[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 1 (Thursday, January 3, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E4]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  INTRODUCTION OF THE FRESH START ACT

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                            HON. STEVE COHEN

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 3, 2019

  Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the Fresh Start Act, a 
bill I introduced today.
  If enacted, it would allow certain individuals who have been 
convicted of nonviolent offenses, paid their debt to society, and are 
now law-abiding members of the community to petition courts to have 
their nonviolent conviction expunged from their records.
  A criminal record, even for a minor, nonviolent offense, can pose as 
a barrier to employment, education and housing opportunities--the very 
things necessary to start one's life over.
  This is not only bad for rehabilitated offenders, it is bad for their 
families and for the communities in which they live.
  The Fresh Start Act would give nonviolent offenders a chance to start 
over again, a chance to become productive members of society.
  The bill allows offenders to apply for expungement to the court where 
they were sentenced and allows the United States Attorney for that 
district to submit recommendations to the court. Applicants who are 
denied could reapply once every two years. Once seven years have 
elapsed since an offender has completed their sentence, expungement 
would be automatically granted. However, sex offenders and those who 
commit crimes causing a loss of over $25,000 would not be eligible for 
automatic expungement.
  Finally, the bill would also encourage states to pass their own 
expungement laws for state offenses. States that pass a substantially 
similar law would receive a 5 percent increase in their Byrne Justice 
Assistance Grant funding while those that do not would lose 5 percent 
of their Byrne funds.
  It is one thing to convict someone of a nonviolent crime. It is quite 
another to condemn him to a de facto life sentence for it.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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