursuant subsection (e)(2) with respect 
     to the displacement of non-inmate workers so as to make the 
     results of such inquiry available to the Board of Directors 
     prior to the Board's consideration of the proposed agreement. 
     The Secretary and the person requesting the inquiry may make 
     recommendations to the Board regarding modifications to the 
     proposed agreement.
       ``(2) During performance.--
       ``(A) In general.--Whenever the Secretary deems 
     appropriate, upon request or otherwise, the Secretary may 
     verify whether the actual performance of the agreement is 
     resulting in the displacement of non-inmate workers or the 
     use of inmate workers in a work activity not authorized under 
     the approved agreement.
       ``(B) Sanctions.--Whenever the Secretary determines that 
     performance of the agreement has resulted in the displacement 
     of non-inmate workers or employment of an inmate worker in an 
     unauthorized work activity, the Secretary may--
       ``(i) direct the Inmate Work Training Administrator to 
     terminate the agreement for default, subject to the processes 
     and appeals available to a Federal contractor whose 
     procurement contract has been terminated for default; and
       ``(ii) initiate proceedings to impose upon the person 
     furnishing the certification regarding non-displacement of 
     non-inmate workers required by subsection (d)(2)(B) any 
     administrative, civil, and criminal sanctions as may be 
     available.''.
       (2) Authorization of appropriation.--There is authorized to 
     be appropriated $5,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008 
     through 2012 for the purposes of paying the wages of inmates 
     and otherwise undertaking the maximum number of agreements 
     with eligible entities pursuant to section 4124a of title 18, 
     United States Code, as added by paragraph (1).
       (3) Sense of congress.--For purposes of sections 4124a and 
     4124b of title 18, United States Code, as added by sections 
     10(b) and 11, respectively, it is the sense of Congress that 
     an inmate training wage that is at least 50 percent of the 
     minimum wage prescribed pursuant to section 6(a)(1) of the 
     Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)) will 
     facilitate successful achievement of the goals of the work-
     based training and apprenticeship program authorized under 
     such section 4124a.
       (c) Inmate Work Opportunities in Support of Not-for-Profit 
     Entities.--
       (1) Proposals for donation programs.--The Chief Operating 
     Officer of Federal Prison Industries shall develop and 
     present to the Board of Directors of Federal Prison 
     Industries proposals to have Federal Prison Industries donate 
     products and services to eligible entities that provide goods 
     or services to low-income individuals who would likely 
     otherwise have difficulty purchasing such products or 
     services in the commercial market.
       (2) Schedule for submission and consideration of donation 
     programs.--
       (A) Initial proposals.--The Chief Operating Officer shall 
     submit the initial group of proposals for programs of the 
     type described in paragraph (1) within 180 days after the 
     date of the enactment of this Act. The Board of Directors of 
     Federal Prison Industries shall consider such proposals from 
     the Chief Operating Officer not later than the date that is 
     270 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
       (B) Annual operating plan.--The Board of Directors of 
     Federal Prison Industries shall consider proposals by the 
     Chief Operating Officer for programs of the type described in 
     paragraph (1) as part of the annual operating plan for 
     Federal Prison Industries.
       (C) Other proposals.--In addition to proposals submitted by 
     the Chief Operating Officer, the Board of Directors may, from 
     time to time, consider proposals presented by prospective 
     eligible entities.
       (3) Definition of eligible entities.--For the purposes of 
     this subsection, the term ``eligible entity'' means an 
     entity--
       (A) that is an organization described in section 501(c)(3) 
     of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from taxation 
     under section 501(a) of such Code and that has been such an 
     organization for a period of not less than 36 months prior to 
     inclusion in a proposal of the type described in paragraph 
     (1), or
       (B) that is a religious organization described in section 
     501(d) of such Code and exempt from taxation under section 
     501(a) of such Code.
       (4) Authorization of appropriations.--There are authorized 
     to be appropriated $7,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 
     2008 through 2012 for the purposes of paying the wages of 
     inmates and otherwise carrying out programs of the type 
     described in paragraph (1).
       (d) Maximizing Inmate Rehabilitative Opportunities Through 
     Cognitive Abilities Assessments.--
       (1) Demonstration program authorized.--
       (A) In general.--There is hereby established within the 
     Federal Bureau of Prisons a program to be known as the 
     ``Cognitive Abilities Assessment Demonstration Program''. The 
     purpose of the demonstration program is to determine the 
     effectiveness of a program that assesses the cognitive 
     abilities and perceptual skills of Federal inmates to 
     maximize the benefits of various rehabilitative opportunities 
     designed to prepare each inmate for a successful return to 
     society and reduce recidivism. The demonstration program 
     shall be undertaken by a contractor with a demonstrated 
     record of enabling the behavioral and academic improvement of 
     adults through the use of research-based systems that 
     maximize the development of both the cognitive and perceptual 
     capabilities of a participating individual, including adults 
     in a correctional setting.
       (B) Scope of demonstration program.--The demonstration 
     program shall to the maximum extent practicable, be--
       (i) conducted during a period of three consecutive fiscal 
     years, commencing during fiscal year 2008;
       (ii) conducted at 12 Federal correctional institutions; and
       (iii) offered to 6,000 inmates, who are categorized as 
     minimum security or less, and are within five years of 
     release.
       (C) Report on results of program.--Not later than 60 days 
     after completion of the demonstration program, the Director 
     shall submit to Congress a report on the results of the 
     program. At a minimum, the report shall include an analysis 
     of employment stability, stability of residence, and rates of 
     recidivism among inmates who participated in the program 
     after 18 months of release.
       (2) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized 
     to be appropriated $3,000,000 in each of the three fiscal 
     years after fiscal year 2007, to remain available until 
     expended, for the purposes of conducting the demonstration 
     program authorized by subsection (a).
       (e) Prerelease Employment Assistance.--
       (1) In general.--The Director of the Federal Bureau of 
     Prisons shall, to the maximum extent practicable, afford to 
     inmates opportunities to participate in programs and 
     activities designed to help prepare such inmates to obtain 
     employment upon release.
       (2) Prerelease employment placement assistance.--Such 
     prerelease employment placement assistance required by 
     subsection (a) shall include--
       (A) training in the preparation of resumes and job 
     applications;
       (B) training in interviewing skills;
       (C) training and assistance in job search techniques;
       (D) conduct of job fairs; and
       (E) such other methods deemed appropriate by the Director.
       (3) Priority participation.--Priority in program 
     participation shall be accorded to inmates who are 
     participating in work opportunities afforded by Federal 
     Prison Industries and are within 24 months of release from 
     incarceration.

     SEC. 11. RE-ENTRY EMPLOYMENT PREPARATION THROUGH WORK-BASED 
                   TRAINING AND APPRENTICESHIP.

       (a) In General.--Chapter 307 of title 18, United States 
     Code, is further amended by inserting after section 4124a, as 
     added by section 10(b), the following new section:

     ``Sec. 4124b. Re-entry employment preparation through work-
       based training and apprenticeship.

