Sheila Jackson Lee: “I thank the distinguished chairman of the Judiciary Committee for yielding and with the distinguished gentleman from…”

“I thank the distinguished chairman of the Judiciary Committee for yielding and with the distinguished gentleman from Rhode Island, Judge Gohmert knows, and we know that Texas knows how to lead. So I thank them so very much for bringing that to our attention. Let me take just a moment to turn and say thank you to Chairman Jeffries for leading us on and providing the energy and the engine for doing something that is and will continue to be lifesaving. It is my life's work to use the criminal justice system as a reform mechanism to save lives and to ensure that it is not a system that unequally prides itself on supporting the rights sometimes of the offender without acknowledging the rights of the victim. In many instances in addiction, Mr. Speaker, you will find persons who go awry of the criminal justice system as victims because they then are not given the treatment that they should get, or they are not given the recognition of the question of how you can fairly address these laws. They are, in fact, becoming victims. They are victims of the system. They become incarcerated. They lose their right to vote. Their families are separated from them. They are stigmatized. They may lose their life's dream of being a teacher or a police officer or a lawyer. We don't know what lives we lost in the so-called war on drugs and how many fell by the wayside. So I am proud to support H.R.…”