Tom Cotton: “when a criminal is convicted of a crime and locked away in prison, you would think that would put a stop to their…”

“when a criminal is convicted of a crime and locked away in prison, you would think that would put a stop to their illicit activity, but sadly, in too many tragic cases, criminals just continue their wicked ways behind bars. That is because tens of thousands of contraband cell phones are smuggled into and throughout prisons, enabling convicted criminals to carry on with their criminal business as usual from behind bars. Contraband cell phones in prisons pose a severe threat to public safety. After all, these convicted criminals aren't using cell phones to order takeout, to check the weather, or to watch NFL highlights--no. They use contraband cell phones to order hits on criminal rivals, to traffic drugs, and to run extortion schemes. Convicted criminals who are sitting in a prison cell shouldn't be able to endanger correctional officers, members of law enforcement, and innocent Americans outside of prisons by using contraband cell phones. If we opt to stand idly by, we might as well hand these criminals the keys to their prison cells. That is why I have introduced again the Cellphone Jamming Reform Act--to allow State and Federal correctional facilities to use targeted cell phone jamming equipment in prison housing facilities. The key word here is 'targeted.' The technology is so precise that it does not interrupt with the regular communications of law enforcement or emergency first responders in the vicinity.”