Lamar Smith: “I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, on October 31, the authorization for the United States Parole…”

“I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, on October 31, the authorization for the United States Parole Commission will expire. H.R. 2944, the United States Parole Commission Extension Act of 2011, extends the Commission's authorization for an additional 3 years. I thank Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Crime Subcommittee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner, and Ranking Member Bobby Scott, who is here on the floor today, for joining me in sponsoring this legislation. The Parole Commission is an independent agency within the Department of Justice that supervises Federal offenders who are eligible for parole. In 1984, Congress abolished Federal parole and replaced it with a determinate sentencing system. Federal offenders who were sentenced prior to November 1, 1987, were grandfathered under the parole system. The Parole Commission has been kept in place since then on a temporary basis to continue supervision of these Federal offenders. In an effort to lower local crime rates, the District of Columbia followed the Federal example and also abolished parole. Under the new D.C. system, the D.C. Superior Court imposes a term of incarceration and supervised release. Congress subsequently expanded the jurisdiction of the Parole Commission to include both parole and supervised release offenders from the District of Columbia.…”