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[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3776 Introduced in House (IH)]

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.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Prison Work and Victim Restitution 
Act of 1996''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) work is inherently American and honorable;
            (2) work is of fundamental importance to any orderly 
        society which reveres such common values as responsibility, 
        independence, and respect for others;
            (3) in order to reduce recidivism, provide restitution to 
        victims, reparations to communities, and promote the values of 
        responsibility, independence, and respect for others, the 
        Federal Government should enact policies which expand work, 
        educational, and life skills opportunities for prisoners 
        incarcerated in Federal and State penal institutions;
            (4) American taxpayers are justified to expect that 
        prisoners reimburse the United States Treasury for the cost of 
        their incarceration, and in addition, that prisoners should 
        make monetary restitution to a fund which benefits the victims 
        of crime;
            (5) prisoners should be prohibited from engaging in certain 
        types of activities which are not healthy and conducive to 
        their successful rehabilitation and restitution;
            (6) prisoners should not have access to certain amenities 
        which are unnecessary, enhance leisure activities, or do not 
        promote successful rehabilitation;
            (7) prisoners should not be guaranteed the same wage and 
        working conditions guaranteed to hard working, law abiding 
        Americans;
            (8) existing Federal laws limit prisoners from engaging in 
        work, and do not impose mandatory work requirements for 
        prisoners; and
            (9) existing barriers to prisoner labor should be removed 
        and Federal laws should be strengthened to ensure that 
        prisoners, their victims, taxpayers, and society in general 
        reap the maximum benefits and positive values associated with 
        work.

SEC. 3. WORK REQUIREMENT FOR FEDERAL PRISONERS.

    (a) Work Requirement.--Section 2905 of the Crime Control Act of 
1990 (18 U.S.C. 4121 note) is amended by adding at the end of 
subsection (a) the following: ``Subject to this section, such inmates 
shall engage in work for not less than 50 hours weekly. In addition 
inmates shall engage job-training and educational and life skills 
preparation study. In the event that opportunities otherwise provided 
by law for inmates to work are not sufficient to meet the requirements 
of the preceding sentence, notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
the services of prisoners may also be made available to nonprofit 
entities to carry out any of their business or other functions. Each 
authority of the United States that makes grants to nonprofit entities 
shall take appropriate action to inform such entities of the 
availability of inmates for this purpose. The Attorney General shall 
make rules governing the provision of services by inmates to such 
entities and the payment of any wages or other compensation for such 
services.''.
    (b) Use of Prison Labor by Private Entities.--
            (1) Section 4125(a) of title 18, United States Code, is 
        amended by inserting ``, and notwithstanding any other 
        provision of law, to for-profit American entities either 
        located in a foreign country or considering moving to a foreign 
        country by reason of high domestic labor costs for work for 
        those entities'' after ``Congress''.
            (2) The Attorney General may provide incentives to American 
        entities either located in a foreign country or considering 
        moving to a foreign country by reason of high domestic labor 
        costs, such as the use of space and facilities in Federal 
        prisons at a free or reduced rate.
    (3) The Attorney General shall make rules governing the provision 
of services by prisoners to private for-profit entities under this 
subsection and the amendment made by this subsection. Such rules shall 
govern the wages and other proceeds paid by entities for those 
services.
    (c) Use of Revenues From Prison Labor.--
            (1) There is established in the Treasury a Fund 
        (hereinafter in this subsection referred to as the ``Fund''.
            (2) All proceeds and wages, less any taxes or withholding 
        required by Federal or State law, from prison labor shall be 
        placed in the Fund.
            (3) The Fund shall be used, under guidelines established by 
        the Attorney General, as follows:
                    (A) One third shall be used to offset the costs of 
                prisoner incarceration.
                    (B) One third shall be used for victim restitution.
                    (C) One tenth to be held in a non-interest bearing 
                account for the individual prisoner, to be paid on 
                release from prison, but if the prisoner will not be 
                eligible for release, then this portion shall be 
                immediately available for use under subparagraph (B).
                    (D) The remainder to States for programs to benefit 
                the dependents of prisoners, but only to those States 
                the Attorney General determines have substantially the 
                same prison work requirements and prison conditions as 
                established for Federal prisoners.

SEC. 4. PRISONERS UNDER THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT OF 1938 AND THE 
              OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ACT OF 1970.

    (a) Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.--Section 3(e) of the Fair 
Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(e)) is amended by adding at 
the end the following:
    ``(5) The term `employee' does not include a prisoner confined in a 
Federal or State prison, in a prison of a political subdivision of a 
State, or in a prison maintained for the Federal Government, a State 
government, or political subdivision government.''.
    (b) Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.--Section 3(6) of 
the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 652(6)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: ``The term `employee' does 
not include a prisoner confined in a Federal or State prison, in a 
prison of a political subdivision of a State, or in a prison maintained 
for the Federal Government, a State government, or political 
subdivision government.''.

SEC. 5. PRISON CONDITIONS.

    The Bureau of Prisoners shall ensure that Federal prisoners--
            (1) do not smoke, use or possess any type of tobacco;
            (2) do not possess, view or read pornographic or sexually 
        explicit materials;
            (3) are subject to regular and random testing for drugs and 
        illegal substances;
            (4) do not possess microwave ovens, hot plates, toaster 
        ovens, or televisions (unless provided by the prison for group 
        viewing), or VCRs;
            (5) do not possess, or listen to, music which contains 
        lyrics that are violent, sexually explicit, vulgar, glamorize 
        gang membership or activities, demean women or disrespect law 
        enforcement;
            (6) do not view cable television which is not educational 
        in nature; and
            (7) do not engage in sexual activity.

SEC. 6. CONVICT PILOT PROJECTS.

    Section 1761(c)(1) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 
striking ``--one of not more than 50''.
                                 <all>
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