IV 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 519 

Recognizing that the United States has a moral obligation to meet its 

foundational promise of guaranteed justice for all. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 15, 2023 

Ms. PRESSLEY (for herself, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. BOWMAN, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. LEE of Pennsylvania, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. OMAR, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. BUSH, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. THANEDAR, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. 

LEE of California, and Mrs. RAMIREZ) submitted the following resolution; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing that the United States has a moral obligation 

to meet its foundational promise of guaranteed justice 

for all. 

Whereas the United States has an incarceration crisis that 

has destabilized millions of Americans, caused intergenerational harm and trauma to families, decimated entire 

communities, and disproportionately impacted communities of color, particularly Black communities; 

Whereas the Federal Government has an obligation to rebuild 

the American legal system so that it is smaller, safer, less 

punitive, and more humane; 


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•HRES 519 IH 

Whereas mass decarceration is a moral and societal imperative that the United States must strategically and effectively pursue; 

Whereas the Federal Government manages the largest immigration detention system in the world, spends more resources on immigration enforcement than on all other 

Federal enforcement agencies combined, and now makes 

up the fastest growing incarceration system in the country; 

Whereas it should be the responsibility of the Federal Government to make America more free by dramatically reducing jail, prison, and immigration detention populations; make America more equal by eliminating racial 

disparities, wealth-based discrimination, and corporate 

profiteering; make America more secure by investing in 

the communities most destabilized by the failed policies 

of overpolicing and mass incarceration; and make America more just and humane by ensuring basic resources 

needed to feel safe are equitably provided to all people; 

Whereas the American legal system duplicates and maintains 

systems of oppression that can be traced back to slavery, 

and as a result disproportionately harms Black communities throughout the United States; 

Whereas public safety is of paramount importance for every 

person, family, and community in this country; 

Whereas a humane and effective justice system is a necessary 

predicate for a functioning and healthy democracy; 

Whereas, as recently as the early 1970s, the United States 

had an incarceration rate on par with most other Western democracies, and while their crime rates today are at 


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•HRES 519 IH 

nearly identical levels, America’s incarceration rate is five 

times higher; 

Whereas the United States of America, a Nation purported 

to be founded on the principles of liberty and justice for 

all, has become the most incarcerated country in the 

world; 

Whereas throughout the United States— 

(1) nearly 5 million people are arrested and jailed 

every year; 

(2) almost 2.2 million people are incarcerated, including 176,824 people in Federal jails and prisons; 

(3) collectively, 1,273,605 people are locked in State 

prisons and another 745,200 people are detained in a 

local jail on any given night; 

(4) 500,000 immigrants are incarcerated in immigrant jails and prisons annually, marking a 75-percent 

increase in immigration detention over the last decade; 

(5) 4.5 million people are under some form of community supervision, including probation and parole; 

(6) despite making up 5 percent of the world’s population, the United States has more than 20 percent of the 

world’s prison population; 

(7) incarcerated people remain incarcerated for 

longer periods of time, and the number of people serving 

life sentences has quadrupled since 1984, even as crime 

has fallen, and— 

(A) one out of every seven people in prison is 

currently serving a life sentence, of which almost 

one-quarter are sentenced to life without parole; 

(B) the average sentence length for individuals 

convicted of a Federal offense carrying a mandatory 

minimum penalty is 110 months of imprisonment; 


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•HRES 519 IH 

(C) more than two-thirds of people incarcerated 

in Federal prisons serving life sentences have been 

convicted of nonviolent crimes, including 30 percent 

convicted for a drug crime; and 

(D) there are tens of thousands of people over 

the age of 50 who remain locked up though they are 

elderly, sick, and pose little to no public safety risk; 

(8) tens of thousands of people are forcibly deported 

away from their families through an immigration enforcement system that replicates the harms of overpolicing 

and racial profiling by local law enforcement agencies due 

to formal and informal cooperation agreements between 

such agencies and Federal immigration enforcement; and 

(9) more than a quarter of a million young people 

are arrested or referred to law enforcement in their 

schools each year with increasing investments toward 

school policing, surveillance, suspensions and expulsions, 

harsh discipline, and arrests, in lieu of counseling, educational resources, and physical improvements to classrooms and school structures, leading to a ‘‘cradle-to-prison pipeline’’; 

