I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3489 

To eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for all drug offenses. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 10, 2015 

Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California (for herself, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. POCAN, 

Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. LEE, Ms. NORTON, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, and Mr. GRIJALVA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for all drug 

offenses. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mandatory Minimum 

5 Reform Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) Mandatory minimum sentences are statu2 torily prescribed terms of imprisonment that auto3 matically attach upon conviction of certain criminal 

4 conduct, usually pertaining to drug or firearm of5 fenses. Absent very narrow criteria for relief, a sen6 tencing judge is powerless to mandate a term of im7 prisonment below the mandatory minimum. Manda8 tory minimum sentences for drug offenses rely solely 

9 upon the weight of the substance as a proxy for the 

10 degree of involvement of a defendant’s role. 

11 (2) In the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, and 

12 at the height of the public outcry over crack cocaine, 

13 Congress acted hastily, without sufficient hearings, 

14 and enacted hard-line penalties that targeted low15 level drug offenders. These penalties included new, 

16 long mandatory minimum sentences for such offend17 ers. 

18 (3) According to the Bureau of Prisons, in 

19 1986, when the new drug law containing lengthy 

20 mandatory minimum sentences passed, the prison 

21 population was 36,000. Today, the Federal prison 

22 population is over 210,000 prisoners, up almost 600 

23 percent in 29 years. 


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1 (4) According to the Bureau of Prisons, the av2 erage cost to keep one prisoner in Federal prison for 

3 one year is approximately $29,000. 

4 (5) According to the Office of Management and 

5 Budget, annual spending on the Federal prison sys6 tem rose 595 percent, from $970,000,000 to more 

7 than $6.7 billion in inflation-adjusted dollars, be8 tween 1980 and 2013. 

9 (6) According to the U.S. Sentencing Commis10 sion, between 1995 and 2010, over 400,000 drug of11 fenders were sentenced under Federal law; of these, 

12 almost 250,000 (61 percent) received mandatory 

13 minimum sentences. 

14 (7) According to the U.S. Sentencing Commis15 sion, drug offenders released from prison in 1986 

16 who had been sentenced before the adoption of man17 datory sentences and sentencing guidelines had 

18 served an average of 22 months in prison. In 2013, 

19 almost two-thirds of all drug offenders received a 

20 mandatory sentence, with most receiving a 10-year 

21 minimum. Most of these offenders are nonviolent or 

22 lower-level offenders with little or no criminal his23 tory: in 2013, 49.6 percent had few or no prior con24 victions, 83.8 percent did not have weapons involved 


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1 in their offense, and only 7 percent were considered 

2 leaders, managers, or supervisors of drug operations. 

3 (8) Mandatory minimum sentences have con4 sistently been shown to have a disproportionate im5 pact on African-Americans. The United States Sen6 tencing Commission, in a 15-year overview of the 

7 Federal sentencing system, concluded that ‘‘manda8 tory penalty statutes are used inconsistently’’ and 

9 disproportionately affect African-American defend10 ants. African-American drug defendants are 20-per11 cent more likely to be sentenced to prison than 

12 White drug defendants. 

13 (9) According to the U.S. Sentencing Commis14 sion, between 1994 and 2003, the average time 

15 served by African-Americans for a drug offense in16 creased by 62 percent, compared to a 17-percent in17 crease among White drug defendants. 

18 (10) According to the Substance Abuse and 

19 Mental Health Services Administration, Government 

20 surveys document that drug use is roughly con21 sistent across racial and ethnic groups. While there 

22 is less data available regarding drug sellers, research 

23 from the Office of National Drug Control Policy and 

24 the National Institute of Justice has found that 

25 drug users generally buy drugs from someone of 


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1 their own racial or ethnic background. But, accord2 ing to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, over 70 per3 cent of all Federal narcotics offenders sentenced 

4 each year are African-Americans and Hispanic5 Americans, many of whom are low-level offenders. 

6 (11) As a result of Federal prosecutors’ focus 

7 on low-level drug offenders, the overwhelming major8 ity of individuals subject to the heightened crack co9 caine penalties are African-American. According to 

10 the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s 2007 Report to 

11 Congress on crack cocaine, only 8.8 percent of Fed12 eral crack cocaine convictions were imposed on 

13 White Americans, while 81.8 percent and 8.4 per14 cent were imposed on African-American and His15 panics, respectively. 

