Political Quotes

“part of our goal is to keep prisoners working, especially if they are working to take care of themselves. This amendment simply provides that the law would stay as it is now for the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The Federal Prison System, should have prisoners in prison industries produce the products they need. I chaired the Department of Corrections budget in the State of Michigan for years, and in terms of the gentleman from Michigan's (Mr. Hoekstra) idea that we should have competitive bids, that is what we have done in Michigan. I mean the prison industry competes with the private sector. If they cannot beat the bid, or the quality of the product, they do not get the bid. But what is happening in the State of Michigan is that our prison industries is still making a great deal of money. The incentive has been there to be productive; and, in terms of recidivism, there has been a greater interest by these workers to do a better job. That means they are more likely to get a job on the outside. We instigated provisions in Michigan that prisoners have to pass drug tests before they are even allowed to work. So working has become a privilege. It gives them an advantage over other prisoners. That is what we should seek to do in our federal system.”