[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 107 (Tuesday, July 20, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H5791-H5792]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1910
                   CELL PHONE CONTRABAND ACT OF 2010

  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the Senate bill (S. 1749) to amend title 18, United States Code, 
to prohibit the possession or use of cell phones and similar wireless 
devices by Federal prisoners, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Amendment:
       Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Cell Phone Contraband Act of 
     2010''.

     SEC. 2. WIRELESS DEVICES IN PRISON.

       Section 1791 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
       (1) in subsection (b)--
       (A) in paragraph (4), by striking ``or (d)(1)(E)'' and 
     inserting ``, (d)(1)(E), or (d)(1)(F)''; and
       (B) in paragraph (5), by striking ``(d)(1)(F)'' and 
     inserting ``(d)(1)(G)''; and
       (2) in subsection (d)(1)--
       (A) in subparagraph (E), by striking ``and'' at the end;
       (B) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as subparagraph (G); 
     and
       (C) by inserting after subparagraph (E) the following:
       ``(F) a phone or other device used by a user of commercial 
     mobile service (as defined in section 332(d) of the 
     Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 332(d))) in connection 
     with such service; and''.

     SEC. 3. GAO STUDY.

       Not later than one year after the date of enactment of this 
     Act, the Comptroller General shall submit a report to 
     Congress with research and findings on the following issues:
       (1) A study of telephone rates within Federal prisons to 
     include information on interstate, intrastate and collect 
     calls made by prisoners, including--
       (A) the costs of operating inmate telephone services;
       (B) the general cost to prison telephone service providers 
     of providing telephone services to the Federal prisons;
       (C) the revenue obtained from inmate telephone systems;
       (D) how the revenue from these systems is used by the 
     Bureau of Prisons; and
       (E) options for lowering telephone costs to inmates and 
     their families, while still maintaining sufficient security.
       (2) A study of selected State and Federal efforts to 
     prevent the smuggling of cell phones and other wireless 
     devices into prisons, including efforts that selected State 
     and Federal authorities are making to minimize trafficking of 
     cell phones by guards and other prison officials and 
     recommendations to reduce the number of cell phones that are 
     trafficked into prisons.
       (3) A study of cell phone use by inmates in selected State 
     and Federal prisons, including--
       (A) the quantity of cell phones confiscated by authorities 
     in selected State and Federal prisons; and
       (B) the reported impact, if any, of (1) inmate cell phone 
     use on the overall security of prisons and (2) connections to 
     criminal activity from within prisons.

     SEC. 4. COMPLIANCE WITH PAYGO.

       The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 
     complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go-Act of 2010, shall 
     be determined by reference to the latest statement titled 
     ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation'' for this Act, 
     submitted for printing in the Congressional Record by the 
     Chairman of the Committee on the Budget of the House of 
     Representatives, provided that such statement has been 
     submitted prior to the vote on passage.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Scott) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) each will 
control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia.


                             General Leave

  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Virginia?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the Cell Phone Contraband Act of 2010 will address an 
ongoing problem of cell phones being smuggled into prisons by visitors 
and prison guards. Prison inmate cell phone accessibility has resulted 
in offenders facilitating and committing crimes with the use of the 
cell phones. Gangs have also become far more organized because members 
in prison have cell phone access.
  S. 1749 amends Federal law to make cell phones and similar devices 
contraband that Federal prisoners are prohibited from possessing. Some 
have argued that cell phone smuggling is a direct reaction to the 
outrageous costs inmates and their families pay for telephone calls 
while a person is incarcerated. Prisons and jails require that inmates 
call their families collect or pay for calls with their prison 
accounts. And, indeed, phone companies charge much more for calls from 
prisons than

[[Page H5792]]

