Political Quotes

“First I would like to acknowledge the gentleman from Georgia, Representative Doug Collins, and the gentleman from New York, Representative Hakeem Jeffries, for their hard work and dedication in improving this bill over the last several weeks. Historically, the United States of America has been plagued with serious, fundamental problems within our criminal justice system. For far too long, policymakers have chosen to play politics and disapprove of common-sense policy that is specifically geared towards reducing crime by instead enacting so-called ``tough on crime'' slogans and soundbites, such as ``three strikes and you're out,'' ``mandatory minimum sentencing,'' and even rhymes such as, ``you do the adult crime, you do the adult time.'' These policies may sound appealing, but their impact ranges from a negligible reduction in crime to an actual increase in crime. Turning to the bill we are debating today, I recognize that the FIRST STEP Act includes a fix to the calculation of good time credit, which I have sought for many years. Calculating good time credit as Congress had originally intended is a serious improvement made by this bill. This bill also improves the auditing process for enforcing the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) to protect prisoners from sexual assault. It places prohibitions on shackling pregnant and post-partum women. The bill expands the use and transparency of compassionate release for terminally ill prisoners.…”