[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 212 (Tuesday, December 15, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7488-S7490]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             FIRST STEP Act

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, as we approach the holiday season, 
many of us will be celebrating differently. COVID-19 may be limiting 
travel, family members we see in person, or other holiday traditions. 
Yet there is much to be grateful for.
  For me, I am thankful for my health, my family, my country, and my 
staff. I am also grateful to serve Iowans and work in the Senate to 
tackle legislation, conduct oversight, and work for the best interests 
of the people of Iowa.
  I am also thankful to reflect upon previous accomplishments. This 
time of year coincides with a milestone achievement, that being the 
anniversary of the passage of the FIRST STEP Act, and to remember that 
the criminal justice reform bill that we call the FIRST STEP Act is the 
most comprehensive overhaul of criminal justice legislation in a 
generation
  On December 18, 2018, the Senate passed the most significant criminal 
justice reform legislation in a generation, and 3 days later, President 
Trump signed the bill into law. The FIRST

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STEP Act is an example of what the Senate can accomplish when we reach 
across the aisle to address our Nation's most pressing problems. I am 
proud that the FIRST STEP Act has been the law of the land now for 2 
years.
  The past 2 years have been uniquely challenging. In the first year of 
the law's tenure, I worked with Senate partners to oversee its 
implementation efforts. This included meeting with critical 
stakeholders in the Justice Department, reviewing the status of the 
law's implementation, and ensuring that the law's application reflected 
congressional intent.
  In that first year, we accomplished a lot together, in a bipartisan 
way. Because of the FIRST STEP Act, thousands of inmates received the 
benefits of the retroactive application of the Fair Sentencing Act to 
resolve sentencing disparities that came about from legislation, I 
suppose, from almost 30 years ago between those convicted for crack and 
those convicted for cocaine.
  In this first year, the Justice Department also released its risk and 
needs assessment system--a tool used to individually review the 
recidivism risk of each Federal inmate and place the inmate in 
programming to prevent future criminal acts. The Bureau of Prisons also 
issued procedures for more efficient access and use of the home 
confinement program.
  Implementation efforts have faced significant challenges, however, 
namely, the COVID-19 pandemic. Fortunately, the FIRST STEP Act provided 
tools that the administration has been able to use to help vulnerable 
inmates. During the pandemic, it has become apparent that inmates who 
are confined in Federal prisons are among the most vulnerable 
populations in the United States. As they are in Federal custody, it is 
quite obvious the Federal Government has a duty to ensure they are 
treated humanely.
  To that end, Senator Durbin and I urged the increased review of 
compassionate release and elderly home detention cases in light of the 
COVID-19 cases within our Federal prisons. We also asked the Justice 
Department inspector general to review the use of home confinement 
authority, the preventative safety measures connected with it, COVID-19 
testing, screening, and isolation measures, and the availability of 
access by inmates to electronic communication. I am pleased to say that 
this administration responded to many of our requests, though more work 
needs to be done as we continue to grapple with the effects of COVID-19 
in our Federal prisons.
  One of the most important issues we must address is a key provision 
of the FIRST STEP Act, that being the requirement for the Bureau of 
Prisons to make programming available to prisoners to help them to live 
productive lives once they leave prison, and that will make it less 
likely, then, they will return to lives of crime.
  The coronavirus has made it impossible for the Bureau of Prisons, at 
least at this time, to provide this programming as the law intends and 
requires because, as you know, inmates must be socially distanced from 
each other to prevent the virus's spread, which flies in the face of 
meeting in person to participate in recidivism reduction programming. 
Therefore, as we move forward, balancing effective programming access 
with the CDC-approved safety measures is critical.
  As I return to the leadership of the Committee on the Judiciary, 
whether that is as ranking member or chairman, depending upon the 
outcome of the Georgia races, I want everybody to know that I am going 
to continue to make the implementation of the FIRST STEP Act a priority 
and will ensure the Justice Department and the Bureau of Prisons 
faithfully execute the law.
  Lastly, as we embark on a new Congress and a new year, I urge my 
colleagues on both sides of the aisle to seek the middle ground on 
criminal justice reform. We have done it before, and we can do it 
again, and more needs to be done.
  The FIRST STEP Act has made a difference in the lives of thousands of 
prisoners, and it will continue to impact many in the Federal criminal 
justice system. It gives prisoners a better opportunity to leave their 
criminal pasts behind and become productive members of society. In 
fact, we learned that from States like Texas, Mississippi, and North 
and South Carolina, where they actually did a good job of preparing 
people to return to society, with productive lives, saving the 
taxpayers money if there is not recidivism. Some of those States have 
even shut down some prisons.
  Alerted to that, too often, Congress waits to learn something from 
our laboratories of our political system--the States. We learned a lot 
that brought about the FIRST STEP Act. There is more that we can learn, 
and we can build on the FIRST STEP Act. It is remarkable what we were 
able to achieve 2 short years ago. I am hopeful to carry that spirit 
into 2021 and beyond, whether I am chairman or ranking member of the 
Senate Judiciary Committee


   Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery Expedited Hiring 
                        Authorities Act of 2020

  Now, Madam President, I have one other short point I would like to 
make that deals directly with negotiations going on right now for a 
COVID-19 package that we are trying to put together. Some people call 
it a stimulus package or something that could be put in the omnibus 
appropriations bill.
  This goes back to the CARES Act that we passed in March when Congress 
authorized the creation of a Special Inspector General for Pandemic 
Recovery to oversee the billions of dollars in new Federal spending--
hence, to make sure that those Federal dollars were spent according to 
the law. In the past, when Congress created a special inspector general 
to fill a sudden need in new government oversight, this Congress 
quickly followed with additional legislation to provide the IG with 
expedited hiring authority to staff his new offices and also to begin 
timely oversight operations. Such timely oversight operations are 
particularly needed now because so much of this CARES money that was 
appropriated in March has gone out the door.
  So, in the tradition of past Congresses setting up other special IGs 
to fill a sudden need, I introduced S. 3751, a bipartisan piece of 
legislation modeled on past special IG expedited hiring authority 
language. My bill provides the IG a short 6-month window to quickly 
hire the staff he needs to build his organization and begin carrying 
out the oversight mandated by Congress under the CARES Act. However, as 
of today, my bill still hasn't passed, and IG Miller has been left to 
work with an office that is still highly understaffed.
  That is an outcome that should concern everyone here in the Senate if 
you are passionate about government oversight and making sure that 
money is spent responsibly. Whenever the government spends large sums 
of money, as we have in addressing this pandemic, there will always be 
bad actors somewhere out there, lying in wait, to test the system to 
see how much they can steal. We need a fully staffed and fully 
functional IG in place to meet those bad actors head-on to serve as an 
effective check on waste, fraud, and abuse.
  Despite broad support for my bill from both sides of the aisle, I 
have heard rumors that some of my colleagues across the aisle may be 
wary of granting expedited hiring authority to the IG simply because 
they don't agree with the personal politics of the individual confirmed 
for that position. This amounts to an attempt to nullify the IG's 
confirmation by limiting his ability to conduct oversight and, 
hopefully, to make sure that all of the money that we are spending 
under all of these pandemic appropriations we have made is spent 
according to the law; hopefully, that implies responsibly spending the 
money.
  Congress has already made the decision to establish this IG. Now we 
need to give the office the resources it needs to succeed. Personal and 
political disagreements are not reasons to deny the American people 
oversight of how billions of their tax dollars are being spent. Once 
the IG hires staff and has the ability to begin the substantive 
oversight work mandated by Congress, there will, as always, be an 
important place for congressional oversight to ensure the IG is doing 
his job.
  I intend to conduct the same level of oversight of this IG that I 
have for others. I expect my colleagues will do the same.
  That is why I urge my colleagues, regardless of any personal 
differences that they have, to support this bipartisan legislation 
granting expedited

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hiring authority for the Special IG for Pandemic Recovery and included 
in the forthcoming COVID legislation.
  Now, I have heard rumors within the last hour that there has already 
been a decision that they are not going to move ahead on this money for 
hiring to get this job. If that is true, I don't want anybody, whether 
it is a Republican or a Democrat, to ever complain about something that 
comes to light, that the money wasn't spent the way it was intended to 
be spent or it was wasted here or wasted there. Don't complain to me.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.