Whereas, while incarceration is the final and too frequently 

end result of the American legal system, the harm is collectively experienced by a far larger set of people, especially Black and Brown individuals, through overzealous 

policing practices and subsequent correctional surveillance and stigmatization; 

Whereas Black people are incarcerated at 5 times the rate of 

White people, making up just 13 percent of the national 

population, but 33 percent of the country’s prison population; 


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•HRES 519 IH 

Whereas Latinos represent 16 percent of the adult population, but account for 23 percent of the Nation’s prison 

population; 

Whereas the imprisonment rate for Black women (92 per 

100,000) is twice the rate of White women (49 per 

100,000); 

Whereas Black, Hispanics, and indigenous communities are 

the most heavily impacted by the American legal system; 

Whereas expanded and militarized police forces, including in 

the form of proactive policing or so-called ‘‘broken windows’’ policing, has led to mass criminalization, worsening police-community relations, and unacceptable levels 

of State violence, specifically impacting Black people; 

Whereas women are the fastest growing population in the 

American legal system, outpacing men two to one, and 

their numbers have grown nearly 800 percent from 1978 

to 2017; 

Whereas one in two women in prison are incarcerated as a 

result of nonviolent offenses, and nearly two-thirds are 

confined in jails due to an inability to afford cash bail; 

Whereas a majority of incarcerated women report having experienced trauma due to sexual violence, intimate partner 

violence, and caregiver violence; 

Whereas 85 percent of currently incarcerated women report 

having been the primary caretaker of children prior to 

their incarceration; 

Whereas a large percentage of currently incarcerated women 

are either elderly, ill, survivors of domestic violence, or 

have served more than 10 years; 


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•HRES 519 IH 

Whereas incarcerated women are subject to permanent denial 

of parental rights, which have contributed significantly to 

the destruction of families; 

Whereas women and young people continue to be criminalized 

and fear arrest or jail for experiencing a pregnancy loss, 

ending a pregnancy, or supporting a loved one who has 

lost or ended a pregnancy; 

Whereas the toll of incarceration and detention has had a severe impact on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, 

intersex, and asexual (‘‘LGBTQ+’’) individuals who are 

imprisoned at far higher rates than the overall population; 

Whereas 8 percent of adults in prisons and jails, or approximately 162,000 adults, identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual; 

Whereas an estimated 3,209 adults held in prisons or jails in 

the United States identify as transgender; 

Whereas LGBTQ+ people are more likely to experience sexual violence while incarcerated than non-LGBTQ+ people; 

Whereas LGBTQ+ immigrants are 97 times more likely to 

be sexually victimized in immigration detention than nonLGBTQ+ individuals; 

Whereas LGBTQ+ people in prison, jail, and detention facilities are disproportionately subjected to solitary confinement as a means of protection compared to nonLGBTQ+ people; 

Whereas incarceration can be traumatic, dehumanizing, and 

harmful for LGBTQ+ people affected by it, particularly 

those who are low-income and people of color; 


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•HRES 519 IH 

Whereas violence against transgender women of color has 

reached epidemic proportions in the United States, as 

evidenced by the murder of at least 26 transgender 

women in 2018; 

Whereas incarcerated individuals endure jails and prisons 

that are cruel, inhumane, and are subjected to practices 

that are not conducive to rehabilitation; 

Whereas over 61,000 people across the United States are 

subjected to solitary confinement every day, isolated for 

22 to 24 hours a day with little to no human interaction; 

Whereas many incarcerated individuals suffering from chronic illnesses often receive little or no treatment, and individuals suffering from substance use disorders face higher rates of overdose in jails and prisons that prohibit 

treatment drugs such as methadone and buprenorphine; 

Whereas one in five people incarcerated is a person with a 

cognitive disability, while another one in five people who 

are incarcerated has a serious mental health diagnosis; 

Whereas incarcerated people are three or four times more 

likely to report having a disability than the rest of the 

United States population; 

