[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 199 (Tuesday, December 18, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S7782]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             FIRST STEP ACT

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. President, I am proud that the Senate has passed 
the FIRST STEP Act. As a cosponsor of this bill, I am heartened that 
Republicans and Democrats came together to address an issue that 
affects millions of Americans and their families.
  Although one of my colleagues across the aisle has said that we have 
an ``under-incarceration'' problem, that is simply not the case. The 
United States represents only 4.4 percent of the world's population, 
but we hold approximately 22 percent of the world's prisoners. Over the 
past decade, Americans and Congress have taken a long hard look at who 
we incarcerate and why. This review has made us realize that too many 
elements of our criminal justice system are based on prejudice and have 
inflicted unnecessary harm in communities across the country. We should 
strive to ensure that ``liberty and justice for all'' is not just a 
phrase we say, but a promise we keep to all Americans.
  The FIRST STEP Act allows prisoner rehabilitation so that they can 
return home ready to contribute to their communities. Education and job 
training opportunities provide individuals with a real second chance.
  The bill incorporates important provisions that allows for the 
retroactive application of the Fair Sentencing Act, which removed the 
sentencing disparity between the crack-powder and cocaine. We were able 
to include provisions that prohibit the use of solitary confinement of 
juvenile offenders, prohibit the shackling of pregnant and postpartum 
women, and ensure that prisoners are placed in prisons closer to home. 
The bill also offers low and minimal-risk offenders the possibility of 
supervised release, home confinement, or release to halfway homes.
  The three amendments offered to the bill by Senators Cotton and 
Kennedy do not protect victims, are redundant, and are so broad as to 
subvert the bill's purpose. The first amendment requires mandatory 
notification to crime victims of an offender's impending release. 
However, current law and agency policies already allows victims to 
choose if they want to receive these updates. Mandated reporting harms 
victims who do not want to receive this information. That is why this 
amendment is opposed by organizations such as the Crime Survivors for 
Safety and Justice and the Fairness, Dignity & Respect for Crime 
Victims & Survivors Project.
  The second amendment will require wardens to notify victims of early 
release and review victim statements prior to determining if an 
offender is eligible for pre-release custody or supervised release. 
Again, this amendment diminishes the rights our current laws give 
victims by allowing them determine if they want to receive this 
information. Victims already have the right to submit statements of 
opposition or support prior to parole or early release. Additionally, 
prison wardens should not be burdened with calculating risk assessment. 
The bill establishes an independent review committee that will 
recommend and assess the best evidence-based tools to ensure that risk 
assessments are bias-free and objective.
  Lastly, the expanded ``crime of violence'' definitions offered are 
vague, redundant, and would exclude the very population the bill is 
designed to help. On its face, the final amendment seems to be common 
sense but the language is so vague that one analysis claims that only 
low-level drug offenders and white-collar criminals would be eligible 
for earned credit. The amendment has a catchall to prevent anyone who 
has been convicted of any offense that involved substantial risk of 
physical force against a person or their property from receiving pre-
release. The U.S. Sentencing Commission estimates that this amendment 
would exclude 30,000 prisoners from participating in the program. I 
believe that the goal of criminal justice reform is rehabilitation and 
reducing recidivism and restricting incentives would defeat that 
purpose. The bill has been carefully crafted to only include low-risk 
offenders.
  The FIRST STEP Act is by no means perfect. For example, the bill does 
not include provisions to address the flaws in the money bail system or 
the discrimination in housing or employment that many offenders face 
upon release, nor does it prohibit the use of private prisons or 
address discriminatory loopholes in our Tax Code that make it harder 
for released offenders to finance their education.
  But the bill's name is clear: This is the first step and not the last 
in our commitment to reform our criminal justice system.

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