Hal Rogers: “I thank the chairman for yielding. It is no secret, Mr. Chairman, that there is a strain on our Nation's prison system.…”

“I thank the chairman for yielding. It is no secret, Mr. Chairman, that there is a strain on our Nation's prison system. As the inmate population continues to rise, our prisons get more and more crowded every day. As the inmate population continues to rise, with 216,000 individuals currently serving Federal sentences, our prisons get more and more crowded every day. At the end of fiscal 2013--listen to this--25 percent of our medium security inmates and 85 percent of our low security inmates were triple bunked--triple bunked. Considering that 8 out of every 10 medium security inmates has a history of violence, this creates some very serious questions about the safety of the BOP staff, the public, and even other inmates. Updating our prisons will provide greater efficiency and staffing and permits staff to safely oversee more inmates. Our medium and maximum security prisons house some of the world's most dangerous and violent criminals. The bill before us provides critical funding to the Federal Bureau of Prisons in order to modernize and strengthen our Nation's prison infrastructure. These funds will help protect the public as well as the men and women who work at these facilities. It is imperative that we provide them a safe and secure environment within which to work. The Federal Government has a commitment to keep the public and prison staff safe, and these dollars are needed to fulfill that commitment.…”