16 (12) According to the U.S. Census, African17 Americans comprise 12 percent of the U.S. popu18 lation and, according to the Substance Abuse and 

19 Mental Health Services Administration, about 10 

20 percent of all drug users, but almost 26.5 percent of 

21 all Federal drug convictions according to the U.S. 

22 Sentencing Commission. 

23 (13) According to the U.S. Sentencing Commis24 sion, African-Americans, on average, now serve al25 most as much time in Federal prison for a drug ofVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:45 Sep 14, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3489.IH H3489

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1 fense (58.7 months) as Whites do for a violent of2 fense (61.7 months). 

3 (14) According to the U.S. Sentencing Commis4 sion, in 2013, almost 34 percent of women entering 

5 Federal prison did so for a drug offense. Linking 

6 drug quantity with punishment severity has had a 

7 particularly profound impact on women, who are 

8 more likely to play peripheral roles in a drug enter9 prise than men. However, because prosecutors can 

10 attach drug quantities to an individual regardless of 

11 the level of a defendant’s participation in the 

12 charged offense, women have been exposed to in13 creasingly punitive sentences to incarceration. 

14 (15) Low-level and mid-level drug offenders can 

15 be adequately prosecuted by the States and punished 

16 or supervised in treatment as appropriate. 

17 (16) The Departments of Justice, the Treasury, 

18 and Homeland Security are the agencies with the 

19 greatest capacity to investigate, prosecute and dis20 mantle the highest level of drug trafficking organiza21 tions. Low-level drug offender investigations and 

22 prosecutions divert Federal personnel and resources 

23 from prosecuting high-level traffickers. 

24 (17) Congress must have the most current in25 formation on the number of prosecutions of highVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:45 Sep 14, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3489.IH H3489

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1 level and low-level drug offenders in order to prop2 erly reauthorize Federal drug enforcement programs. 

3 (18) Congress has an obligation to taxpayers to 

4 use sentencing policies that are cost-effective and in5 crease public safety, in addition to establishing a 

6 criminal justice system that is fair, efficient and pro7 vides just sentences for offenders. Mandatory sen8 tences have not been conclusively shown to reduce 

9 recidivism or deter crime. 

10 (19) Prisons are important and expensive; the 

11 limited resources in the Federal criminal justice sys12 tem should be used to protect society by incapaci13 tating dangerous and violent offenders who pose a 

14 threat to public safety. The Federal judiciary has 

15 the expertise and is in the best position to sentence 

16 each offender and determine who should be sent to 

17 Federal prisons and the amount of time each of18 fender should serve. 

19 SEC. 3. APPROVAL OF CERTAIN PROSECUTIONS BY ATTOR20 NEY GENERAL. 

21 A Federal prosecution for an offense under the Con22 trolled Substances Act, the Controlled Substances Import 

23 and Export Act, or for any conspiracy to commit such an 

24 offense, where the offense involves the illegal distribution 

25 or possession of a controlled substance in an amount less 


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1 than that amount specified as a minimum for an offense 

2 under section 401(b)(1)(A) of the Controlled Substances 

3 Act (21 U.S.C. 841(b)(1)(A)) or, in the case of any sub4 stance containing cocaine or cocaine base, in an amount 

5 less than 500 grams, shall not be commenced without the 

6 prior written approval of the Attorney General. 

7 SEC. 4. MODIFICATION OF CERTAIN SENTENCING PROVI8 SIONS. 

9 (a) SECTION 404.—Section 404(a) of the Controlled 

10 Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 844(a)) is amended— 

11 (1) by striking ‘‘not less than 15 days but’’; 

12 (2) by striking ‘‘not less than 90 days but’’; 

13 and 

14 (3) by striking the sentence beginning ‘‘The im15 position or execution of a minimum sentence’’. 

