Congressman Fattah Joins Colleagues to Announce Prison Reform Task Force

WASHINGTON, Dec. 9, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Congressman Chaka Fattah (D-PA), the lead Democrat on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS), joined current and former House colleagues to announce the Charles Colson Task Force on Federal Corrections today on Capitol Hill. Fattah is a long-time advocate of justice reform and, alongside CJS Subcommittee Chairman Frank Wolf (R-VA), led the effort for the establishment of the task force.

Charged with identifying the drivers of prison growth and increasing corrections costs, the Colson Task Force will evaluate data-driven policy options to address these challenges, identify recommendations, and submit a final report in December 2015 to Congress, the President, and the Attorney General.  Chairman Wolf and Fattah have worked for the last two years to fund the Task Force through the CJS Appropriations Bill.

At the press conference, Fattah thanked Chairman Wolf for his insistence that the country take a comprehensive look at the question of prison reform and commended the selections of former Congressmen J.C. Watts, Jr. and Alan Mollohan as Chair and Vice Chair of the Committee.  Fattah acknowledged the growing necessity to address the challenge of our country's high incarceration rates and acknowledged the bipartisan consensus that has pushed prison reform as a priority in Congress.  

In his remarks Congressman Fattah said, "We need to move to smarter justice reinvestment activities. Under the Chairman's leadership we have seen examples all across the country of what can work…but we need to do so much more and do it more aggressively in this space." He continued, "Some of the most conservative and liberal people in our country agree that…we have a responsibility to be better stewards of our government's investment [in the prison system] and to do more so that our communities can be safer."

Included on the nine-member, blue-ribbon panel named today is John E. Wetzel, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. Other members of the group include state criminal justice reform champions, a judge, and scholars on the subject. The task force will formally begin meeting in January and will hold five meetings throughout the year.

Fattah and Wolf have joined together on several other bipartisan justice reform initiatives through their leadership on the CJS Subcommittee which has responsibility for funding the Department of Justice. Earlier this year,  they introduced the House companion to the REDEEM Act, a bill that would overhaul the nation's criminal justice system with a focus on reducing escalating costs associated with a rising prison population, while enhancing public safety.

In this 113^th Congress, Congressman Fattah also introduced America's FOCUS Act with Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA), a piece of legislation that would direct increased funding to justice reinvestment initiatives by creating a separate fund from revenues generated by corporate civil and criminal penalties, including bank fines and settlements. Additionally, Fattah has long championed the Second Chance Act and worked to increase funding for the legislation that is designed to improve outcomes for people returning to communities after incarceration.

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SOURCE Office of Congressman Chaka Fattah

Related Links

http://www.fattah.house.gov