       ``(a) Participation Authorized.--A private for-profit 
     business entity shall be an eligible entity for participation 
     in the program authorized by section 4124a of this title, if 
     such participation conforms with the requirements and 
     limitations of this section.
       ``(b) Requirements Relating to Products and Services.--A 
     private for-profit business entity is eligible for such 
     participation if such business entity proposes to train 
     participating inmates, pursuant to subsection (c), by 
     producing a product or performing a service, if such product 
     or service is of a type for which there is no production or 
     performance within the United States by noninmate workers.
       ``(c) Requirements Relating to Training.--
       ``(1) In general.--For purposes of this section, the 
     training of participating inmates shall be work-based 
     training that provides to a participating inmate 
     apprenticeship training or a functionally equivalent 
     structured program that combines hands-on work experience 
     with conceptual understanding of the work being performed. 
     Other inmates with regular work assignments within Federal 
     Prison Industries may be assigned to support the program.
       ``(2) Documentation of program participation.--
       ``(A) Each inmate who successfully completes participation 
     in training undertaken pursuant to this section shall be 
     provided a certificate or other written document 
     memorializing such successful completion, providing a 
     marketable summary of the skills learned and an overall 
     assessment of performance.
       ``(B) Copies of such documents shall be furnished to 
     perspective employers upon the request of the participant for 
     a period of not less than 24 months from the date of such 
     participant's release from incarceration.
       ``(3) Documents required for employment.--The Federal 
     Bureau of Prisons, in cooperation with a business entity 
     providing an inmate work-based training at the time of his or 
     her scheduled release, shall make every reasonable effort to 
     help the inmate timely obtain such documentation (including a 
     State government-

[[Page H6573]]

     issued photo identification card) as a person may be required 
     to provide to a prospective employer, after such person 
     completes an Employment Eligibility Verification (ICE Form I-
     9).
       ``(d) Wage Rates.--
       ``(1) In general.--Business entities participating in the 
     program authorized by subsection (a) shall propose wages for 
     inmates participating in the program at rates not less than 
     the inmate training wage promulgated pursuant to section 
     17(c) of the Federal Prison Industries Competition in 
     Contracting Act of 2006.
       ``(2) Inmate training wage.--Not more than 30 days after 
     the date of enactment of this section, the Board of Directors 
     of Federal Prison Industries shall request the Secretary of 
     Labor to promulgate an inmate training wage pursuant to 
     section 14(a) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 
     U.S.C. 214(a)).
       ``(e) Support for Other Release Preparation Programs.--In 
     addition to the matters listed in section 4124a(d) of this 
     title, a proposal for an agreement referred to in such 
     section submitted by an eligible business entity shall 
     specify an amount of any supplemental funding, specified as a 
     per-capita amount for each inmate participating pursuant to 
     the agreement, that the business entity will provide for the 
     purpose of supporting remedial, vocational, and other release 
     preparation programs for other nonparticipating inmates.
       ``(f) Additional Standards Applicable.--In considering a 
     proposed agreement pursuant to section 4124a(f)(1) of this 
     title, the Board of Directors shall--
       ``(1) give preference to an agreement that proposes--
       ``(A) work-based training opportunities that provide the 
     participating inmate the best prospects for obtaining 
     employment paying a livable wage upon release;
       ``(B) the highest per-capita amount pursuant to subsection 
     (e) relating to providing financial support for release 
     preparation for other inmates; and
       ``(C) the highest inmate wage rates;
       ``(2) not approve any agreement with respect to furnishing 
     services of the type described in section 4122(b)(6)(D)(iii) 
     of this title;
       ``(3) not approve any agreement with respect to furnishing 
     construction services described in section 4122(b)(6)(D)(iv) 
     of this title, unless to be performed within a Federal 
     correctional institution;
       ``(4) not approve an agreement that does not meet the 
     standards of subsection (b); and
       ``(5) request a determination from the International Trade 
     Commission (and such other executive branch entities as may 
     be appropriate), regarding whether a product or service is of 
     the type being produced or performed in the United States by 
     noninmate workers, whenever the Board determines that such an 
     additional assessment is warranted, including upon a request 
     from an interested party presenting information that the 
     Board deems to warrant such additional assessment prior to 
     the Board's consideration of the proposed agreement.
       ``(g) Limitations on the Use of the Authority.--
       ``(1) No sales by federal prison industries.--Federal 
     Prison Industries is prohibited from directly offering for 
     commercial sale products produced or services furnished by 
     Federal inmates, including through any form of electronic 
     commerce.
       ``(2) Duration.--
       ``(A) No proposed agreement pursuant to this subsection may 
     be approved by the Board of Directors after September 30, 
     2016.
       ``(B) Performance of all such agreements shall be concluded 
     prior to October 1, 2021.''.
       (b) Review and Reporting by the Attorney General.--Not less 
     than biannually, beginning in fiscal year 2008, the Attorney 
     General shall meet in person jointly with the Chairman of the 
     Board of Directors and the Chief Executive Officer of Federal 
     Prison Industries to review the progress that Federal Prison 
     Industries is making in maximizing the use of the authority 
     provided by sections 4124a and 4124b of title 18, United 
     States Code. The Attorney General shall provide annually a 
     written report to the Committees on the Judiciary and 
     Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate 
     addressing such progress by Federal Prison Industries.
       (c) GAO Assessment of Work-Based Training Program.--
       (1) In general.--The Comptroller General of the United 
     States shall undertake an on-going assessment of the 
     authority granted by section 4124b of title 18, United States 
     Code, as added by subsection (a).
       (2) Matters to be assessed.--In addition to such other 
     matters as the Comptroller General deems appropriate, the 
     assessment shall include--
       (A) efforts to recruit private for-profit business entities 
     to participate;
       (B) the quality of training provided to inmates;
       (C) the amounts and types of products and services that 
     have been produced incident to the work-based training 
     programs;
       (D) the types of worksite arrangement that encourage 
     business concerns to voluntarily enter into such 
     partnerships;
       (E) the extent and manner of the participation of 
     supervisory, quality assurance, and other management 
     employees of the participating business entity in worksites 
     within correctional facilities of various levels of security;
       (F) the extent of the facilities, utilities, equipment, and 
     personnel (other than security personnel) provided by the 
     host correctional agency, and extent to which such resources 
     are provided on a nonreimbursable basis;
       (G) the rates of wages paid to inmate workers and the 
     effect that such wage rates have on willingness of business 
     entities to participate;
       (H) any complaints filed regarding the displacement of 
     noninmate workers or of inmate workers being paid less than 
     required wages and the disposition of those complaints;
       (I) any sanctions recommended relating to displacement of 
     noninmate workers or payment of less than the required wages, 
     and the disposition of such proposed sanctions;
       (J) the extent to which the new authority provided 
     additional inmate work opportunities assisting the Bureau of 
     Prisons in attaining its objective of providing 25 percent of 
     the work-eligible inmates with work opportunities within 
     Federal Prison Industries;
       (K) measures of any adverse impacts of implementation of 
     the new authority on business concerns using noninmate 
     workers that are engaged in providing similar types of 
     products and services in direct competition; and
       (L) a compilation of data relating work opportunities for 
     Federal inmates with work assignments with Federal Prison 
     Industries provided by--
       (i) sales to Federal agencies pursuant to the status of 
     Federal Prison Industries as a mandatory source of supply 
     during the period fiscal year 1990 through fiscal year 2007;
       (ii) sales to Federal agencies of services, both through 
     non-competitive interagency transfers and as a result of 
     direct competition from private-sector offerors during the 
     period fiscal year 1990 though fiscal year 2007;
       (iii) performance as a subcontrator to a Federal prime 
     contractor or Federal subcontractor at a higher tier 
     beginning in fiscal year 1990;
       (iv) introduction of inmate-furnished services into the 
     commercial market, beginning in the second quarter of fiscal 
     year 1998;
       (v) alternative inmate work opportunities, beginning in 
     fiscal year 2007, provided by agreements with--

       (I) non-profit organizations, pursuant to section 
     4124a(b)(1) of title 18, United States Code, as added by 
     section 10(b), and section 10(c);
       (II) religious organizations, pursuant to section 
     4124a(b)(2) of title 18, United States Code;
       (III) units of local governments, school districts, or 
     other special purpose districts, pursuant to section 
     4124a(b)(3) of title 18, United States Code;
       (IV) work-based Employment Preparation Programs for Federal 
     inmates, pursuant to section 4124b of title 18, United States 
     Code, as added by section 11; or
       (V) other means.