Whereas incarcerated people with cognitive and physical disabilities are disproportionately subjected to solitary confinement; 

Whereas people with disabilities are subject to criminalization, violence, and death, including those with untreated 

mental health diagnosis who are 16 times more likely to 

be killed by law enforcement; 

Whereas the total cost of the mass incarceration crisis, including the costs to those incarcerated and their families, 

is nearly $182 billion per year; 


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•HRES 519 IH 

Whereas the burden to pay for the Nation’s mass incarceration crisis too often falls upon everyday people trapped 

in cycles of poverty and intergenerational trauma, and 

statistical mechanisms to comprehensively quantify the 

ongoing and generational effects of carceral trauma are 

limited and oftentimes unknown; 

Whereas nearly a half a million people are in jails without 

having been convicted, often because of an inability to afford cash bail, which leads to an increased likelihood of 

conviction and lengthier sentences; 

Whereas in order to finance the mass incarceration system, 

many cities, States, courts, and prosecutors levy hefty 

fines at nearly every stage of the criminal justice process, 

including— 

(1) fines and fees for being arrested; 

(2) lawyer fees; 

(3) crime lab fees and victim assessments; 

(4) fees to enter a diversion or substance use disorder treatment program; or 

(5) fees to pay for public and private probation supervision; 

Whereas people leave jails and prison owing an average of 

$13,607 in fines and fees, and an inability to pay can 

lead to being denied the right to vote, license suspension, 

additional fines and fees, and even further incarceration; 

Whereas the policy decisions that led to the incarceration crisis, as well as the unjust economic burden to sustain the 

system, caused inestimable, intergenerational, and disproportionate harm to communities; 


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•HRES 519 IH 

Whereas one in two adults in America has had a family member in jail or prison, and one in five has had a parent 

incarcerated; 

Whereas nearly 65 percent of families with an incarcerated 

or detained family member are unable to meet basic 

needs, including housing, health, food, and employment; 

Whereas children with an incarcerated parent are nearly six 

times more likely to be expelled from school and increasingly less likely to graduate from college than children 

without incarcerated parents; 

Whereas zero-tolerance policies, including exclusionary disciplinary policies and school-based arrests, result in the 

growing cradle-to-prison pipeline; 

Whereas tens of thousands of United States citizen children 

have a parent who is detained or has been deported, with 

approximately 5,000 children placed in the foster care 

system; 

Whereas children with incarcerated mothers are five times 

more likely to end up in foster care than those with incarcerated fathers; 

Whereas a vast, sound, and consistent body of scientific evidence suggests that— 

(1) the best estimate of the overall effect of incarceration on crime is modest, and deterrence effects are negligible; 

(2) increased coordination between local law enforcement and immigration enforcement has not been shown 

to have a measurable impact on reducing crime and has 

been shown to destabilize communities; 

(3) education programs for people in prison have 

been proven to reduce recidivism, yet such programs have 


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•HRES 519 IH 

been underfunded or altogether eliminated at both the 

State and Federal level, including the ban on Pell grants 

in prison, and restoring Pell grant access to people who 

are incarcerated would increase the employment rate for 

people with a criminal history by 10 percent and improve 

collective earnings by $45 million in the first year after 

release; and 

(4) the root causes of crime and instability are typically poverty, substance use disorder, family and 

generational trauma, and poor access to health care and 

other basic social services; 

Whereas the consequences of criminal convictions do not end 

with the prison sentence served or fines paid, and a majority of people imprisoned in the United States are expected to return home, return to society, and become productive members of their communities; 

Whereas yearly, over 680,000 people are released from incarceration, and are expected to be taxpayers rather than 

tax burdens, yet the reality is that these individuals go 

home to find that their sentences, although served, are 

far from over; 

Whereas there are approximately 45,000 collateral consequences and civil disabilities across jurisdictions that 

prevent people with criminal records from reentering society, gaining meaningful employment; 

Whereas, in many jurisdictions, individuals with a criminal 

record are automatically excluded from certain professional licenses such as those required to be a security 

guard, firefighter, real estate broker, and electrician; 

