I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3776

To amend the Crime Control Act of 1990 with respect to the work requirement for Federal prisoners and to amend title 18, United States Code,

with respect to the use of Federal prison labor by nonprofit entities,

and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 10, 1996

Mr. ENSIGN (for himself, Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania, Mr. PETE GEREN

of Texas, Mr. RAMSTAD, Mr. ZIMMER, Mr. JACOBS, Mr. CHRISTENSEN,

Mr. LAUGHLIN, Mr. HAYES, Mr. STEARNS, Mr. WICKER, Mr. LIPINSKI,

Mr. BARTON of Texas, Mr. BAKER of Louisiana, Mr. BRYANT of Tennessee, and Mr. LARGENT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities, 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 amend the Crime Control Act of 1990 with respect to

the work requirement for Federal prisoners and to

amend title 18, United States Code, with respect to

the use of Federal prison labor by nonprofit entities,

and for other purposes.

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

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Prison Work and Vic3 tim Restitution Act of 1996’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 Congress finds that—

6 (1) work is inherently American and honorable;

7 (2) work is of fundamental importance to any

8 orderly society which reveres such common values as

9 responsibility, independence, and respect for others;

10 (3) in order to reduce recidivism, provide res11 titution to victims, reparations to communities, and

12 promote the values of responsibility, independence,

13 and respect for others, the Federal Government

14 should enact policies which expand work, edu15 cational, and life skills opportunities for prisoners

16 incarcerated in Federal and State penal institutions;

17 (4) American taxpayers are justified to expect

18 that prisoners reimburse the United States Treasury

19 for the cost of their incarceration, and in addition,

20 that prisoners should make monetary restitution to

21 a fund which benefits the victims of crime;

22 (5) prisoners should be prohibited from engag23 ing in certain types of activities which are not

24 healthy and conducive to their successful rehabilita25 tion and restitution;
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1 (6) prisoners should not have access to certain

2 amenities which are unnecessary, enhance leisure ac3 tivities, or do not promote successful rehabilitation;

4 (7) prisoners should not be guaranteed the

5 same wage and working conditions guaranteed to

6 hard working, law abiding Americans;

7 (8) existing Federal laws limit prisoners from

8 engaging in work, and do not impose mandatory

9 work requirements for prisoners; and

10 (9) existing barriers to prisoner labor should be

11 removed and Federal laws should be strengthened to

12 ensure that prisoners, their victims, taxpayers, and

13 society in general reap the maximum benefits and

14 positive values associated with work.

15 SEC. 3. WORK REQUIREMENT FOR FEDERAL PRISONERS.

16 (a) WORK REQUIREMENT.—Section 2905 of the

17 Crime Control Act of 1990 (18 U.S.C. 4121 note) is

18 amended by adding at the end of subsection (a) the follow19 ing: ‘‘Subject to this section, such inmates shall engage

20 in work for not less than 50 hours weekly. In addition

21 inmates shall engage job-training and educational and life

22 skills preparation study. In the event that opportunities

23 otherwise provided by law for inmates to work are not suf24 ficient to meet the requirements of the preceding sentence,

25 notwithstanding any other provision of law, the services
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1 of prisoners may also be made available to nonprofit enti2 ties to carry out any of their business or other functions.

3 Each authority of the United States that makes grants

4 to nonprofit entities shall take appropriate action to in5 form such entities of the availability of inmates for this

6 purpose. The Attorney General shall make rules governing

7 the provision of services by inmates to such entities and

8 the payment of any wages or other compensation for such

9 services.’’.

10 (b) USE OF PRISON LABOR BY PRIVATE ENTITIES.—

11 (1) Section 4125(a) of title 18, United States

12 Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘, and notwithstand13 ing any other provision of law, to for-profit Amer14 ican entities either located in a foreign country or

15 considering moving to a foreign country by reason of

16 high domestic labor costs for work for those enti17 ties’’ after ‘‘Congress’’.

18 (2) The Attorney General may provide incen19 tives to American entities either located in a foreign

20 country or considering moving to a foreign country

21 by reason of high domestic labor costs, such as the

22 use of space and facilities in Federal prisons at a

23 free or reduced rate.

24 (3) The Attorney General shall make rules governing

25 the provision of services by prisoners to private for-profit
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1 entities under this subsection and the amendment made

2 by this subsection. Such rules shall govern the wages and

3 other proceeds paid by entities for those services.

4 (c) USE OF REVENUES FROM PRISON LABOR.—

5 (1) There is established in the Treasury a Fund

6 (hereinafter in this subsection referred to as the

7 ‘‘Fund’’.

8 (2) All proceeds and wages, less any taxes or

9 withholding required by Federal or State law, from

10 prison labor shall be placed in the Fund.

11 (3) The Fund shall be used, under guidelines

12 established by the Attorney General, as follows:

13 (A) One third shall be used to offset the

14 costs of prisoner incarceration.

15 (B) One third shall be used for victim res16 titution.

17 (C) One tenth to be held in a non-interest

18 bearing account for the individual prisoner, to

19 be paid on release from prison, but if the pris20 oner will not be eligible for release, then this

21 portion shall be immediately available for use

22 under subparagraph (B).

23 (D) The remainder to States for programs

24 to benefit the dependents of prisoners, but only

25 to those States the Attorney General deter-
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1 mines have substantially the same prison work

2 requirements and prison conditions as estab3 lished for Federal prisoners.

4 SEC. 4. PRISONERS UNDER THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS

5 ACT OF 1938 AND THE OCCUPATIONAL SAFE6 TY AND HEALTH ACT OF 1970.

7 (a) FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT OF 1938.—Section

8 3(e) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C.

9 203(e)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

10 ‘‘(5) The term ‘employee’ does not include a prisoner

11 confined in a Federal or State prison, in a prison of a

12 political subdivision of a State, or in a prison maintained

13 for the Federal Government, a State government, or politi14 cal subdivision government.’’.

15 (b) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ACT OF

16 1970.—Section 3(6) of the Occupational Safety and

17 Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 652(6)) is amended by

18 adding at the end the following: ‘‘The term ‘employee’

19 does not include a prisoner confined in a Federal or State

20 prison, in a prison of a political subdivision of a State,

21 or in a prison maintained for the Federal Government,

22 a State government, or political subdivision government.’’.

23 SEC. 5. PRISON CONDITIONS.

24 The Bureau of Prisoners shall ensure that Federal

25 prisoners—
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1 (1) do not smoke, use or possess any type of to2 bacco;

3 (2) do not possess, view or read pornographic

4 or sexually explicit materials;

5 (3) are subject to regular and random testing

6 for drugs and illegal substances;

7 (4) do not possess microwave ovens, hot plates,

8 toaster ovens, or televisions (unless provided by the

9 prison for group viewing), or VCRs;

10 (5) do not possess, or listen to, music which

11 contains lyrics that are violent, sexually explicit, vul12 gar, glamorize gang membership or activities, de13 mean women or disrespect law enforcement;

14 (6) do not view cable television which is not

15 educational in nature; and

16 (7) do not engage in sexual activity.

17 SEC. 6. CONVICT PILOT PROJECTS.

18 Section 1761(c)(1) of title 18, United States Code,

19 is amended by striking ‘‘—one of not more than 50’’.

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