       (3) Opportunity for public comment.--The Comptroller 
     General shall provide an opportunity for public comment on 
     the proposed scope and methodology for the assessment 
     required by paragraph (1), making such modifications in 
     response to such comments as he deems appropriate.
       (4) Reports and recommendations.--
       (A) In general.--The Comptroller General shall submit to 
     the Congress in accordance with this subsection two interim 
     reports and a final report of the assessment of 
     implementation of the new authority, including such 
     recommendations as the Comptroller General may deem 
     appropriate.
       (B) Interim reports.--The two interim reports shall 
     encompass the assessment of the implementation of the new 
     authority--
       (i) from the effective date of the authority through the 
     end of fiscal year 2007; and
       (ii) from the effective date of the authority through the 
     end of fiscal year 2010.
       (C) Final report.--The final report shall assess the 
     implementation of the new authority from the effective date 
     of the authority through the end of fiscal year 2013.
       (D) Submission to congress.--The Comptroller General shall 
     submit the reports required by this paragraph within 6 months 
     after the end of the fiscal years referred to in 
     subparagraphs (B) and (C).
       (d) Conforming Amendment.--Section 1761 of title 18, United 
     States Code, as amended by section 7, is further amended--
       (1) by redesignating subsection (e) as subsection (f); and
       (2) inserting after subsection (d) the following new 
     subsection:
       ``(e) This section shall not apply to products produced or 
     services furnished with inmate labor incidental to the work-
     based training program authorized pursuant to section 4124b 
     of this title.''.

     SEC. 12. RESTRUCTURING THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS.

       (a) In General.--Section 4121 of title 18, United States 
     Code, is amended to read as follows:

     ``Sec. 4121. Federal Prison Industries; Board of Directors: 
       executive management

       ``(a) Federal Prison Industries is a government corporation 
     of the District of Columbia organized to carry on such 
     industrial operations in Federal correctional institutions as 
     authorized by its Board of Directors. The manner and extent 
     to which such industrial operations are carried on in the 
     various Federal correctional institutions shall be determined 
     by the Attorney General.
       ``(b)(1) The corporation shall be governed by a board of 11 
     directors appointed by the President.
       ``(2) In making appointments to the Board, the President 
     shall assure that 3 members represent the business community, 
     3 members represent organized labor, 1 member shall have 
     special expertise in inmate rehabilitation techniques, 1 
     member represents victims of crime, 1 member represents the 
     interests of Federal inmate workers, and 2 additional members 
     whose background and expertise the President deems 
     appropriate. The members of the Board representing the 
     business community shall include, to the maximum extent 
     practicable, representation of firms furnishing services as 
     well as firms producing products, especially from those 
     industry categories from which Federal Prison Industries 
     derives substantial sales. The members of the Board 
     representing organized labor shall, to

[[Page H6574]]

     the maximum practicable, include representation from labor 
     unions whose members are likely to be most affected by the 
     sales of Federal Prison Industries.
       ``(3) Each member shall be appointed for a term of 5 years, 
     except that of members first appointed--
       ``(A) 2 members representing the business community shall 
     be appointed for a term of 3 years;
       ``(B) 2 members representing labor shall be appointed for a 
     term of 3 years;
       ``(C) 2 members whose background and expertise the 
     President deems appropriate for a term of 3 years;
       ``(D) 1 member representing victims of crime shall be 
     appointed for a term of 3 years;
       ``(E) 1 member representing the interests of Federal inmate 
     workers shall be appointed for a term of 3 years;
       ``(F) 1 member representing the business community shall be 
     appointed for a term of 4 years;
       ``(G) 1 member representing the business community shall be 
     appointed for a term of 4 years; and
       ``(H) the members having special expertise in inmate 
     rehabilitation techniques shall be appointed for a term of 5 
     years.
       ``(4) The President shall designate 1 member of the Board 
     as Chairperson. The Chairperson may designate a Vice 
     Chairperson.
       ``(5) Members of the Board may be reappointed.
       ``(6) Any vacancy on the Board shall be filled in the same 
     manner as the original appointment. Any member appointed to 
     fill a vacancy occurring before the expiration of the term 
     for which the member's predecessor was appointed shall be 
     appointed for the remainder of that term.
       ``(7) The members of the Board shall serve without 
     compensation. The members of the Board shall be allowed 
     travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, 
     at rates authorized for employees of agencies under 
     subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, to 
     attend meetings of the Board and, with the advance approval 
     of the Chairperson of the Board, while otherwise away from 
     their homes or regular places of business for purposes of 
     duties as a member of the Board.
       ``(8)(A) The Chairperson of the Board may appoint and 
     terminate any personnel that may be necessary to enable the 
     Board to perform its duties.
       ``(B) Upon request of the Chairperson of the Board, a 
     Federal agency may detail a Federal Government employee to 
     the Board without reimbursement. Such detail shall be without 
     interruption or loss of civil service status or privilege.
       ``(9) The Chairperson of the Board may procure temporary 
     and intermittent services under section 3109(b) of title 5, 
     United States Code.
       ``(c) The Director of the Bureau of Prisons shall serve as 
     Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation. The Director 
     shall designate a person to serve as Chief Operating Officer 
     of the Corporation.''.
       (b) Continued Governance.--The members of the Board of 
     Directors serving on the date of enactment of this Act, and 
     the person selected by them as Chairman, shall continue to 
     exercise the duties and responsibilities of the Board until 
     the earlier of--
       (1) the date on which the President has appointed at least 
     6 members of the Board and designated a new Chairman, 
     pursuant to section 4121 of title 18, United States Code (as 
     added by section 12(a) of this Act); or
       (2) the date that is 365 days after the date of enactment 
     of this Act.

     SEC. 13. PROVIDING ADDITIONAL MANAGEMENT FLEXIBILITY TO 
                   FEDERAL PRISON INDUSTRIES OPERATIONS.

       Section 4122(b)(3) of title 18, United States Code, is 
     amended--
       (1) by striking ``(3)'' and inserting ``(3)(A)''; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraphs:
       ``(B) Federal Prison Industries may locate more than one 
     workshop at a Federal correctional facility.
       ``(C) Federal Prison Industries may operate a workshop 
     outside of a correctional facility if all of the inmates 
     working in such workshop are classified as minimum security 
     inmates.''.

     SEC. 14. TRANSITIONAL PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY.

       Any correctional officer or other employee of Federal 
     Prison Industries being paid with nonappropriated funds who 
     would be separated from service because of a reduction in the 
     net income of Federal Prison Industries during any fiscal 
     year specified in section 4(e)(1) shall be--
       (1) eligible for appointment (or reappointment) in the 
     competitive service pursuant to title 5, United States Code;
       (2) registered on a Bureau of Prisons reemployment priority 
     list; and
       (3) given priority for any other position within the Bureau 
     of Prisons for which such employee is qualified.

     SEC. 15. FEDERAL PRISON INDUSTRIES REPORT TO CONGRESS.

