Federal Prison Oversight Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. RASKIN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in favor of the Federal Prison Oversight Act, which would strengthen oversight of our prisons and improve conditions for the people who work and live inside them.

I thank the bill's House leaders, my friends and colleagues Representatives Lucy McBath and Kelly Armstrong, as well as Senators Jon Ossoff and Mike Braun and Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin, for their strong bipartisan work on this legislation.

The bill has the support of a wide array of groups across the spectrum, including the American Civil Liberties Union, Americans for Prosperity, the Conservative Political Action Committee, Families Against Mandatory Minimums, Justice Action Network, Right on Crime, the Due Process Institute, and the Council of Prison Locals, which represents 30,000 correctional officers.

Federal prisons have long experienced systemic problems that threaten the health, safety, and civil rights of incarcerated people and also the staff who work there. For example, last year, NPR reported that more than 4,950 incarcerated people had died in facilities operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons in the last 10 years. Many of the incarcerated either experienced delayed care or postponed care for serious medical problems.

This February, the DOJ inspector general issued a scathing report on BOP prisons, which found that systemic policy violations and operational failures contributed significantly to the problem of inmate suicide.

Bureau of Prisons facilities are responsible for more than 158,000 incarcerated people and more than 34,000 correctional officers and staff. As documented by GAO in our hearings, BOP has consistently struggled with the problem of staffing shortages. According to the Council of Prison Locals, BOP has lost 20 percent of its employees since 2016 and only employs around 13,000 correctional staff officers today, despite receiving appropriations to fund more than 20,000.

As of 2023, staffing levels for healthcare workers at BOP facilities were only 69 percent, and nearly 20 percent of the facilities do not have a healthcare program onsite to provide even routine and preventative healthcare. Staffing shortages have contributed to often disturbing and, at times, fatal delays in rendering healthcare services for the incarcerated.

GAO has also reported on BOP challenges in upholding its responsibilities to help inmates prepare for a successful release and reintegration, including implementation of important requirements of the First Step Act of 2018 to lower the risk of recidivism.

Additionally, BOP has systemically struggled to make prudent use of resources due to a failure to effectively monitor and evaluate its programs. Taken together, these challenges led GAO to add the management of the prison system to its 2023 high-risk list, indicating the severity and magnitude of these problems.

H.R. 3019 would take important steps to address these concerns by requiring the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General to periodically inspect, evaluate, and report on policies, procedures, and activities at BOP prisons, with higher risk facilities required to undergo even more frequent inspection.

Such inspections may include reviews of inmate confinement conditions; working conditions and staffing capabilities; policies and procedures related to housing, confinement, and other restrictive housing; healthcare programs and services; and complaints of violence and abuse made against incarcerated people and staff.

The bill would also establish an ombudsman within DOJ that would be charged with receiving such complaints that go to problems threatening the health, safety, welfare, and rights of incarcerated people and staff.

Institutionalized misconduct, mismanagement, abuse, and negligence have no place in the Federal Government, especially in operations dealing with vulnerable people who are most in need of a pathway back to personal health and responsibility and to society.

To make our communities safer, uphold our values, and reduce recidivism, it is imperative that we bring increased transparency, accountability, and humanity to our prisons. The Federal Prison Oversight Act is an important step forward on these goals, and I urge my colleagues to support the bill today.

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Mr. RASKIN. Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from Georgia (Mrs. McBath), the author of the legislation and a real leader on criminal justice reform.

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Mr. RASKIN. Madam Speaker, I thank Mrs. McBath for her magnificent leadership on this and her commitment to creating decent conditions in our prisons. I thank her for the beautiful example of her commitment based on her love of Jordan and her whole family and community.

Madam Speaker, I urge all colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this very fine legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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