16 (b) SECTION 401.—Section 401(b) of the Controlled 

17 Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 841(b)) is amended— 

18 (1) in paragraph (1)(A)— 

19 (A) by striking ‘‘which may not be less 

20 than 10 years and or more than’’ and inserting 

21 ‘‘for any term of years or for’’; 

22 (B) by striking ‘‘and if death’’ the first 

23 place it appears and all that follows through 

24 ‘‘20 years or more than life’’ the first place it 

25 appears; 


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1 (C) by striking ‘‘which may not be less 

2 than 20 years and not more than life imprison3 ment and if death or serious bodily injury re4 sults from the use of such substance shall be 

5 sentenced to imprisonment for any term of 

6 years or for life imprisonment’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘for any term of years or for life’’; 

8 (D) by striking the sentence beginning ‘‘If 

9 any person commits a violation of this subpara10 graph’’; and 

11 (E) by striking the sentence beginning 

12 ‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision of law’’ 

13 and the sentence beginning ‘‘No person sen14 tenced’’; 

15 (2) in paragraph (1)(B)— 

16 (A) by striking ‘‘which may not be less 

17 than 5 years and not more than 40 years and 

18 if death or serious bodily injury results from 

19 the use of such substance shall be not less than 

20 20 years or more than life,’’ and inserting ‘‘for 

21 not more than 40 years,’’; 

22 (B) by striking ‘‘which may not be less 

23 than 10 years and more than’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘for any term of years or for’’; 


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1 (C) by inserting ‘‘imprisonment for any 

2 term of years or to’’ after ‘‘if death or serious 

3 bodily injury results from the use of such sub4 stance shall be sentenced to’’; and 

5 (D) by striking the sentence beginning 

6 ‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision of law’’ 

7 and the sentence beginning ‘‘No person sen8 tenced’’; and 

9 (3) in paragraph (1)(C), by striking ‘‘and if 

10 death or serious bodily injury results from the use 

11 of such substance shall be sentenced to a term of 

12 imprisonment of not less than twenty years or more 

13 than life’’. 

14 (c) SECTION 1010.—Section 1010(b) of the Con15 trolled Substances Import and Export Act (21 U.S.C. 

16 960(b)) is amended— 

17 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

18 (A) by striking ‘‘of not less than 10 years 

19 and not more than’’ and inserting ‘‘for any 

20 term of years or for’’; 

21 (B) by striking ‘‘and if death’’ the first 

22 place it appears and all that follows through 

23 ‘‘20 years and not more than life’’ the first 

24 place it appears; 


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1 (C) by striking ‘‘of not less than 20 years 

2 and not more than life imprisonment’’ and in3 serting ‘‘for any term of years or for life’’; 

4 (D) by inserting ‘‘imprisonment for any 

5 term of years or to’’ after ‘‘if death or serious 

6 bodily injury results from the use of such sub7 stance shall be sentenced to’’; and 

8 (E) by striking the sentence beginning 

9 ‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision of law’’ 

10 and the sentence beginning ‘‘No person sen11 tenced’’; 

12 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

13 (A) by striking ‘‘not less than 5 years 

14 and’’; 

15 (B) by striking ‘‘of not less than twenty 

16 years and not more than’’ and inserting ‘‘for 

17 any term of years or for’’; 

18 (C) by striking ‘‘of not less than 10 years 

19 and not more than’’ and inserting ‘‘for any 

20 term of years or to’’; 

21 (D) by inserting ‘‘imprisonment for any 

22 term of years or to’’ after ‘‘if death or serious 

23 bodily injury results from the use of such sub24 stance shall be sentenced to’’; and 


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1 (E) by striking the sentence beginning 

2 ‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision of law’’ 

3 and the sentence beginning ‘‘No person sen4 tenced’’; and 

5 (3) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and if death 

6 or serious bodily injury results from the use of such 

7 substance shall be sentenced to a term of imprison8 ment of not less than twenty years’’. 

9 (d) SECTION 418.—Section 418 of the Controlled 

10 Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 859) is amended by striking 

11 the sentence beginning ‘‘Except to the extent’’ each place 

12 it appears and by striking the sentence beginning ‘‘The 

13 mandatory minimum’’. 

14 (e) SECTION 419.—Section 419 of the Controlled 

15 Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 860) is amended— 

16 (1) by striking the sentence beginning ‘‘Except 

17 to the extent’’ each place it appears and by striking 

18 the sentence beginning ‘‘The mandatory minimum’’; 

19 and 

20 (2) by striking subsection (d). 

21 (f) SECTION 420.—Section 420 of the Controlled 

22 Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 861) is amended— 

23 (1) in each of subsections (b) and (c), by strik24 ing the sentence beginning ‘‘Except to the extent’’; 

25 (2) by striking subsection (e); and 


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1 (3) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘, (c), and (e)’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘and (c)’’. 

Æ 


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