       Section 4127 of title 18, United States Code, is amended to 
     read as follows:

     ``Sec. 4127. Federal Prison Industries report to Congress

       ``(a) In General.--Pursuant to chapter 91 of title 31, the 
     board of directors of Federal Prison Industries shall submit 
     an annual report to Congress on the conduct of the business 
     of the corporation during each fiscal year and the condition 
     of its funds during the fiscal year.
       ``(b) Contents of Report.--In addition to the matters 
     required by section 9106 of title 31, and such other matters 
     as the board considers appropriate, a report under subsection 
     (a) shall include--
       ``(1) a statement of the amount of obligations issued under 
     section 4129(a)(1) of this title during the fiscal year;
       ``(2) an estimate of the amount of obligations that will be 
     issued in the following fiscal year;
       ``(3) an analysis of--
       ``(A) the corporation's total sales for each specific 
     product and type of service sold to the Federal agencies and 
     the commercial market;
       ``(B) the total purchases by each Federal agency of each 
     specific product and type of service;
       ``(C) the corporation's share of such total Federal 
     Government purchases by specific product and type of service; 
     and
       ``(D) the number and disposition of disputes submitted to 
     the heads of the Federal departments and agencies pursuant to 
     section 4124(e) of this title;
       ``(4) an allocation of the profits of the corporation, both 
     gross and net, to--
       ``(A) educational, training, release-preparation 
     opportunities for inmates;
       ``(B) opening new factories; and
       ``(C) improving the productivity and competitiveness of 
     existing factories;
       ``(5) an analysis of the inmate workforce that includes--
       ``(A) the number of inmates employed;
       ``(B) the number of inmates utilized to produce products or 
     furnish services sold in the commercial market;
       ``(C) the number and percentage of employed inmates by the 
     term of their incarceration; and
       ``(D) the various hourly wages paid to inmates employed 
     with respect to the production of the various specific 
     products and types of services authorized for production and 
     sale to Federal agencies and in the commercial market; and
       ``(6) data concerning employment obtained by former inmates 
     upon release to determine whether the employment provided by 
     Federal Prison Industries during incarceration provided such 
     inmates with knowledge and skill in a trade or occupation 
     that enabled such former inmate to earn a livelihood upon 
     release.
       ``(c) Public Availability.--Copies of an annual report 
     under subsection (a) shall be made available to the public at 
     a price not exceeding the cost of printing the report.''.

     SEC. 16. DEFINITIONS.

       Chapter 307 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 
     adding at the end the following new section:

     ``Sec. 4131. Definitions

       ``As used in this chapter--
       ``(1) the term `assembly' means the process of uniting or 
     combining articles or components (including ancillary 
     finished components or assemblies) so as to produce a 
     significant change in form or utility, without necessarily 
     changing or altering the component parts;
       ``(2) the term `current market price' means, with respect 
     to a specific product, the fair market price of the product 
     within the meaning of section 15(a) of the Small Business Act 
     (15 U.S.C. 644(a)), at the time that the contract is to be 
     awarded, verified through appropriate price analysis or cost 
     analysis, including any costs relating to transportation or 
     the furnishing of any ancillary services;
       ``(3) the term `import-sensitive product' means a product 
     which, according to Department of Commerce data, has 
     experienced competition from imports at an import to domestic 
     production ratio of 25 percent or greater;
       ``(4) the term `labor-intensive manufacture' means a 
     manufacturing activity in which the value of inmate labor 
     constitutes at least 10 percent of the estimate unit cost to 
     produce the item by Federal Prison Industries;
       ``(5) the term `manufacture' means the process of 
     fabricating from raw or prepared materials, so as to impart 
     to those materials new forms, qualities, properties, and 
     combinations;
       ``(6) the term `reasonable share of the market' means a 
     share of the total purchases by the Federal departments and 
     agencies, as reported to the Federal Procurement Data System 
     for--
       ``(A) any specific product during the 3 preceding fiscal 
     years, that does not exceed 20 percent of the Federal market 
     for the specific product; and
       ``(B) any specific service during the 3 preceding fiscal 
     years, that does not exceed 5 percent of the Federal market 
     for the specific service; and
       ``(7) the term `services' has the meaning given the term 
     `service contract' by section 37.101 of the Federal 
     Acquisition Regulation (48 C.F.R. 36.102), as in effect on 
     July 1, 2004.''.

     SEC. 17. IMPLEMENTING REGULATIONS AND PROCEDURES.

       (a) Federal Acquisition Regulation.--
       (1) Proposed revisions.--Proposed revisions to the 
     Governmentwide Federal Acquisition Regulation to implement 
     the amendments made by this Act shall be published not later 
     than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act and 
     provide not less than 60 days for public comment.
       (2) Final regulations.--Final regulations shall be 
     published not later than 180 days after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act and shall be effective on the date that 
     is 30 days after the date of publication.
       (3) Public participation.--The proposed regulations 
     required by subsection (a) and the final regulations required 
     by subsection (b) shall afford an opportunity for public 
     participation in accordance with section 22 of the Office of 
     Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 418b).
       (b) Board of Directors.--
       (1) In general.--The Board of Directors of Federal Prison 
     Industries shall issue regulations defining the terms 
     specified in paragraph (2).
       (2) Terms to be defined.--The Board of Directors shall 
     issue regulations for the following terms:
       (A) Prison-made product.
       (B) Prison-furnished service.
       (C) Specific product.
       (D) Specific service.
       (3) Schedule for regulatory definitions.--
       (A) Proposed regulations relating to the matter described 
     in subsection (b)(2) shall be published not later than 60 
     days after the date of

[[Page H6575]]

     enactment of this Act and provide not less than 60 days for 
     public comment.
       (B) Final regulations relating to the matters described in 
     subsection (b)(2) shall be published not less than 180 days 
     after the date of enactment of this Act and shall be 
     effective on the date that is 30 days after the date of 
     publication.
       (4) Enhanced opportunities for public participation and 
     scrutiny.--
       (A) Administrative procedure act.--Regulations issued by 
     the Board of Directors shall be subject to notice and comment 
     rulemaking pursuant to section 553 of title 5, United States 
     Code. Unless determined wholly impracticable or unnecessary 
     by the Board of Directors, the public shall be afforded 60 
     days for comment on proposed regulations.
       (B) Enhanced outreach.--The Board of Directors shall use 
     means designed to most effectively solicit public comment on 
     proposed regulations, procedures, and policies and to inform 
     the affected public of final regulations, procedures, and 
     policies.
       (C) Open meeting processes.--The Board of Directors shall 
     take all actions relating to the adoption of regulations, 
     operating procedures, guidelines, and any other matter 
     relating to the governance and operation of Federal Prison 
     Industries based on deliberations and a recorded vote 
     conducted during a meeting open to the public, unless closed 
     pursuant to section 552(b) of title 5, United States Code.
       (c) Secretary of Labor.--
       (1) Schedule for regulatory action.--Upon receipt of a 
     request from the Federal Prison Industries Board of 
     Directors, pursuant to section 11(d)(2), to establish an 
     inmate training wage pursuant to section 14(a) of the Fair 
     Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 214(a)), the Secretary 
     of Labor, in consultation with the Attorney General, shall 
     issue--
       (A) an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking within 60 
     days;
       (B) an interim regulation with concurrent request for 
     public comments within 180 days; and
       (C) a final regulation within 365 days.
       (2) Alternative to timely issuance.--In the event that the 
     Secretary of Labor fails to issue an interim inmate training 
     wage by the date required by paragraph (1)(B), the Federal 
     Prison Industries Board of Directors may prescribe an interim 
     inmate training wage, which shall be in an amount not less 
     than 50 percent of the amount of the minimum wage prescribed 
     pursuant to section 6(a)(1) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 
     206(a)(1)).
       (3) Continued use of interim inmate training wage.--
       (A) The interim inmate training wage issued pursuant to 
     paragraph (1)(B) or prescribed under paragraph (2) shall 
     remain in effect until the effective date of a final 
     regulation, issued pursuant to paragraph (1)(C).
       (B) An eligible entity having an approved agreement with 
     Federal Prison Industries pursuant to section 4124b of title 
     18, United States Code, may continue to pay participating 
     inmates at the wages prescribed in the agreement for the 
     duration of the agreement, if those wages comply with the 
     standards of the interim inmate training wage issued pursuant 
     to paragraph (1)(B) or prescribed under paragraph (2).
       (4) Existing agreements with nonconforming wages.--Any for-
     profit business concern having an agreement with Federal 
     Prison Industries in effect on the date of enactment of this 
     Act, under which Federal inmates are furnishing services that 
     are being introduced into the commercial market, may continue 
     to pay wages at rates specified in the agreement for the 
     duration of the term of such agreement.

     SEC. 18. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.

