[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 8398]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  CRISIS IN THE FEDERAL PRISON SYSTEM

  (Mr. CHANDLER asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CHANDLER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to highlight a serious 
security risk to our communities. Our Federal prison system faces a 
crisis that we can no longer ignore.
  The inmate population continues to reach record highs; yet the 
administration and Congress failed to provide the funding to keep our 
prisons secure. This has caused overcrowding and a shortage in 
correctional staff.
  Our prisons are now more dangerous and our communities are being put 
in jeopardy. For example, last July, Lexington, Kentucky, an inmate 
escaped from the Lexington Federal Medical Center because there were 
fewer than 20 staff members supervising almost 2,000 inmates.
  He was eventually caught. Thankfully, no one in the community was 
seriously injured. However, if we do not start funding our Federal 
prison systems at a level that provides adequate staff, we may not be 
as fortunate next time.
  I urge my colleagues and the administration to provide sufficient 
funding to the Federal prison system.

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