Whereas an estimated 6.1 million Americans, or 1 in every 

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•HRES 519 IH 

enfranchisement or laws restricting voting rights for 

those with a current or previous felony conviction; 

Whereas the Federal Government has invested massive 

amounts of funding in policing, immigration enforcement, 

and prison and detention systems, which has accelerated 

mass criminalization and incarceration and fueled the 

prison industrial complex; 

Whereas 2019 represents the 25th anniversary of the signing 

of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act 

of 1994 (in this resolution referred to as the ‘‘94 Crime 

Bill’’), and awareness that many of the policies contained 

in the 94 Crime Bill have proven harmful to certain communities; 

Whereas the 94 Crime Bill put forward the false view that 

punitive systems of policing and prisons lead to public 

safety and are necessary to combat ‘‘violent’’ crime; 

Whereas, by endorsing and financing ineffective and damaging policies and practices at the State and local levels, 

the 94 Crime Bill encouraged the growth of police and 

prison infrastructure while limiting, and sometimes depleting, community investments that would have increased public safety, particularly in underresourced communities; and 

Whereas the Federal Government has a tremendous impact 

on the operation of the criminal legal system at the Federal, State, and local levels and can push for a more humane, dignified, and just society for all: Now, therefore, 

be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that the time is now for the Federal GovernVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:15 Jun 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR519.IH HR519

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•HRES 519 IH 

1 ment to begin a large-scale decarceration effort to reshape 

2 the American legal system to— 

3 (1) support and commit to a participatory peo4 ple’s process that recognizes directly impacted people 

5 as experts on transforming the justice system, who 

6 speak from experience about the devastation of crim7 inalization and incarceration and offer community8 oriented solutions that reduce harm by— 

9 (A) empowering directly impacted commu10 nities, through people’s assemblies, townhalls, 

11 listening sessions, and workshops, to inform 

12 and draft legislation to repeal and dismantle 

13 the 94 Crime Bill and other punitive policies, 

14 and replace them with a holistic and commu15 nity-led public health and safety agenda; and 

16 (B) advancing a community-led platform of 

17 justice, freedom, and safety, which shifts re18 sources away from criminalization and incarcer19 ation and toward policies and investments that 

20 fairly and equitably ensure that all people can 

21 thrive; 

22 (2) dramatically reduce the incarcerated popu23 lations to— 

24 (A) decriminalize behavior and divert cases 

25 that do not require confinement by— 


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•HRES 519 IH 

1 (i) providing tax incentives to local 

2 governments and States that commit to 

3 policies such as repealing truth-in-sen4 tencing and three-strike provisions to sig5 nificantly reduce the prison and jail popu6 lation; 

7 (ii) decriminalizing sex work by re8 moving criminal and civil penalties related 

9 to consensual sex work and addressing 

10 structural inequities that impede the safe11 ty, dignity, and well-being of all individ12 uals, especially those most vulnerable to 

13 discrimination on the basis of race, gender 

14 identity or expression, sexual orientation, 

15 disability, socioeconomic status, and citi16 zenship status; 

17 (iii) decriminalizing addiction, home18 lessness, poverty, HIV status, and disabil19 ities, including mental health diagnosis, by 

20 legalizing marijuana and overdose preven21 tion sites, declining to criminally prosecute 

22 low-level offenses such as loitering and 

23 theft of necessity goods, and expunging the 

24 records of individuals for all drug-related 

25 offenses; 


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•HRES 519 IH 

1 (iv) dramatically increasing diversion 

2 opportunities, community service, restora3 tive justice programming, and treatment 

4 options that minimize court involvement 

5 and result in no prison time for most of6 fenses where the person does not cause or 

7 intend to cause harm; 

8 (v) ending the criminalization of 

9 Black and Brown students in school, in10 cluding ending zero-tolerance school dis11 cipline policies and dress code and appear12 ance policies that disproportionately impact 

13 girls of color and LGBTQ+ students, the 

14 removal of police and school resource offi15 cers, the decriminalization of truancy, and 

16 the reallocation of funds to support trau17 ma-informed, comprehensive mental health 

18 and restorative services; 

19 (vi) ensuring that any and all new re20 duced sentencing provisions be applied 

