Jim Sensenbrenner: “Mr. Chairman, Federal Prison Industries, or FPI for short, was first authorized in the 1930s to require Federal agencies…”

“Mr. Chairman, Federal Prison Industries, or FPI for short, was first authorized in the 1930s to require Federal agencies to buy goods made by inmates in Federal prisons. The purpose of FPI was to ensure work and training for prison inmates by guaranteeing a market for prison-made goods. Although Federal Prison Industries may have started with good intentions, it has been surrounded by controversy since its inception. FPI enjoys a mandatory market for its goods, a government facility to produce them in, and pays its workers less than the minimum wage to manufacture them. A guaranteed market for its products and reduced costs for labor and capital clearly amounts to an unfair advantage when put in direct competition with private industries. As Members of Congress, I believe it is our duty to protect the pocketbooks of taxpayers by ensuring that the Federal Government is not misusing taxpayer dollars. I believe it is also our duty to protect American business and workers from unfair competition by the Federal Government. FPI is a large, government-owned corporation. It currently operates 111 factories at 71 of its correctional institutions where it produces goods in over 150 product lines under the trade name UNICOR. It offers approximately 150 broad classes of products and services through eight business groups. And there is no question FPI hurts private industry.”