[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 194 (Tuesday, December 18, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2596-E2597]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     THE SECOND CHANCE ACT OF 2007

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON-LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, December 17, 2007

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support 
H.R. 1593, the Second Chance Act of 2007. I would like to thank my dear 
colleague Mr. Danny Davis of Illinois for sponsoring this very 
important legislation that addresses the prison warehousing crisis in 
this country. H.R. 1593, a bill of which I am an original cosponsor, 
addresses the very serious concerns about the compromised state of 
warehousing prisoners.
  Earlier this year, the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and 
Homeland Security of which I am a member, held hearings to address the 
state of certain conditions within the United States prison system. In 
one of those hearings, my colleagues and I considered the merits of the 
Second Chance Act, and my amendment which I offered in the last 
Congress was included in the base bill this year.
  The Second Chance Act is designed to reduce recidivism, increase 
public safety, and help State and local governments better address the 
growing population of ex-offenders returning to their communities. The 
bill focuses on four areas: development and support of programs that 
provide alternatives to incarceration, expansion of the availability of 
substance abuse treatment, strengthening families, and the expansion of 
comprehensive re-entry services.

[[Page E2597]]

  Nearly two-thirds of released State prisoners are expected to be re-
arrested for a felony or serious misdemeanor within 3 years of their 
release. Such high recidivism rates translate into thousands of new 
crimes each year and wasted taxpayer dollars, which can be averted 
through improved prisoner re-entry efforts.
  The Second Chance Act of 2007 allocates funding towards a variety of 
re-entry programs. One of the main components of the bill is the 
funding of demonstration projects that would provide ex-offenders with 
a coordinated continuum of housing, education, health, employment, and 
mentoring services. This broad array of services would provide 
stability and make the transition for ex-offenders easier, in turn 
reducing recidivism.
  Another reason why I strongly support this legislation is because it 
includes a provision contained in an amendment I offered during the 
Judiciary Committee markup of this bill in the 109th Congress. That 
amendment, incorporated in H.R. 1593 as section 243 of the bill, 
requires that the:

       Attorney General shall collect data and develop best 
     practices of State corrections departments and child 
     protection agencies relating to the communication and 
     coordination between such State departments and agencies to 
     ensure the safety and support of children of incarcerated 
     parents (including those in foster care and kinship care), 
     and the support of parent-child relationships between 
     incarcerated (and formerly incarcerated) parents and their 
     children, as appropriate to the health and well-being of the 
     children.

  My amendment provides for a systematic means of ensuring the safety 
and support of children of incarcerated parents and the support of 
children of release for nonviolent offenders who have attained the age 
of at least 45 years of age, have never been convicted of a violent 
crime, have never escaped or attempted to escape from incarceration, 
and have not engaged in any violation, involving violent conduct, of 
institutional disciplinary regulations.
  The Second Chance Act seeks to ensure that in affording offenders a 
second chance to turn around their lives and contribute to society, ex-
offenders are not too old to take advantage of a second chance to 
redeem themselves. A second benefit of the legislation is that it would 
relieve some of the strain on Federal, State, and local government 
budgets by reducing considerably government expenditures on warehousing 
prisoners.

  Madam Speaker, some of those who are incarcerated face extremely long 
sentences, and this language would help to address this problem. 
Releasing rehabilitated, middle-aged, nonviolent offenders from an 
already overcrowded prison population can be a win-win situation for 
society and the individual who, like the Jean Valjean made famous in 
Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, is redeemed by the grace of a second 
chance. The reentry of such individuals into the society will enable 
them to repay the community through community service and obtain or 
regain a sense of self-worth and accomplishment. It promises a 
reduction in burdens to the taxpayer, and an affirmation of the 
American value that no nonviolent offender is beyond redemption.
  Madam Speaker, the number of Federal inmates has grown from just over 
24,000 in 1980 to 173,739 in 2004. The cost to incarcerate these 
individuals has risen from $330 million to $4.6 billion since 2004. At 
a time when tight budgets have forced many States to consider the early 
release of hundreds of inmates to conserve tax revenue, early release 
is a commonsense option to raise capital.
  The rate of incarceration and the length of sentence for first-time, 
nonviolent offenders have become extreme. Over the past two decades, no 
area of State government expenditures has increased as rapidly as 
prisons and jails. According to data collected by the Justice 
Department, the number of prisoners in America has more than tripled 
over the last two decades from 500,000 to 1.8 million, with States like 
California and Texas experiencing eightfold prison population increases 
during that time. Mr. Chairman, there are more people in the prisons of 
America than there are residents in States of Alaska, North Dakota, and 
Wyoming combined.
  Over 1 million people have been warehoused for nonviolent, often 
petty crimes. The European Union, with a population of 370 million, has 
one-sixth the number of incarcerated persons as we do, and that 
includes violent and nonviolent offenders. This is one-third the number 
of prisoners which America, a country with 70 million fewer people, 
incarcerates for nonviolent offenses.
  The 1.1 million nonviolent offenders we currently lock up represents 
five times the number of people held in India's entire prison system, 
even though its population is four times greater than the United 
States.
  As the number of individuals incarcerated for nonviolent offenses has 
steadily risen, African-Americans and Latinos have comprised a growing 
percentage of the overall number incarcerated. In the 1930s, 75 percent 
of the people entering State and Federal prison were white, roughly 
reflecting the demographics of the nation. Today, minority communities 
represent 70 percent of all new admissions--and more than half of all 
Americans behind bars.
  This is why for the last several years I have introduced the H.R. 
261, the Federal Prison Bureau Nonviolent Offender Relief Act. H.R. 261 
directs the Bureau of Prisons, pursuant to a good time policy, to 
release a prisoner who has served one-half or more of his or her term 
of imprisonment if that prisoner: (1) has attained age 45; (2) has 
never been convicted of a crime of violence; and (3) has not engaged in 
any violation, involving violent conduct, of institutional disciplinary 
regulations.
  Over 2 million offenders are incarcerated in the Nation's prisons and 
jails. At midyear 2002, 665,475 inmates were held in the Nation's local 
jails, up from 631,240 at midyear 2001. Projections indicate that the 
inmate population will unfortunately continue to rise over the years to 
come.
  To illustrate the impact that the Second Chance Act will potentially 
have on Texas, the Federal prison population for the years 2000, 2001, 
and 2002 reached 39,679, 36,138, and 36,635 persons respectively; the 
State prison population for the same years reached 20,200, 20,898, and 
23,561 persons. These numbers have grown since 2002, so the impact is 
indeed significant and the State of Texas is an important stakeholder.
  I am also concerned about the rehabilitation and treatment of 
juvenile offenders in my home State of Texas as it appears that the 
administrators of TYC have neglected their duties. The April 10, 2007 
Dallas Morning News, reported that ``two former Texas Youth Commission 
administrators were indicted on charges that they sexually abused 
teenage inmates at the state juvenile prison in Pyote.'' The same 
article also cited the 2005 investigative report by Texas Rangers' Sgt. 
Burzynski which found that the two indicted TYC administrators, 
Brookins and Hernandez, had repeatedly molested inmates in the Pyote 
prison. The report is cited as saying that Mr. Brookins, who during 
some periods was the top official, had shown sex toys and pornography 
in his office, while Mr. Hernandez molested inmates in classrooms and 
closets.
  I hope that all of my colleagues would join me in supporting the 
Second Chance Act. Passage of H.R. 1593 would be the start of a long 
overdue process to eliminate unnecessary costs that result from 
warehousing prisoners.

                          ____________________