Bobby Scott

I wanted to ask you a few questions about the Affordable Care Act.

Thank you, Secretary Burwell, for being with us today.

It is past time for Congress to raise the sequester-level discretionary spending caps that are stunting the progress we can make as a nation.

It is time to invest in these programs and ensure that we are giving ALL children the chance to succeed.

I want to thank Secretary Burwell for her efforts and her Department's hard work implementing the ACA.

The passage of the Affordable Care Act has given millions of Americans access to health coverage, some for the first time in their lives.

I was pleased that the President's budget request was reflective of many important priorities such as protecting access to healthcare insurance for all Americans.

Budgeting requires making tough choices, and a budget is in fact a reflection of priorities.

I look forward to your testimony.

So while some people absolutely deserve prison time, our goal should be to give them as little as necessary to accomplish the purposes of sentencing.

The State Justice Act just introduced by Representatives Sensenbrenner and Bobby Scott is a good example of legislation that would reduce the flow of inmates in a responsible way.

My time in prison reaffirmed my belief that the only way Congress can improve public safety while reducing costs is to reform Federal sentencing laws, especially mandatory minimum sentences.

We have a unique moment, a bipartisan momentum for true, I mean, true reform, and it is ours to seize.

We must do better, and we can. We cannot stand by while these alarming disparities and destructive cycles persist generation after generation.

I am very concerned about as many alternatives as possible to juvenile incarceration.

The only way that I think that we will eliminate that cycle... is if we deal with it holistically.

I believe that we need to be investing a lot in the beginning of this experience and that is in the mother's stomach.

It incorporates the work of the Over-Criminalization Task Force.

The provisions of this bill will save money and reduce crime.

The research shows that providing incentives to inmates to complete educational, vocational, substance abuse, mental health, and traditional programs will help reduce both recidivism and the amount of money spent on the Federal prison…

Our bill restores the original congressional intent on these penalties and applies the evidence-based approach from the States.

As appealing as these policies may sound, their impact has overloaded our prisons.

It must also take into account the racial disparities that plague our system and how young people, women, and other populations are uniquely affected.

Unfortunately, Mr. Chairman, rather than this rational, thoughtful approach, too many politicians across the country have chosen to play politics with crime policy.

Now is the time for criminal justice reform, and the SAFE Justice Act delivers the change necessary to enact fairness in sentencing.