Bart Stupak: “I rise today in strong support of the Pryce-Stupak amendment to H.R. 4092, the crime bill. Our amendment prohibits the…”

“I rise today in strong support of the Pryce-Stupak amendment to H.R. 4092, the crime bill. Our amendment prohibits the use of free weights by, and the teaching of self-defense to, Federal prison. This amendment will go a long way toward ensuring a higher degree of workplace safety for our corrections officers. In last year's Easter riot at the Lucasville Prison, inmates used free weights to batter down a concrete wall protecting guards. This enabled the inmates to take 11 guards hostage. One of those 11 guards was murdered. Last month, inmates used weight-lifting equipment as weapons against corrections officers in a riot at Rikers Island Prison in New York. One guard was beaten within an inch of his life with a 50 pound weight. We must do a better job to ensure that the danger associated with working in prisons is minimized. We must do more to ensure that these dedicated correctional officers can tell their families, with some degree of certainty, that they'll be home at the end of the day. The Pryce-Stupak amendment is not the singular solution to the increasing violence against correctional officers by bigger, stronger bulked up prisoners. But this is an amendment, in the right direction, and will help to send the message that prison is for punishment and rehabilitation, not a place to refine the skills that landed one in prison. I would urge all of my colleagues to support the Pryce-Stupak amendment to the crime bill.”