H.R. 5009
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I would like to take a minute to note the fiscal year 2025 NDAA conference agreement the Senate is voting on this week.
Congress has passed a bipartisan Defense authorization bill every year without fail since 1961, a remarkable feat. And in an increasingly partisan Senate, it is even more remarkable.
Every year, when the final text comes, there are inevitably Members on both sides of the aisle who like some provisions and dislike others. That is what compromise is all about.
This year's text is no different. It includes a historic pay raise for junior enlisted troops. It provides continued support for Ukraine's territorial integrity and Baltic security cooperation.
This bill authorizes important military construction projects. It reauthorizes my READ Act to continue quality basic education programs for vulnerable children around the world.
At the same time, it also continues troubling restrictions that make it unnecessarily difficult to finally close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay. And it fails to include important provisions I sponsored that would have accelerated PFAS remediation and enabled the skilled DACA holders to enlist in the military to address our recruitment challenges.
But there is one provision in this conference agreement that troubles me, a provision that would ban certain medical treatments for transgender children of servicemembers. It eliminates the ability of military families to work with medical professionals and make their own decisions about the healthcare needs of their own children.
That is why I am a cosponsor of Senator Tammy Baldwin's amendment to remove this language from the bill. Sixth Anniversary of the First Step Act
Mr. President, I would like now to highlight an important milestone. This coming Saturday, December 21, will mark the sixth anniversary of the First Step Act becoming law. That moment resulted from overwhelming bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate coming together to pass landmark criminal justice reform.
I was honored to be the lead Democrat sponsor of this legislation, along with the lead Republican sponsor, Senator Chuck Grassley. Senators Cory Booker and Mike Lee joined us.
The First Step Act acknowledges the obvious: The vast majority of people who are incarcerated will someday be released. So we must prepare them to successfully return to their communities.
In the last 6 years, this law has safely and effectively reduced populations in overcrowded Federal prisons, reuniting families and revitalizing communities.
The First Step Act looked toward the future by providing opportunities for the incarcerated people to reenter society successfully. It helped to reform harsh drug sentencing laws of the past and remedy their effects.
I authored bipartisan legislation, the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, that reduced the unjust 100-to-1 sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine offenses.
Under the First Step Act, the Fair Sentencing Act's reforms were made retroactive, allowing those who still serve sentences imposed before the change in law to be resentenced. I am thankful for the tireless efforts of many dedicated advocates and families who never gave up hope that this bill would become the law.
Since the passage of the First Step Act, 6 years ago, I have met with many Americans who successfully returned home because of this historic legislation.
The First Step Act has been a tremendous success. Of more than 40,000 people released under this law through January of this year, only 9.7 percent have been rearrested or returned to custody. Compare that to the Bureau of Prisons' overall recidivism rate of 45 percent--5 times that number. Unfortunately, some elected officials are calling now for a return to the punitive policies of the past, despite the success of the First Step Act.
Here is the reality: We all deserve to live free from crime, but the War on Drugs, with its inflexible mandatory minimums, did not make communities safer. Instead, the so-called War on Drugs filled the prisons with young, mostly African-American men, and, at the same time, the price of illegal drugs went down, and the use of illegal drugs went up. The strategy didn't work.
The First Step Act shows that we can do more than be just tough on crime. We can be, once and for all, smart on crime and achieve accountability without excessive punishment and incarceration.
It is our job in Congress to thoughtfully respond to the enduring crisis of substance abuse in America. We should provide more opportunities for those who are incarcerated to reenter society successfully, reunite with their families, and contribute to their communities.
And, we need to build on the bipartisan success of the First Step Act and work together to craft new policies to reduce crime in America.
Six years ago, the First Step Act was signed into law by President Donald Trump, during his first term in office, while my lead Republican sponsor, Senator Chuck Grassley, was chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. With Donald Trump returning to the White House and Senator Grassley returning as chairman of the Judiciary Committee, we have the opportunity to build on the success of the First Step Act.
Six years ago, we wrote the blueprint for reimagining rehabilitation and protecting public safety. We know that it works.
We must remember that passing this law was just the first step in a long journey toward rethinking rehab and reversing failed reaches. Today, as I reflect on what we achieved by correcting our past wrongs and investing in the power of second chances, I also recognize that more must be done to make our justice system fair and to keep America safe.
We should learn from the experiences of individuals who have been incarcerated under misguided policies and are now seeking to reform the criminal justice system for the future.
As we celebrate this anniversary, I will continue to work with my colleagues to reform outdated sentencing laws and improve conditions of confinement and rehabilitation within our Federal system.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source