they charge for calls made from outside prison. For example, one 
organization found that a 15-minute collect call made from San Quentin 
Prison to Oakland, both in California, would cost $5; whereas, the same 
collect call made from outside the prison would be about $2.55. That's 
for a collect call. It would be even cheaper if a reliable way were 
established for inmates to pay for their own calls.
  S. 1749 requires the GAO to study the issue of exorbitant prison 
telephone rates and the gulf between those rates as the first step to 
finally bringing those rates down to reasonable levels so that inmates 
and their families have a much easier time staying in touch. In 
addition, the study will look at State and Federal efforts to prevent 
smuggling of cell phones into prisons and jails.
  Although we should not allow prisoners to have access to cell phones 
while incarcerated, it is appropriate to provide them with telephone 
service at reasonable rates in order for them to maintain ties with 
their families and children.
  I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  The use of illegal cell phones by prisoners is on the rise. In 
California, for example, news stories report that the number of cell 
phones confiscated in prisons doubled from 2007 to 2008. In 2008, over 
2,800 cell phones were found in California, but more than 2,800 were 
found just in the first 6 months of 2009. The Alabama Department of 
Corrections found more than 3,000 cell phones in 2009. In fact, there 
were more cell phones than any other type of contraband found in all of 
Alabama prisons.
  Other State prison systems are experiencing the same increase in the 
number of contraband cell phones. As a result, many States are 
considering legislation that specifically prohibits prisoners from 
possessing cell phones in State prisons.
  S. 1749 takes a step in the same direction at the Federal level. S. 
1749, the Cell Phone Contraband Act of 2010, does two things. First, 
the bill makes it a crime for Federal prisoners to possess cell phones. 
Second, the bill directs the GAO to study the cost and use of landlines 
and smuggled cell phones in Federal and selected State prisons and 
jails.
  This legislation is timely. Inmates use smuggled cell phones to 
coordinate drug deals on the outside, also, gang violence and other 
crimes, all committed outside the prison by use of smuggled cell phones 
to coordinate this activity that are used in the prison system.
  Last year, an inmate in Maryland was accused of using a cell phone to 
arrange a murder of a witness who had testified against him at a trial. 
And in 2008, a condemned murderer on death row in my home State of 
Texas used a smuggled cell phone to threaten a State senator. That 
State senator happened to be the chairman of the Criminal Justice 
Committee in the State senate. Since that time, at least nine death row 
inmates in Texas were found to be in possession of contraband cell 
phones.
  I don't personally think that inmates should have such open access to 
cell phones at all in State prisons.
  To get more data on this issue, S. 1749 directs the General 
Accountability Office, or the GAO, to study the costs and revenues 
associated with the operation of landline telephones in the prison 
system. The study will examine select State and Federal efforts to 
prevent the smuggling of cell phones and other wireless devices into 
prisons, including efforts made to minimize trafficking of cell phones 
by prison guards, who are the number one source of getting cell phones 
in the penitentiary, and also other officials.
  News stories report that prison guards are a major means in which 
cell phones are smuggled into prison, and prisoners pay anywhere from 
$300 for a normal cell phone and up to $1,000 for the smartphone. A 
prison guard in California made $100,000 just dealing in cell phones in 
the penitentiary.
  It's my hope and expectation that the GAO study will help Congress 
and the States in the effort to combat the smuggling of cell phones 
into penitentiaries.
  I support S. 1749. I'm also a cosponsor of another piece of 
legislation dealing with this specific issue, H.R. 560, the Safe 
Prisons Communications Act of 2009. This was introduced by my colleague 
from the Woodlands, Texas, area, Kevin Brady. This bill would allow the 
State or the Federal Bureau of Prisons to petition the FCC to permit 
them to use devices that jam cell phone signals within the prison 
boundary. Prisoners would then have no use for a smuggled cell phone as 
they would not work within the prison confinement. Along with making 
cell phone possession a crime, I believe Congress should also look at 
Mr. Brady's bill, H.R. 560, as a way to prevent the use of cell phones 
in the penitentiary.
  I urge all Members to support S. 1749.
  Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, no one disagrees prisoners shouldn't 
have cell phones. Prisons ban them already. But some prisoners have a 
habit of getting around the rules--even if it's a federal crime. And 
it's a dangerous problem. In Texas, we've had cases where prisoners on 
death row made threatening calls to victims, prosecutors and their 
families.
  Senator Feinstein's bill takes a baby step--but little more. We need 
to give our prison officials a more reliable weapon. The answer is 
allowing them to use devices that jam the cell signals--making it 
impossible for the phones to even work.
  We have the technology to do this and do it in a way that doesn't 
interfere with legitimate use--such as for communities that live 
nearby.
  I've introduced legislation, H.R. 560, the Safe Prisons 
Communications Act, that would create a process whereby a State or 
prison could petition the FCC to allow them to use the jamming devices, 
which are currently prohibited. This bill would save lives, and give 
our prisons the tools they need to really combat this problem.
  I ask my House colleagues to support bringing my legislation to the 
floor.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Cell Phone 
Contraband Act.
  The illegal use of wireless phones in prisons is a serious problem. 
Smuggled cell phones are used by prisoners to maintain connections with 
their criminal enterprises beyond prison walls and even to commit 
crimes from within prison.
  A recent Washington Post article reported the following incidents:
  A drug dealer behind bars in Maryland used a phone to arrange to have 
a witness assassinated outside his home last summer.
  In Kansas, a convicted killer sneaked out of prison after planning 
the 2006 escape using a cell phone smuggled by an accomplice. The 
following year, two inmates escaped another Kansas prison with the help 
of a former guard and a smuggled cell phone.
  California prison officials confiscated about 2,800 cell phones 
statewide in 2008, double the number discovered the year before.
  The Cell Phone Contraband Act makes it a crime for Federal prisoners 
to possess cell phones while incarcerated. The bill also directs the 
GAO to study the cost and use of landlines and smuggled cell phones in 
Federal and selected State prisons and jails. The study will 
additionally examine selected State and Federal efforts to prevent the 
smuggling of cell phones and other wireless devices into prisons, 
including efforts made to minimize trafficking of cell phones by prison 
guards and other officials.
  This is a commonsense bill to ensure that when criminals are locked 
up, their ability to harm citizens is completely cut off. This 
legislation will send a strong signal to those that either smuggle or 
receive contraband cell phones that they will be held accountable.
  Mr. POE of Texas. I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support 
the legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, S. 1749, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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