Dick Durbin

We should use every means at our disposal to provide the best education possible to all children.

I think there has to be accountability here. There is in every other State and city where there's a voucher program.

That is a disgrace, that in the capital city of our great Nation we are so failing the students who live here.

The reading impact of the DC voucher program is the largest achievement impact yet reported.

I am going to ask the last question of you.

I can recall, just as an aside, that in 1970, then-Lieutenant Governor Paul Simon took me, a young lawyer fresh out of law school, on an onsite visit at the Lincoln State School.

I think it is cruel and unusual punishment.

I would just like to say that we really need to focus on alternative to incarceration programs.

The safety and security of the people who are working in our prisons is the highest priority

The obvious question is what skills do they have to recognize mental illness and its manifestations in contrast to simple criminal misconduct.

Senator Webb's idea of a reform commission, which I have cosponsored, is a step in the right direction.

Do you feel that our system of justice is really equipped to deal with what we have decided as America will be our future when it comes to mental health?

I think it causes deterioration with mentally ill inmates.

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals at the Federal level is not known as a liberal court of appeals.

I think it is critically important, as Senator Coburn mentioned, that we work together to identify the presence of mental illness in offenders as early as possible in the criminal justice system.

The safety of America at large, of course, is an equally important priority

This really is a human rights issue in our country

Is this the right thing for our system of justice? Is this a fair outcome?

The internal mechanism is through the Inspector General's office?

In June of 2006, a bipartisan national task force, the Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's Prisons, released its recommendations after a year-long investigation.

This hearing of the Human Rights and the Law Subcommittee will come to order.

Beyond about 10 days, the report noted, practically no benefits can be found and the harm is clear--not just for inmates but for the public as well.

That situation is the wrong thing for everybody, and, frankly, it is dangerous.

I think it is a human right to have your health care diagnosed when we are going to incarcerate you.

I want to thank Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy for reestablishing this Subcommittee.