21 retroactively and are inclusive of impacted 

22 immigrant communities; 

23 (vii) creating a clemency review board 

24 that is comprised of community, court, and 

25 congressional stakeholders to identify and 


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•HRES 519 IH 

1 make recommendations of people in Fed2 eral facilities who should be considered for 

3 clemency consideration by the President; 

4 and 

5 (viii) decriminalizing the act of migra6 tion by repealing provisions in Federal law 

7 that criminalize migrants for irregular bor8 der crossings, significantly limiting the 

9 conduct- and conviction-based grounds of 

10 deportability and inadmissibility, and end11 ing draconian systems of mandatory deten12 tion and automatic deportation; 

13 (B) make confinement last only as long as 

14 necessary by— 

15 (i) capping prison sentences for all 

16 crimes, particularly those that do not cause 

17 serious harm, and where no intention to 

18 cause such harm exists; 

19 (ii) ending the death penalty, includ20 ing effective death sentences of life without 

21 the possibility of parole; 

22 (iii) ending mandatory minimum sen23 tencing and providing incarcerated individ24 uals an opportunity to petition for release 

25 after serving 10 years for any crime by a 


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•HRES 519 IH 

1 review board that includes at least one in2 dividual who has previously served time, to 

3 both encourage and reward people who re4 form themselves and pose no threat to 

5 public safety no matter the offense; 

6 (iv) ending truth-in-sentencing laws 

7 and reinstating Federal parole; 

8 (v) ending the sentencing disparity be9 tween crack and cocaine; 

10 (vi) establishing a national compas11 sionate release standard that includes a 

12 presumption of release for any person with 

13 a disability who has spent at least 15 years 

14 in prison, as well as any person over the 

15 age of 50 who has spent at least 10 years 

16 in prison, over the age of 55 who has spent 

17 5 years in prison, or over the age of 60; 

18 (vii) requiring States to impose sen19 tencing reviewing standards, particularly 

20 for juveniles sentenced prior to their 18th 

21 birthday, abolishing youth jails, and mak22 ing the detention of children in any form 

23 the absolute last resort; 

24 (viii) repealing overly restrictive ha25 beas corpus rules that make it difficult for 


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•HRES 519 IH 

1 people who have been wrongfully accused 

2 to bring their cases to court; and 

3 (ix) repealing the Prison Litigation 

4 Reform Act of 1996 to return agency to 

5 incarcerated individuals and power to the 

6 courts to carry out regulation and over7 sight through court orders; and 

8 (C) reduce the risk of recidivism by trans9 forming the experience of confinement by— 

10 (i) ending solitary confinement; 

11 (ii) incarcerating people, to the extent 

12 possible, at a facility closest to their home, 

13 and at a location that comports with their 

14 security destination; 

15 (iii) banning the prosecution of chil16 dren under the age of 18 in adult courts 

17 and ensuring juveniles are not housed in 

18 adult prisons but in community- or home19 based rehabilitation programs; 

20 (iv) allowing transgender individuals 

21 to be housed in a facility that conforms 

22 with their gender identity; 

23 (v) providing access to high-quality, 

24 trauma-informed, and culturally responsive 

25 physical, mental, and behavioral health 


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•HRES 519 IH 

1 care in prisons and jails, including sub2 stance use disorder and mental health 

3 treatment, medication for overdoses, hor4 monal treatment and gender-affirming pro5 cedures, and full reproductive and gyneco6 logical services, including adequate services 

7 for pregnant, laboring, and postpartum 

8 people; 

9 (vi) providing people who are incarcer10 ated with access to commissary items, and 

11 clothing at rates no higher than those 

12 available on the free market, as well as 

13 programming, educational materials, and 

14 personal property in which all items are 

15 consistent with the individual’s gender 

16 identity and cultural preferences; 

17 (vii) providing high-quality, gender-re18 sponsive education and vocation training 

19 and access to sufficient libraries and read20 ing materials; 

21 (viii) restoring eligibility for Federal 

22 Pell grants to all students regardless of 

23 immigration status and those incarcerated 

24 in Federal, State, and local facilities with25 out regard to offense or sentence length; 


