[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 57 (Wednesday, March 29, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H1532]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   INTRODUCING LEGISLATION TO REDUCE CRIME AND ENHANCE PUBLIC SAFETY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Kustoff) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. KUSTOFF. Madam Speaker, I rise today to talk about important 
legislation I am introducing today. It is called the Cell Phone Jamming 
Reform Act. Senator Tom Cotton is introducing the companion bill in the 
Senate.
  All around the Nation, one of the most important issues that I hear 
about is the rapid rise in crime, especially violent crime.
  According to the Major Cities Chiefs Association Crime Report for 
2022 for urban areas, homicide is up 13 percent, rape is up 23 percent, 
aggravated assault is up 33 percent--all since 2020.
  Every one of us knows that this is unacceptable and everyone should 
feel safe being in their community. In the House Republicans' 
Commitment to America, we promised that the new Republican majority 
will work toward creating a Nation that is safe. A key pillar of that 
promise is alleviating this current crime crisis.
  The Cell Phone Jamming Reform Act is a crucial first step in our 
effort to reduce crime and enhance public safety. This legislation will 
prevent criminals from conducting criminal operations from behind bars 
by allowing State and Federal prison officials to use cell phone 
jamming systems.
  The technology will protect inmates, it will protect guards, and it 
will protect the public at large.
  State attorneys general from across the country have determined that 
cell phones from within prisons, these contraband cell phones, are 
among the most serious threat to public safety facing prison 
administrators today.
  Now, as cell phone technology has evolved, and it continues to 
evolve, mobile phones are easier to conceal than ever. They provide 
countless ways for criminals to communicate with the outside world.
  Inmates use contraband cell phones to organize murders, riots, drug 
operations, fraud, extortion, and other crimes. I want to give you just 
a few examples.
  In Tennessee, an inmate used a contraband cell phone to orchestrate 
drug conspiracy deals by shipping a package full of methamphetamine to 
his girlfriend from within the prison. In South Carolina, there have 
been four major drug trafficking cases where the operation was run by 
contraband cell phones from behind prison walls. In 2018, gang-
affiliated inmates in a maximum security prison used cell phones to 
organize and coordinate a brutal attack that killed 7 inmates and 
injured 20.
  All Americans have the right to feel safe in their communities, to 
walk their kids around the block without the fear of assault, to park 
their car without the fear it will be broken into, or maybe taken 
completely.
  One of the most fundamental duties of government is to ensure that 
its citizens have the right and the ability to live, to work, and to 
raise a family without the fear of being a victim of crime.
  The Cell Phone Jamming Reform Act is a key step toward reducing 
crime, enhancing public safety, and, ultimately, to fulfilling our goal 
to create a Nation that is safe.
  I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense legislation.

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