Sheila Jackson Lee: “I thank the gentleman from Georgia, and I congratulate him and Mr. Chabot for this legislation. I am glad that this is…”

“I thank the gentleman from Georgia, and I congratulate him and Mr. Chabot for this legislation. I am glad that this is one of the early bills that we are moving forward. It sets the tone for this Congress, and it sets the tone for bipartisanship. It also sets the tone for the Democratic-led Congress on the continuation of working on the idea of ensuring that justice is truly rendered. This bill, H.R. 498, the Clean Up the Code Act of 2017, essentially repeals many unused statutes currently in the criminal code. Mr. Speaker, you have to pay a fine, but some of them even have jail time. It is right in line with the concept of ending mass incarceration just to incarcerate. It is well-known that this Nation has the largest number of people incarcerated in Western civilization, some 2 million-plus, added to, of course, by a number of individuals who are being held in detention centers across the Nation. It is emblematic of what is terribly wrong with our criminal justice system and sheds light on why it is imperative to have an overhaul of our Federal Criminal Code while addressing the ripple effects it creates within our criminal justice system.…”