On the recordJanuary 22, 2019
I am pleased to support H.R. 498, the ``Clean Up the Code Act of 2019.'' This legislation essentially repeals many unused statutes currently in the criminal code. 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. We began our journey several Congresses ago to work in a bipartisan way to address the ills of our criminal justice system through our Over-criminalization Task Force, which I intend to re-establish in this Congress. As this bill seeks to promote, we must take initiatives to clean up our federal criminal code, which in large part, criminalizes many acts that can easily be addressed in other forums. When we over-criminalize we place an undue burden on the taxpayers and create long term human costs on families and on our communities. We should penalize where necessary to ensure public safety and hold accountable criminals where appropriate. We should also look for ways in which we could enhance our communities, human relations with civilians and law enforcement, and provide an entirely new approach to our criminal justice system. For all the foregoing reasons, I support this bill and ask my colleagues to do the same.