       (a) Agency Bid Protests.--Subsection (e) of section 4124 of 
     title 18, United States Code, as amended by section 2, is not 
     intended to alter any rights of any offeror other than 
     Federal Prison Industries to file a bid protest in accordance 
     with other law or regulation in effect on the date of the 
     enactment of this Act.
       (b) Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act.--Nothing in this Act is 
     intended to modify the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act (41 U.S.C. 46 
     et seq.).

     SEC. 19. EFFECTIVE DATE AND APPLICABILITY.

       (a) Effective Date.--Except as provided in subsection (b), 
     this Act and the amendments made by this Act shall take 
     effect on the date of enactment of this Act.
       (b) Applicability.--Section 4124 of title 18, United States 
     Code, as amended by section 2, shall apply to any requirement 
     for a product or service offered by Federal Prison Industries 
     needed by a Federal department or agency after the effective 
     date of the final regulations issued pursuant to section 
     17(a)(2), or after September 30, 2007, whichever is earlier.

     SEC. 20. CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.

       The table of sections for chapter 307 of title 18, United 
     States Code, is amended--
       (1) by amending the item relating to section 4121 to read 
     as follows:

``4121. Federal Prison Industries; Board of Directors: executive 
              management.'';

       (2) by amending the item relating to section 4124 to read 
     as follows:

``4124. Governmentwide procurement policy relating to purchases from 
              Federal Prison Industries.'';

       (3) by inserting after the item relating to section 4124 
     the following new items:

``4124a. Additional inmate work opportunities through public service 
              activities.
``4124b. Re-entry employment preparation through work-based training 
              and apprenticeship.'';

       (4) by amending the item relating to section 4127 to read 
     as follows:

``4127. Federal Prison Industries report to Congress.'';

     and
       (5) by adding at the end the following new items:

``4130. Construction of provisions.
``4131. Definitions.''.

  The Acting CHAIRMAN. No amendment to the committee amendment is in 
order except the amendments printed in House Report 109-647. Each 
amendment may be offered only in the order printed in the report, by a 
Member designated in the report, shall be considered read, shall be 
debatable for the time specified in the report, equally divided and 
controlled by the proponent and an opponent of the amendment, shall not 
be subject to amendment and shall not be subject to a demand for 
division of the question.


              Amendment No. 1 Offered by Mr. Sensenbrenner

  The Acting CHAIRMAN. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 1 
printed in House Report 109-647.
  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.
  The Acting CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Amendment No. 1 offered by Mr. Sensenbrenner:
       Page 8, lines 13 and 14, strike ``offer the price of'' and 
     insert ``offered price''.
       Page 20, line 3, strike ``(i)'' and insert ``(j)''.
       Page 21, line 21, strike ``2007'' and insert ``2008''.
       Page 21, line 22, strike ``2008'' and insert ``2009''.
       Page 21, line 23, strike ``2009'' and insert ``2010''.
       Page 21, line 24, strike ``2010'' and insert ``2011''.
       Page 21, line 25, strike ``2011'' and insert ``2012''.
       Page 23, line 1, strike ``2011'' and ``2012''.
       Page 33, lines 16 and 20, strike ``2004'' each place it 
     appears and insert ``2006''.
       Page 33, line 21, strike ``2010'' and insert ``2011''.
       Page 36, line 26, strike ``2008'' and insert ``2007''.
       Page 55, lines 3 and 4, strike ``International Trade 
     Commission'' and insert ``Department of Commerce''.
       Page 61, line 2, strike ``2007'' and insert ``2009''.
       Page 61, line 4, strike ``2010'' and insert ``2012''.
       Page 61, line 8, strike ``2013'' and insert ``2014''.
       Page 66, strike lines 1 through 3, and insert the following 
     (and conform the table of contents accordingly):

     SEC. 13. MANAGEMENT MATTERS.

       Page 66, line 4, insert ``(a) Additional Flexibilities.--'' 
     before ``Section 4122(b)(3)''.
       Page 66, after line 15, insert the following:
       (b) Cost Accounting System.--
       (1) Establishment.--Federal Prison Industries shall 
     establish a cost accounting system that meets the 
     requirements of part 30 (Cost Accounting Standards 
     Administration) of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (48 
     C.F.R. part 30). The compliance of the cost accounting system 
     with such standards shall be annually verified as part of the 
     independent audit of Federal Prison Industries, Inc., 
     pursuant to section 9106(b) of title 31, United States Code.
       (2) Application of related provision.--Section 4124(c)(2) 
     of title 18, United States Code, shall apply when Federal 
     Prison Industries has been found to have a complaint cost 
     accounting system pursuant to paragraph (1).

  The Acting CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to House Resolution 997, the gentleman 
from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner) and a Member opposed each will 
control 5 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Wisconsin.
  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Chairman, this manager's amendment would make technical 
corrections to H.R. 2965. The amendment modifies 13 dates in various 
provisions of the bill to reflect the passage of time since its 
introduction, and also corrects one sectional cross-reference, and a 
reference to an executive branch agency.
  In addition, this amendment adds a provision to correct an amendment 
that was accepted during the Judiciary Committee's markup, which would 
require Federal Prison Industries, Inc., to establish a cost accounting 
system. This technical change is necessary to implement the amendment. 
Finally, the proposed amendment makes a grammatical correction.
  The changes are all technical in nature, but essential to the proper 
implementation of the bill. I urge my colleagues to support the 
amendment.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIRMAN. Does the gentleman from Michigan claim the time 
in opposition?

[[Page H6576]]

  Mr. CONYERS. I do.
  The Acting CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from Michigan is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Chairman, I rise to support the amendment because it 
is technical in nature, and I am sure thereby that there will be little 
objection to it.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my 
time.
  I am happy that between the time the gentleman rose to oppose the 
amendment and the time he started speaking he was persuaded to support 
the amendment.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIRMAN. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner).
  The amendment was agreed to.


            Amendment No. 2 Offered by Mr. Scott of Virginia

  The Acting CHAIRMAN. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 2 
printed in House Report 109-647.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.
  The Acting CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Amendment No. 2 offered by Mr. Scott of Virginia:
       Page 7, line 21, insert before the period the following: 
     ``and, in the discretion of the Attorney General, other 
     agencies and offices of the Department of Justice, on a 
     contract-by-contract basis''.

  The Acting CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to House Resolution 997, the gentleman 
from Virginia (Mr. Scott) and a Member opposed each will control 5 
minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Chairman, this amendment would also authorize the Justice 
Department to acquire products from the Federal Prison Industries on a 
noncompetitive basis as deemed appropriate by the Attorney General.
  Along with the Bureau of Prisons, the Attorney General has the 
responsibility for the safe, productive operation of Federal prisons 
and should, therefore, have the authority to ensure that all operations 
under his control are available to be directed to this effort. And 
insofar as Federal Prison Industries program is concerned, we know it 
is an effective tool to help the prison operations.
  This could be a much more realistic option for the Attorney General 
to ensure against disruption at a prison from the loss of jobs and 
contracts than the notion in the bill that he would have to declare the 
prison unmanageable without a particular contract. That is what is in 
the bill.
  It is not the wholesale authority for the Attorney General to direct 
any agency to award all of its FPI contracts, but only as deemed 
necessary or appropriate by the Attorney General, and it only covers 
Justice Department agencies.
  Remember, Mr. Chairman, we are trying to create jobs and manage the 
prisons. That is what this amendment would help the Attorney General 
do. I hope it would be the body's pleasure to adopt the amendment.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition to 
the amendment.
  The Acting CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from Wisconsin is recognized.
  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Chairman, the underlying bill permits sole-source contracts 
between the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the Federal Prison 
Industries. This amendment would extend the sole-source authority to 
the entire Department of Justice.
  Existing law allows a head of any executive agency to make a sole-
source contract award, if the agency head makes a determination that 
such an award is in the ``public interest.'' Following such a 
determination, Congress must be notified and the contract award 
suspended for 30 calendar days.
  This bill expressly provides the Attorney General to grant a 
noncompetitive contract whenever it is deemed necessary to maintain 
prison safety. Additionally, the bill allows the FPI board of directors 
to exceed the level specified for FPI sales if good cause is shown, 
which would include maintaining inmate equipment.
  DOJ operates a number of agencies, and the cost to the private sector 
in lost jobs and businesses would be extensive. In addition, the 
Department of Justice contains several law enforcement agencies, and 
requiring their personnel to utilize products made by inmates may raise 
safety concerns.
  Finally, the purpose of this legislation is to ensure that the 
government corporations do not take away opportunities from private 
businesses and to ensure that the taxpayers' money is wisely spent. The 
amendment would undermine that goal by denying the entire Department of 
Justice access to the benefits of competitive pricing, thereby forcing 
the taxpayer to bear the burden of higher prices.
  I urge my colleagues to reject this amendment.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.