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•HRES 519 IH 

1 (ix) ending forced labor practices and 

2 requiring incarcerated individuals to be 

3 paid for their labor at a rate that is no 

4 lower than the Federal minimum wage; 

5 (x) providing generous in-person visi6 tation for a reasonable duration of time, 

7 including regular visitation between incar8 cerated individuals who are primary care9 taker parents and their family members, 

10 and access to free phone calls and video 

11 conferencing sessions; 

12 (xi) improving the quality of in-person 

13 visits by allowing partners, parents, and 

14 children to have physical contact, a room 

15 with natural light, a space that allows for 

16 some privacy, a place with food available 

17 for purchase, space for children and par18 ents to play together, and areas that are 

19 accessible for families with disabilities in20 cluding American Sign Language inter21 preters and fully accessible buildings that 

22 are compliant with the Americans with 

23 Disabilities Act; 


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•HRES 519 IH 

1 (xii) providing healthy and nutritious 

2 food and room for physical exercise to pro3 mote health; 

4 (xiii) establishing and maintaining 

5 reasonable heating and cooling standards 

6 in all Federal, State, and local prisons, 

7 jails, and detention facilities; 

8 (xiv) providing reasonable accom9 modations for people with disabilities as 

10 required by the Americans with Disabilities 

11 Act and section 504 of the Rehabilitation 

12 Act; 

13 (xv) establishing gender-responsive 

14 practices for all incarcerated people, in15 cluding women and transgender, gender16 variant, and nonbinary individuals, includ17 ing a ban on solitary confinement and 

18 physical restraints on pregnant people and 

19 ensuring all body searches are conducted 

20 by staff of the incarcerated person’s pre21 ferred gender; 

22 (xvi) explicitly prohibiting discrimina23 tion and mistreatment of incarcerated peo24 ple on the basis of sex, age, race, national 


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•HRES 519 IH 

1 origin, disability, religion, and sexual ori2 entation and gender identity or expression; 

3 (xvii) creating an independent division 

4 or agency to provide oversight of the Bu5 reau of Prisons and Department of Home6 land Security with the authority to inves7 tigate civil rights complaints from incarcer8 ated individuals and ensure they are 

9 housed in safe, healthy environments; 

10 (xviii) providing adequate oversight of 

11 the Prison Rape Elimination Act to ensure 

12 the safety and protection of all incarcer13 ated people, including LGBTQ+ individ14 uals in prisons and jails; 

15 (xix) eliminating supervision revoca16 tion and reincarceration of people subject 

17 to correctional surveillance who commit 

18 compliance violations such as, but not lim19 ited to, failure to obtain a GED, failure to 

20 secure housing, failure to obtain employ21 ment, or failure to attend mental health or 

22 substance use treatment; and 

23 (xx) providing support to ensure suc24 cessful transition for returning citizens 

25 through targeted and robust reentry proVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Jun 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR519.IH HR519

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•HRES 519 IH 

1 grams, including establishing a Federal 

2 agency dedicated to monitoring and im3 proving reentry supports and services; 

4 (3) ensure that wealth discrimination and cor5 porate profiteering play no role in the determination 

6 of outcomes in the American legal system by— 

7 (A) ending the use of secured bonds or 

8 money bail and providing grants to States to 

9 establish alternate pretrial systems to reduce 

10 the pretrial detention population; 

11 (B) repealing the use of criminal fees for 

12 probation supervision, presentence investiga13 tions, and drug and alcohol testing; 

14 (C) ending the imposition of court fees and 

15 fines to individuals lacking the ability to pay, 

16 and ending practices that result in incarcer17 ation, extension of supervision, or stripping of 

18 rights for nonpayment of a debt alone; 

19 (D) investing in public defender offices at 

20 both the Federal and State levels, ensuring de21 fender offices have ample capacity, including 

22 immigration law experts, to ensure the quality 

23 of defense a person receives is not dependent on 

24 one’s financial situation and that the quality of 


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•HRES 519 IH 

1 defense is not inhibited by unmanageable case2 loads; 

3 (E) prohibiting private companies from 

4 profiting from jails, prisons, immigration deten5 tion facilities and alternative-to-detention pro6 grams, probation programs, electronic moni7 toring, or any other form of mass supervision or 

