Chris Coons: “I rise to speak about an urgent and long overdue reform to address how the United States houses and treats prison…”

“I rise to speak about an urgent and long overdue reform to address how the United States houses and treats prison inmates in our Federal criminal justice system. We are losing millions of Americans--disproportionately African- American men--to a criminal justice system that robs them of any meaningful opportunity to find gainful employment or participate in our democracy after they served their time. Fortunately, Americans across the country have come to recognize that our so-called criminal justice system is broken. Here in the Senate, I am encouraged that many of my colleagues, including Senator Durbin, Senator Booker, and many others have joined together in support of a broad bipartisan bill entitled the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act. Our criminal justice system should be about justice and rehabilitation, not just punishment. Passing this Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act would be a significant step in that direction. Today I have come to talk about a specific and targeted bill that Senators Durbin, Booker, Leahy, Franken, and I are introducing. Far too often Federal inmates find themselves placed in 6-by-8-foot cells for 23 hours a day in solitary confinement, colloquially called restrictive housing units.…”