                         Parliamentary Inquiry

  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Parliamentary inquiry, Mr. Chairman. Do either Mr. 
Conyers or I have the right to close?
  The Acting CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from Wisconsin has the right to 
close.
  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. It is the intention of the gentleman from 
Wisconsin to yield for the closing statement to the gentleman from 
Michigan, but I would ask the gentleman from Virginia to use up his 
time and then Mr. Conyers can close.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my 
time.
  I would close by saying this amendment would allow the Attorney 
General to make sure that there are enough jobs in the Federal Prison 
Industries to help manage the prisons. We know the more jobs there are, 
the less crime there will be in the future. That is the purpose of this 
amendment, managing the prisons and reducing crime.
  I would hope we would adopt that goal by allowing prisons to be 
managed better and reducing crime by adopting the amendment.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Chairman, I yield the balance of my time to 
the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers).
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this 
time.
  When you examine this amendment, this creates a loophole that could 
undermine the entire bill and any attempt that we have toward educating 
inmates, teaching vocational skills, and getting contracts for jobs 
because I, for one, am not for putting this into the tender hands and 
the gentle mercies of the Attorney General of the United States.
  I mean, I have never heard them even suggest that they support 
anything in this bill. So for me to want to create this carve-out to 
allow the Attorney General to direct agencies within the Department of 
Justice to award individual contracts to Federal Prison Industries on a 
noncompetitive basis is going way too far in terms of us trying to 
bring some justice to this bill.
  Now, we have to control our emotions here, ladies and gentlemen. This 
is about how we help people who have violated the law return to 
society. There is more than one way to do it. There are several ways to 
do it. We are in the process of creating what we think will be a new 
and better and more balanced way than the way that we have now.
  This is not slamming the Federal Prison Industries. As a matter of 
fact, under the provisions of this bill, they will be able to operate 
with nonprofits, with government organizations, with churches. There 
are a lot of ways to deal with this.
  The important thing is we all come together and get the money. 
Somebody said $75 million. Do you know how far $75 million goes in the 
expenditures that we are making on Iraq every day? This should not be 
the toughest assignment that those of us who support rehabilitation 
programs would make.

[[Page H6577]]

  I urge that if there is any one amendment that should be rejected, it 
would be one that would leave this measure to the tender mercies of the 
Attorney General of the United States.
  I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time.
  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIRMAN. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott).
  The question was taken; and the Acting Chairman announced that the 
noes appeared to have it.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.
  The Acting CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further 
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Virginia 
will be postponed.
  It is now in order to consider amendment No. 3 printed in House 
Report 109-647.
  It is now in order to consider amendment No. 4 printed in House 
Report 109-647.


            Amendment No. 5 Offered by Mr. Scott of Virginia

  The Acting CHAIRMAN. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 5 
printed in House Report 109-647.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.
  The Acting CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Amendment No. 5 offered by Mr. Scott of Virginia:
       Page 35, line 6, insert after ``services'' the following: 
     ``, except that the Board of Directors may authorize Federal 
     Prison Industries to continue providing to private, for-
     profit businesses services of the type and to the extent 
     being performed on the date of the enactment of the Federal 
     Prison Industries Competition in Contracting Act of 2006, on 
     a competitive basis''.

  The Acting CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to House Resolution 997, the gentleman 
from Virginia (Mr. Scott) and a Member opposed each will control 5 
minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Chairman, this amendment would allow the level of service 
contracts now being performed by FPI to continue at that level while 
prohibiting further expansion. There is no mandatory source provision 
for service contracts so they are already competitive. Most of the 
contracts involve work that would otherwise be done offshore, so FPI's 
competition is with foreign workers, not Americans.
  There have been no complaints about service contracts. Service 
contracts constitute a significant portion of the inmate work 
opportunities now in the program. None of these authorities 
individually or combined in the bill will realistically produce 
sufficient work opportunities for inmates to replace the loss of jobs 
from the elimination of mandatory source and the loss of current 
service contract jobs.
  Stable FPI jobs are critical to the efficient and safe operation of 
Federal prisons and the rehabilitation of inmates which correlates 
directly with public safety. There is no record to suggest that this 
part of FPI is broken beyond the philosophical view that it represents 
some kind of unfair competition to American businesses and workers; but 
in this case, there is virtually no competition. The reality is that 
this is not true, and no one has suggested that FPI service contracts 
today have any significant impact on American businesses or workers.
  Let us at least continue the level of service contracts we have now 
in an effort to reduce crime in the future. We are trying to reduce 
crime, trying to help manage the prisons. This will be go a little way 
into preserving some of those opportunities.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1230

  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the 
amendment.
  The Acting CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from Wisconsin is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Chairman, this amendment is a bad one because 
it would authorize the FPI to sell inmate-furnished services in the 
commercial market, which it first initiated in August of 1998.
  In February of that year, FPI obtained a legal memorandum from the 
Department of Justice Criminal Division stating that the sale of 
inmate-furnished services was not expressly prohibited by existing law, 
notwithstanding the fact that 18 U.S.C. section 1761(a) generally 
prohibits the introduction of results of inmate labor into the 
commercial market.
  This view was later adopted as the Department's official position, 
and though not issued by the Office of Legal Counsel, the then Attorney 
General offered FPI's new commercial market service initiative based on 
the Criminal Division's opinion.
  FPI's 1934 authorizing statute prohibits sales into the commercial 
market. The Attorney General was persuaded to authorize commercial 
sales of inmate-furnished services by FPI because neither FPI's 
authorizing statute nor the generally applicable prohibition, also from 
the 1930s, specifically mentions services. In the 1930s, services were 
not a large part of the economy, so they were not specifically 
mentioned by the legislation.
  However, the clear intent of the statute was to prohibit such sales 
in the commercial market, because they would create unfair competition 
and cause liability concerns. The reinterpretation reversed 75 years of 
precedent. The bill would clarify that FPI cannot sell either goods or 
services in the commercial marketplace. It would grandfather all 
contracts that are operational at the time of the agreement. That for 
the first time specifically authorized FPI to enter into services 
contracts with Federal agencies. However, it would not allow new 
contracts for services in the commercial marketplace.
  The amendment would permit FPI to continue its 1998 self-authorized 
expansion into the commercial services marketplace without restriction. 
It would continue to subject non-inmate workers being paid market 
driven wages, and the firms that employ them to unfair competition, 
using FPI workers being paid an average FPI wage of $.90 an hour. If 
you are for the minimum wage, you would have to be against this 
amendment, because there is competition.
  Additionally, telemarketing contracts, which are the most common 
forms of services provided, might allow inmates access to the personal 
financial information of individuals, raising significant privacy 
concerns. If you are for privacy, you ought to be against the 
amendment.
  For these reasons, I hope the amendment is defeated.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume, and just acknowledge this amendment is just designed to 
preserve a few of the jobs that we have got left. The amendments that 
passed in 2000 and 2001 have cost. If they had not passed, we would 
have 9,000 more jobs than we have now. We have already lost jobs. We 
would have had a lot more jobs than we had.
  We are just trying to preserve job opportunities, which have been 
shown to reduce crime. Now, I know it has already been said that trying 
to reduce crime is misguided around here, but that is the goal of the 
bill, and everybody who has studied it knows that is what would happen. 
If you have more jobs, you will have less crime. That is all we are 
trying to do.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Chairman, I yield the balance of my time to 
the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers).
  Mr. CONYERS. I thank the gentleman from Wisconsin.
  Mr. Chairman, this amendment raises an interesting question. We 
exclude services, for-profit business services, but we include 
everything else. What is the difference between the services and the 
products? We have to move in an organized fashion or not. To bifurcate 
this into services being excluded, I think, doesn't make any sense at 
all.
  Now, we are back to the continued mantra that less jobs mean more 
crime, so if you are for less crime, you