8 detention; 

9 (F) prohibiting private companies from 

10 profiting from the operation of prisons, jails, 

11 and immigration detention facilities, including 

12 food services, financial services, commissaries, 

13 and medical care; 

14 (G) delivering resources toward education, 

15 fair employment, civic engagement, and access 

16 to housing, transportation, and social services 

17 for currently and formerly incarcerated people; 

18 (H) ensuring the right to vote for all citi19 zens, including incarcerated and formerly incar20 cerated people and individuals awaiting trial; 

21 and 

22 (I) ending the practice of prison gerry23 mandering whereby incarcerated persons are 

24 counted in census population counts as resi25 dents of correctional facilities and not their 


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•HRES 519 IH 

1 most recent residence prior to imprisonment; 

2 and 

3 (4) rebuild the communities most harmed by 

4 the failed policies of mass incarceration through— 

5 (A) ensuring that dignity and stability is 

6 within everyone’s reach by— 

7 (i) creating a health care system that 

8 guarantees every American comprehensive 

9 care, including repealing the Hyde Amend10 ment and ensuring safe and legal access to 

11 the full range of reproductive health serv12 ices, and eliminating out-of-pocket monthly 

13 premiums, copays, and deductibles for sub14 stance use disorder and mental health 

15 treatment in communities; 

16 (ii) investing $1 trillion to modernize 

17 and expand the stock of social housing 

18 throughout the country, providing targeted 

19 down payment and rent payment assist20 ance, incentivizing local rent control pro21 grams, and conditioning Federal funding 

22 on the removal of apartment ban policies 

23 and exclusionary zoning requirements; 

24 (iii) providing stability to the workers 

25 who drive our economy by raising the minVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Jun 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR519.IH HR519

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•HRES 519 IH 

1 imum wage to $15 and tying it to infla2 tion, providing a Federal job to every per3 son who wants one, ending the submin4 imum wage, and fairly compensating peo5 ple who provide immense value to their 

6 families and communities through non7 traditional work such as childcare and 

8 family caregiving; 

9 (iv) ensuring all communities, specifi10 cally those communities disproportionately 

11 impacted by systemic environmental, so12 cial, and economic injustice, have access to 

13 clean, safe, and healthy homes, water, 

14 food, and air, including the promotion, im15 plementation, and funding to support the 

16 Green New Deal; 

17 (v) providing free transportation and 

18 removing criminal penalties associated with 

19 accessing systems of transportation, such 

20 as fare evasion, transportation and street 

21 safety violations that result in ticketing, 

22 court, and technical assistance programs, 

23 and banning the use of biometric data such 

24 as facial analytics technology as it relates 

25 to travel; 


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•HRES 519 IH 

1 (vi) providing comprehensive supports 

2 and sustained resources to crime survivors, 

3 including survivors of sexual assault, traf4 ficking and child exploitation, domestic vio5 lence, and gun violence, and their families 

6 in the form of mental health treatment 

7 costs, trauma services, victim relocations 

8 services, and help covering basic needs 

9 such as housing, food, and transportation; 

10 (vii) reducing gun violence by regu11 lating manufacturers, limiting firearm pro12 duction and sales, including a permanent 

13 ban on assault-type weapons, creating a 

14 mass gun buyback program, and sup15 porting community-based violence and 

16 trauma interruption initiatives; 

17 (viii) ensuring reparations are made 

18 through a systematic accounting, acknowl19 edgment, and repair of past and ongoing 

20 harms to Black communities, specifically 

21 descendants of enslaved people in America 

22 that includes monetary compensation and 

23 large-scale social investments that include, 

24 but are not limited to, debt-free college, 

25 homeownership assistance, guaranteed 


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•HRES 519 IH 

1 health care, and business financing sup2 port; 

3 (ix) dismantling and rebuilding a com4 passionate, just, and humane immigration 

5 system that keeps families together and es6 tablishes a pathway to citizenship for mil7 lions of undocumented immigrants living 

