[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 151 (Tuesday, September 19, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E862-E863]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  RECOGNIZING THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE PRISON RAPE ELIMINATION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                     HON. ROBERT C. ``BOBBY'' SCOTT

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 19, 2023

  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge that 
20 years ago, on September 4, 2003, President George W. Bush signed the 
Prison Rape Elimination Act, or PREA, into law. This law recognized the 
difficult truth of rampant and completely unacceptable sexual abuse of 
people in our jails, prisons, and juvenile detention facilities, and 
endeavored to address it. PREA sought to end these abuses by creating 
research mandates, promulgating National standards, and providing grant 
funding to meet those standards.
  Ending prisoner rape remains one of the increasingly rare topics on 
which people on both sides of the aisle can continue to agree. I joined 
forces with my Virginia colleague, Congressman Frank Wolf, to sponsor 
the bill in this chamber, and Senators Ted Kennedy and Jeff Sessions 
sponsored PREA in the Senate. PREA passed with unanimous support in 
both the House and Senate. Fighting against institutional abuse and 
protecting those who cannot advocate for themselves should never be a 
partisan issue, and I have been gratified by the coalition of support 
PREA has inspired over the years.
  Since PREA's passage, we've seen dramatic improvements in how adults 
and children in detention are treated. Thousands of corrections 
professionals have been hired and trained to ensure the safety of 
people in their custody through the implementation of PREA's National 
standards. The U.S. Department of Justice is now required to gather 
data on sexual abuse in custody that provides corrections facilities, 
advocates and policymakers with invaluable information on the dynamics 
of sexual abuse in detention, and how it can be stopped.
  Hundreds of thousands of incarcerated people are educated every year 
about their right

[[Page E863]]

to be safe and respected, and how to speak out if they are not. 
Incarcerated people, their families, and advocates now have more 
effective methods of reporting sexual abuse, as evidenced by the 
dramatic increase in the number of reports we have seen since PREA's 
enactment. This is a clear sign that incarcerated survivors understand 
that people care about their experiences, that they have mechanisms to 
advocate for themselves, and that their voices should no longer go 
unheard. Through these efforts and sustained support for survivors, the 
stigma of reporting abuse has been steadily eroding since PREA's 
passage.
  I also want to acknowledge the broad-based coalition of advocates and 
civil rights groups that fought to pass PREA, encourage corrections 
facilities to implement PREA's National standards, and continue to 
ensure that the law lives up to its intended purpose and promise. 
Specifically, people who have endured this abuse have been on the front 
lines of the effort to make our prisons and jails places where people 
are free of sexual abuse. Just Detention International's Survivor 
Council deserves special mention. These courageous survivors have 
fought tirelessly to ensure that no one ever has to face abuse and to 
instill in all of us the principle that no matter what crime a person 
has committed, rape is not part of the penalty.
  The work we set out to do with PREA is by no means over. Rape in 
prisons is still far too common. And young people, LGBTQ+ individuals, 
immigrants, and people who come from communities of color are more 
affected by this crisis than others. The recent cases of staff sexual 
abuse in California at the Federal Correctional Institution Dublin 
(FCI-Dublin) at the highest levels expose and illustrate the impunity 
with which many staff perpetrators still operate. Making things worse, 
the dozens of women at FCI-Dublin who were abused could not initially 
get support services. This highlights a larger problem of a lack of 
resources for community service providers.
  Prisons, jails, and youth detention facilities nationwide must commit 
to implementing the National Prison Rape Elimination Act standards. 
This doesn't mean merely changing policies as they're written on paper. 
It means meaningfully adopting those policies and shifting the culture 
on the ground in detention facilities. This encompasses everything from 
safer reporting procedures for survivors to stronger investigations 
after an assault occurs. We must empower staff to identify signs that 
incarcerated people are being abused, and to identify red flags in 
staff behavior that could result in abuse. We must also have more 
confidential emotional support services in prisons, especially from 
community providers, so that survivors can get the help they deserve. 
And finally, we must end the culture of impunity and the code of 
silence among staff which allows abuse to flourish. As I have before, I 
call on the Department of Justice to work vigorously to ensure that 
every state implements PREA to protect all inmates from sexual 
violence.
  Mr. Speaker, on the 20th anniversary of its enactment, let us take 
this moment to recognize the ways that PREA marked an important shift 
in how we, as a country, deal with this violence. Sexual abuse in 
detention may not be a secret epidemic anymore, but it is incumbent 
upon us to actualize the goal set out in this historic law and end this 
crisis, once and for all. Let me say again: rape is not part of the 
penalty.

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