[[Page H6578]]

are for more jobs. But what we are doing, in this bill, goes back to an 
earlier consideration in which we said, which the gentleman from 
Virginia said, that we could guarantee these jobs and the $75 million, 
that this would work out.
  Of course, I don't know where we get guarantee tickets around here. 
But I am going to work to the best of my ability, and I have been in 
this corrections business for quite a while, to make sure that we get 
the money. It is very, very important that we do that.
  I am going to urge our Members not to buy into this half-of-a-loaf 
notion that services should somehow be allowed to continue and Federal 
Prison Industries not.
  The Acting CHAIRMAN. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott).
  The question was taken; and the Acting Chairman announced that the 
noes appeared to have it.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.
  The Acting CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further 
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Virginia 
will be postponed.


          Sequential Votes Postponed in Committee of the Whole

  The Acting CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, proceedings 
will now resume on those amendments on which further proceedings were 
postponed, in the following order:
  Amendment No. 2 by Mr. Scott of Virginia.
  Amendment No. 5 by Mr. Scott of Virginia.
  The Chair will reduce to 5 minutes the time for the second electronic 
vote in this series.


            Amendment No. 2 Offered by Mr. Scott of Virginia

  The Acting CHAIRMAN. The pending business is the demand for a 
recorded vote on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Virginia 
on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes 
prevailed by voice vote.
  The Clerk will redesignate the amendment.
  The Clerk redesignated the amendment.


                             Recorded Vote

  The Acting CHAIRMAN. A recorded vote has been demanded.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 77, 
noes 339, not voting 16, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 441]

                                AYES--77

     Bachus
     Barrow
     Berry
     Bishop (GA)
     Boyd
     Brown, Corrine
     Campbell (CA)
     Carson
     Chabot
     Clay
     Clyburn
     Cummings
     Davis (IL)
     Davis (KY)
     Davis, Tom
     Doggett
     Farr
     Fattah
     Filner
     Green (WI)
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Gutknecht
     Hastings (FL)
     Hefley
     Hensarling
     Hinchey
     Holden
     Holt
     Honda
     Hyde
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Jones (OH)
     Kanjorski
     Kolbe
     Kucinich
     LaHood
     Larson (CT)
     Lewis (CA)
     Lofgren, Zoe
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     McDermott
     McHugh
     McKinney
     Meeks (NY)
     Melancon
     Miller (NC)
     Mollohan
     Moore (WI)
     Moran (VA)
     Murtha
     Pastor
     Payne
     Petri
     Price (NC)
     Rahall
     Rogers (KY)
     Ross
     Rush
     Sabo
     Saxton
     Schakowsky
     Scott (VA)
     Serrano
     Sherwood
     Shimkus
     Spratt
     Taylor (MS)
     Thompson (MS)
     Udall (CO)
     Visclosky
     Wasserman Schultz
     Watson
     Wolf
     Wynn

                               NOES--339

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Aderholt
     Akin
     Alexander
     Allen
     Andrews
     Baca
     Baird
     Baker
     Baldwin
     Barrett (SC)
     Bartlett (MD)
     Barton (TX)
     Bass
     Bean
     Beauprez
     Becerra
     Berkley
     Berman
     Biggert
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (NY)
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blumenauer
     Blunt
     Boehlert
     Boehner
     Bonilla
     Bonner
     Bono
     Boozman
     Boren
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Bradley (NH)
     Brady (PA)
     Brady (TX)
     Brown (OH)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Butterfield
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp (MI)
     Cannon
     Cantor
     Capito
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardin
     Cardoza
     Carnahan
     Carter
     Castle
     Chandler
     Chocola
     Coble
     Cole (OK)
     Conaway
     Conyers
     Costa
     Costello
     Cramer
     Crenshaw
     Crowley
     Cubin
     Cuellar
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (TN)
     Davis, Jo Ann
     Deal (GA)
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Dent
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Dicks
     Doolittle
     Doyle
     Drake
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Edwards
     Ehlers
     Emanuel
     Emerson
     Engel
     English (PA)
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Evans
     Everett
     Feeney
     Ferguson
     Fitzpatrick (PA)
     Flake
     Foley
     Forbes
     Ford
     Fortenberry
     Fossella
     Foxx
     Frank (MA)
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gerlach
     Gibbons
     Gilchrest
     Gillmor
     Gingrey
     Gohmert
     Gonzalez
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Gordon
     Granger
     Graves
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Hall
     Harman
     Harris
     Hart
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayes
     Hayworth
     Herger
     Herseth
     Higgins
     Hinojosa
     Hobson
     Hoekstra
     Hooley
     Hostettler
     Hulshof
     Hunter
     Inglis (SC)
     Inslee
     Israel
     Issa
     Istook
     Jefferson
     Jenkins
     Jindal
     Johnson (CT)
     Johnson (IL)
     Jones (NC)
     Kelly
     Kennedy (MN)
     Kennedy (RI)
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick (MI)
     Kind
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Kline
     Knollenberg
     Kuhl (NY)
     Langevin
     Lantos
     Larsen (WA)
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Leach
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis (GA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Lowey
     Lucas
     Lynch
     Mack
     Maloney
     Manzullo
     Marchant
     Markey
     Marshall
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy
     McCaul (TX)
     McCollum (MN)
     McCotter
     McCrery
     McGovern
     McHenry
     McIntyre
     McKeon
     McMorris Rodgers
     McNulty
     Meehan
     Meek (FL)
     Mica
     Michaud
     Millender-McDonald
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller, Gary
     Miller, George
     Moore (KS)
     Moran (KS)
     Musgrave
     Myrick
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Neugebauer
     Northup
     Norwood
     Nunes
     Nussle
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Osborne
     Otter
     Owens
     Oxley
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Paul
     Pearce
     Pelosi
     Pence
     Peterson (MN)
     Peterson (PA)
     Pickering
     Pitts
     Platts
     Poe
     Pombo
     Pomeroy
     Porter
     Price (GA)
     Pryce (OH)
     Putnam
     Radanovich
     Ramstad
     Rangel
     Regula
     Rehberg
     Reichert
     Renzi
     Reyes
     Reynolds
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Rothman
     Roybal-Allard
     Royce
     Ruppersberger
     Ryan (OH)
     Ryan (WI)
     Ryun (KS)
     Salazar
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sanders
     Schiff
     Schmidt
     Schwartz (PA)
     Schwarz (MI)
     Scott (GA)
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shaw
     Shays
     Sherman
     Shuster
     Simmons
     Simpson
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Sodrel
     Solis
     Souder
     Stearns
     Stupak
     Sweeney
     Tancredo
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Taylor (NC)
     Terry
     Thomas
     Thompson (CA)
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Tierney
     Towns
     Turner
     Udall (NM)
     Upton
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Walden (OR)
     Walsh
     Wamp
     Waters
     Watt
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Weldon (FL)
     Weldon (PA)
     Weller
     Westmoreland
     Wexler
     Whitfield
     Wicker
     Wilson (NM)
     Wilson (SC)
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                             NOT VOTING--16

     Boustany
     Case
     Cleaver
     Cooper
     Culberson
     Davis (FL)
     Dingell
     Hoyer
     Johnson, Sam
     Kaptur
     Keller
     Murphy
     Ney
     Stark
     Strickland
     Sullivan

                              {time}  1306

  Ms. HARRIS, Messrs. SIMPSON, SOUDER, SMITH of New Jersey, Mrs. 
MALONEY, Mrs. NORTHUP, Ms. LEE, Messrs. CROWLEY, MEEK of Florida, and 
CANNON changed their vote from ``aye'' to ``no.''
  Messrs. TAYLOR of Mississippi, KUCINICH, CAMPBELL of California, 
RAHALL, MCHUGH, and HENSARLING changed their vote from ``no'' to 
``aye.''
  So the amendment was rejected.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  Stated against:
  Mr. MURPHY. Mr. Chairman, on rollcall No. 441, had I been present, I 
would have voted ``no.''