8 and contributing to society; and 

9 (x) supporting and prioritizing the 

10 preservation of families, particularly those 

11 impacted by the legal and immigration sys12 tems, by removing strict timelines related 

13 to the termination of parental rights under 

14 the Adoption and Safe Families Act, re15 pealing provisions of the Immigration and 

16 Nationality Act that mandate detention 

17 and allow for the forced separation of im18 migrant children and families, promoting 

19 policies and practices focused on trauma 

20 prevention and support, family reunifica21 tion, and keeping families together, and 

22 strengthening and enforcing the Indian 

23 Child Welfare Act to ensure Native chil24 dren impacted by parental incarceration 

25 can remain within Tribal communities; and 


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•HRES 519 IH 

1 (B) ending militarized policing practices 

2 and investing in services that provide real safe3 ty through— 

4 (i) stopping the transfer of military 

5 equipment to local police departments, en6 couraging district and States attorney of7 fices to report civilian death by an officer 

8 to the Department of Justice, and elimi9 nating qualified immunity for police and 

10 correctional officers; 

11 (ii) prohibiting State and local law en12 forcement agencies from carrying out Fed13 eral immigration enforcement activities, in14 cluding a prompt end to Secure Commu15 nities programs and programs imple16 mented under section 287(g) of the Immi17 gration and Nationality Act, and ensuring 

18 that localities are never required to share 

19 information with Federal immigration en20 forcement agencies; 

21 (iii) prioritizing law enforcement re22 sources to dramatically increase the solve 

23 rate of the most serious offenses, such as 

24 shootings, homicides, and sexual assaults, 


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•HRES 519 IH 

1 including fully eliminating the rape-kit 

2 backlog; 

3 (iv) testing, implementing, and evalu4 ating methods of processing 911 calls that 

5 reduce unnecessary contact between law 

6 enforcement and community members; 

7 (v) creating and supporting first-re8 sponder agencies and partnerships to solve 

9 problems that arise from substance use 

10 disorders, mental health diagnoses, and 

11 poverty that do not require criminal en12 forcement or armed officers, including the 

13 designation of a non-911 number for dis14 patch of crisis and trauma intervention 

15 teams; 

16 (vi) providing resources for nonlaw 

17 enforcement-led, community-based violence 

18 and trauma interruption models; 

19 (vii) funding and empowering civilian 

20 review boards to ensure communities have 

21 input in the hiring and firing of police offi22 cers, disciplinary actions, budget and policy 

23 decisions, and access to relevant agency in24 formation; 


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•HRES 519 IH 

1 (viii) establishing standards and re2 porting, and providing training on implicit 

3 bias, use of force, and deescalation, includ4 ing nonlethal interventions and responding 

5 to crises involving youth, immigrants, peo6 ple with disabilities, people with different 

7 religious affiliations, English language 

8 learners and LGBTQ+ and gender-non9 conforming individuals; 

10 (ix) eliminating the doctrine of abso11 lute immunity for prosecutors and pro12 viding resources to support better prosecu13 torial practices, in line with defendants’ 

14 constitutional and statutory rights; 

15 (x) ensuring the economic vitality of 

16 communities dependent on the incarcer17 ation industry by guaranteeing a job for 

18 every person who currently works in a jail 

19 or prison, including any necessary training 

20 or education; 

21 (xi) banning law enforcement use of 

22 facial analytics technology, including sur23 veillance technologies and risk assessment 

24 software that are subject to algorithmic 

25 bias; 


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•HRES 519 IH 

1 (xii) providing law enforcement, first 

2 responders, and civilian staff with ade3 quate mental health services; 

4 (xiii) severely restricting the use of 

5 civil asset forfeiture by police departments 

6 and prosecutor offices, limiting such for7 feitures to efforts to disrupt major crime 

8 organizations, such as terrorist networks 

9 and international drug cartels; 

10 (xiv) reinstituting the Department of 

11 Justice’s role in investigating police de12 partments that repeatedly violate citizens’ 

13 civil rights, and establishing adequate over14 sight of consent decrees; and 

15 (xv) ensuring criminal liability for civil 

16 rights and Brady violations resulting from 

17 police or prosecutorial misconduct. 

Æ 


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