[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 199 (Tuesday, November 16, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S8226]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                    Federal Bureau of Prisons Report

  Madam President, on a completely different topic, earlier today, the 
inspector general at the Department of Justice released a stunning 
report. It found that the Federal Bureau of Prisons had failed to 
negotiate with the prison guard union for more than 20 months.
  Think of that. The management of the Federal Bureau of Prisons failed 
to negotiate with the prison guard union for more than 20 months. This 
has led to a delay of more than 30 critical Bureau policies to help 
protect their staff and inmates.
  That report was published just days after an investigation by the 
Associated Press, which concluded that the Bureau is ``a hotbed of 
abuse, graft and corruption, and has turned a blind eye to employees 
accused of misconduct.''
  Both investigations confirm what we have known for a long time: the 
current Director of the Bureau of Prisons, Michael Carvajal, should no 
longer lead the Bureau of Prisons.
  This morning, I publicly called on Attorney General Merrick Garland 
to replace Mr. Carvajal with a reform-minded Director who is not a 
product of that Bureau's bureaucracy.
  Since Director Carvajal was appointed by former Attorney General Bill 
Barr in February 2020, we have witnessed a series of cascading failures 
that have endangered the lives of BOP inmates, as well as the 
correctional officers who work there.
  Director Carvajal has failed to resolve chronic staffing shortages at 
the Bureau. He has failed to contain outbreaks of COVID-19 within our 
prisons. The COVID-19 infection rate in the Bureau of Prisons is six 
times what it is in the rest of the population.
  He has failed to fully implement the reforms that the Members of this 
Senate enacted, including an overwhelmingly bipartisan First Step Act, 
signed into law by President Trump.
  To take one example, under the First Step Act, low-risk inmates are 
eligible to receive earned time credits to reduce their sentences. They 
do this by completing programs designed to prevent them from committing 
another crime when they are released. The inspector general concluded 
that the Bureau of Prisons has not allowed any--any--time credits to be 
awarded because they have not finalized the policy nearly 3 years after 
the First Step Act was signed into law.
  That act was a bipartisan measure. Senator Grassley and I were the 
lead sponsors on it. And it was a measure, as I mentioned, signed by 
President Trump. For 3 years, the Bureau of Prisons has done little or 
nothing to implement it.
  Director Carvajal has also failed to prevent serious misconduct by 
his own employees. Some of these numbers are incredible. Since 2019, 
more than 100 Federal prison workers have been arrested, charged or 
convicted of crimes, including sexual abuse, murder, and introducing 
contraband into prison.
  Altogether, these crimes account for two-thirds--let me say it again: 
two-thirds--of criminal cases against Department of Justice personnel, 
even though BOP employees comprise less than one-third of the DOJ's 
workforce.
  There is no excuse for any further delay in dismissing Director 
Carvajal. It is time for Attorney General Garland to appoint new 
leadership to the Bureau that will address the crises he has created or 
allowed to exist and to take critical steps to reform our Federal 
prison system.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.