            Amendment No. 5 Offered by Mr. Scott of Virginia

  The Acting CHAIRMAN. The pending business is the demand for a 
recorded vote on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Virginia 
(Mr. Scott) on which further proceedings were postponed and on which 
the noes prevailed by voice vote.
  The Clerk will redesignate the amendment.
  The Clerk redesignated the amendment.


                             Recorded Vote

  The Acting CHAIRMAN. A recorded vote has been demanded.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The Acting CHAIRMAN. This will be a 5-minute vote.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 80, 
noes 332, not voting 20, as follows:

[[Page H6579]]

                             [Roll No. 442]

                                AYES--80

     Bachus
     Barrow
     Berry
     Blumenauer
     Boyd
     Campbell (CA)
     Cardoza
     Carson
     Chabot
     Clay
     Clyburn
     Costa
     Cummings
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis (KY)
     Davis, Tom
     Doggett
     Farr
     Fattah
     Feeney
     Filner
     Goodlatte
     Green (WI)
     Gutierrez
     Gutknecht
     Hastings (FL)
     Hensarling
     Hinchey
     Holden
     Holt
     Honda
     Hyde
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Kanjorski
     Kolbe
     Kucinich
     LaHood
     Lofgren, Zoe
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     McCollum (MN)
     McDermott
     McHugh
     McKinney
     Meeks (NY)
     Melancon
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, George
     Mollohan
     Moore (WI)
     Moran (VA)
     Murtha
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Paul
     Payne
     Petri
     Price (NC)
     Rahall
     Rogers (KY)
     Rush
     Sabo
     Saxton
     Schakowsky
     Scott (VA)
     Serrano
     Sherwood
     Shimkus
     Spratt
     Taylor (MS)
     Thompson (MS)
     Towns
     Udall (CO)
     Visclosky
     Wasserman Schultz
     Watson
     Wolf
     Wynn

                               NOES--332

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Aderholt
     Akin
     Alexander
     Allen
     Andrews
     Baca
     Baird
     Baker
     Baldwin
     Barrett (SC)
     Bartlett (MD)
     Barton (TX)
     Bass
     Bean
     Beauprez
     Becerra
     Berkley
     Berman
     Biggert
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boehlert
     Boehner
     Bonilla
     Bonner
     Bono
     Boozman
     Boren
     Boucher
     Boustany
     Bradley (NH)
     Brady (PA)
     Brady (TX)
     Brown (OH)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown, Corrine
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Butterfield
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp (MI)
     Cannon
     Cantor
     Capito
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardin
     Carnahan
     Carter
     Castle
     Chandler
     Chocola
     Coble
     Cole (OK)
     Conaway
     Conyers
     Costello
     Cramer
     Crenshaw
     Crowley
     Cubin
     Cuellar
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (TN)
     Davis, Jo Ann
     Deal (GA)
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Dent
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doolittle
     Doyle
     Drake
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Edwards
     Ehlers
     Emanuel
     Emerson
     Engel
     English (PA)
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Evans
     Everett
     Ferguson
     Fitzpatrick (PA)
     Flake
     Foley
     Forbes
     Ford
     Fortenberry
     Fossella
     Foxx
     Frank (MA)
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gerlach
     Gibbons
     Gilchrest
     Gillmor
     Gingrey
     Gohmert
     Gonzalez
     Goode
     Gordon
     Granger
     Graves
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Grijalva
     Hall
     Harman
     Hart
     Hayes
     Hayworth
     Hefley
     Herger
     Herseth
     Higgins
     Hinojosa
     Hobson
     Hoekstra
     Hooley
     Hostettler
     Hulshof
     Hunter
     Inglis (SC)
     Inslee
     Israel
     Issa
     Istook
     Jefferson
     Jenkins
     Jindal
     Johnson (CT)
     Johnson (IL)
     Jones (NC)
     Jones (OH)
     Kelly
     Kennedy (MN)
     Kennedy (RI)
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick (MI)
     Kind
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Kline
     Knollenberg
     Kuhl (NY)
     Langevin
     Lantos
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Leach
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (GA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Lowey
     Lucas
     Lynch
     Mack
     Manzullo
     Marchant
     Markey
     Marshall
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy
     McCaul (TX)
     McCotter
     McCrery
     McGovern
     McHenry
     McIntyre
     McKeon
     McMorris Rodgers
     McNulty
     Meehan
     Meek (FL)
     Mica
     Michaud
     Millender-McDonald
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller, Gary
     Moore (KS)
     Moran (KS)
     Musgrave
     Myrick
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Neugebauer
     Northup
     Norwood
     Nunes
     Nussle
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Osborne
     Otter
     Owens
     Oxley
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Pearce
     Pelosi
     Pence
     Peterson (MN)
     Peterson (PA)
     Pickering
     Pitts
     Platts
     Poe
     Pombo
     Pomeroy
     Porter
     Price (GA)
     Pryce (OH)
     Putnam
     Radanovich
     Ramstad
     Rangel
     Regula
     Rehberg
     Reichert
     Renzi
     Reyes
     Reynolds
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Rothman
     Roybal-Allard
     Royce
     Ruppersberger
     Ryan (OH)
     Ryan (WI)
     Ryun (KS)
     Salazar
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sanders
     Schiff
     Schmidt
     Schwartz (PA)
     Schwarz (MI)
     Scott (GA)
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shaw
     Shays
     Sherman
     Shuster
     Simmons
     Simpson
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Sodrel
     Solis
     Souder
     Stearns
     Stupak
     Sullivan
     Sweeney
     Tancredo
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Taylor (NC)
     Terry
     Thomas
     Thompson (CA)
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Tierney
     Turner
     Udall (NM)
     Upton
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Walden (OR)
     Walsh
     Wamp
     Watt
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Weldon (FL)
     Weldon (PA)
     Weller
     Westmoreland
     Wexler
     Whitfield
     Wilson (NM)
     Wilson (SC)
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                             NOT VOTING--20

     Boswell
     Case
     Cleaver
     Cooper
     Culberson
     Davis (FL)
     Harris
     Hastings (WA)
     Hoyer
     Johnson, Sam
     Kaptur
     Keller
     Maloney
     Murphy
     Ney
     Ross
     Stark
     Strickland
     Waters
     Wicker

                              {time}  1314

  Mr. OBEY and Mr. BLUMENAUER changed their vote from ``no'' to 
``aye.''
  So the amendment was rejected.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  Stated for:
  Mr. ROSS. Mr. Chairman, earlier this afternoon I missed rollcall vote 
442. I would like to state for the Record that I would have voted for 
rollcall vote 442, which was the Scott (D-VA) amendment that would 
allow the Federal Prison Industries to continue contracts, of the type 
being performed on the date of enactment of the bill, that provide 
services to for-profit businesses.
  Stated for:
  Mr. MURPHY. Mr. Chairman, on rollcall No. 442, had I been present, I 
would have voted ``no.''

                          ____________________