II 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2414

To establish a commission to review Federal inmate work opportunities. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 12, 2004

Mr. GRAHAM of South Carolina (for himself and Mr. DORGAN) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

A BILL

To establish a commission to review Federal inmate work 

opportunities.

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 ‘‘Federal Inmate Work 

5 Opportunities Review Commission’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CREATION OF A COMMISSION TO REVIEW FEDERAL 

7 INMATE WORK OPPORTUNITIES. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a com9 mission to be known as the Federal Inmate Work Oppor-
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1 tunities Review Commission (in this Act referred to as the 

2 ‘‘Commission’’). 

3 (b) MEMBERS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall be 

5 composed of 9 members, of whom— 

6 (A) 3 shall be appointed by the President; 

7 (B) 2 shall be appointed by the Speaker of 

8 the House of Representatives, unless the Speak9 er is of the same party as the President, in 

10 which case 1 shall be appointed by the Speaker 

11 of the House of Representatives and 1 shall be 

12 appointed by the minority leader of the House 

13 of Representatives; 

14 (C) 1 shall be appointed by the minority 

15 leader of the House of Representatives (in addi16 tion to any appointment made under subpara17 graph (B)); 

18 (D) 2 shall be appointed by the majority 

19 leader of the Senate, unless the majority leader 

20 is of the same party as the President, in which 

21 case 1 shall be appointed by the majority leader 

22 of the Senate and 1 shall be appointed by the 

23 minority leader of the Senate; and 
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1 (E) 1 shall be appointed by the minority 

2 leader of the Senate (in addition to any ap3 pointment made under subparagraph (D)). 

4 (2) PERSONS ELIGIBLE.—Each member of the 

5 Commission shall be an individual who has knowl6 edge or expertise in matters to be studied by the 

7 Commission. 

8 (3) TERM.—Each member shall be appointed 

9 for the life of the Commission. 

10 (4) TIME FOR INITIAL APPOINTMENTS.—The 

11 appointment of the members shall be made not later 

12 than 60 days after the date of enactment of this 

13 Act. 

14 (5) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Commission 

15 shall be filled in the manner in which the original 

16 appointment was made, and shall be made not later 

17 than 60 days after the date on which the vacancy 

18 occurred. 

19 (c) OPERATION.— 

20 (1) CHAIRPERSON.—Not later than 15 days 

21 after appointments of all the members are made, the 

22 President shall appoint a chairperson for the Com23 mission from among its members. 

24 (2) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet at 

25 the call of the chairperson. The initial meeting of the 
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1 Commission shall take place not later than 30 days 

2 after the initial appointment of the members is com3 pleted. 

4 (3) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of 

5 the Commission shall constitute a quorum to con6 duct business, but the Commission may establish a 

7 lesser quorum for conducting hearings scheduled by 

8 the Commission. 

9 (4) RULES.—The Commission may establish by 

10 majority vote any other rules for the conduct of 

11 Commission business, if such rules are not incon12 sistent with this Act or other applicable law. 

13 (d) DUTIES.—The Commission shall perform the fol14 lowing duties: 

15 (1) Examine the current state of Federal Pris16 on Industries, including an examination of— 

17 (A) its impact on the Federal Bureau of 

18 Prison’s correctional mission, including the re19 duction of recidivism and safe prison manage20 ment; and 

21 (B) its impact on both the private sector 

22 and private labor markets. 

23 (2) Examine the market viability and number 

24 of inmates employed by Federal Prison industries, 

25 including— 
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1 (A) in the fiscal year before enactment of 

2 section 637 of the 2004 Consolidated (Omni3 bus) Appropriations bill; 

4 (B) in the fiscal year subsequent to enact5 ment of section 637 of the 2004 Consolidated 

6 (Omnibus) Appropriations bill; and 

7 (C) the potential impact of other legislative 

8 proposals pending before Congress. 

9 (3) Examine alternatives that can be employed 

10 by the Department of Justice to maximize inmate 

11 work opportunities while minimizing domestic pri12 vate sector job displacement, including an examina13 tion of State and foreign government inmate work 

14 programs. 

15 (4) Study such other issues as the Commission 

16 may determine necessary to its mission. 

17 (e) REPORT.— 

18 (1) DISTRIBUTION.—Not later than 2 years 

19 after the date of the initial meeting of the Commis20 sion, the Commission shall submit a report on the 

21 study carried out under this Act to— 

22 (A) the President; 

23 (B) Congress; 

24 (C) the chairman and ranking member of 

25 the Senate Judiciary Committee;
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1 (D) the chairman and ranking member of 

2 the House Judiciary Committee; and 

3 (E) the Attorney General. 

4 (2) CONTENTS.—The report under paragraph 

5 (1) shall include— 

6 (A) the findings and conclusions of the 

7 Commission; 

8 (B) recommended legislation, if any, to re9 form Federal prison work programs; and 

10 (C) a summary of the materials relied on 

11 by the Commission in the preparation of the re12 port. 

13 (f) HEARINGS AND SESSIONS.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may, for 

15 the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this 

16 Act, hold such hearings and sit and act at such 

17 times and at such places in the United States, and 

18 request the attendance and testimony of such wit19 nesses and the production of such books, records, 

20 correspondence, memoranda, papers, and documents, 

21 as the Commission considers appropriate. 

22 (2) SUBPOENAS.— 

23 (A) ISSUANCE.—The Commission may 

24 issue subpoenas for the attendance of witnesses 

25 and the production of written or other matter. 
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1 (B) ENFORCEMENT.—In the case of contu2 macy or refusal to obey a subpoena, the Attor3 ney General may in a Federal court of appro4 priate jurisdiction obtain an appropriate order 

5 to enforce the subpoena. 

6 (C) CONFIDENTIALITY OF DOCUMENTARY

7 EVIDENCE.—Documents provided to the Com8 mission pursuant to a subpoena issued under 

9 this subsection shall not be released publicly 

without the affirmative vote of 2 10 ⁄3 of the Com11 mission. 

12 (g) CONSULTATION REQUIRED.—The Commission 

13 shall consider the views of all relevant parties affected by 

14 the future of inmate work programs including—

15 (1) private sector businesses, both those that al16 lege they are harmed by Federal Prison Industries 

17 and those who currently supply Federal Prison In18 dustries; 

19 (2) labor unions; 

20 (3) corrections administrators; and 

21 (4) other organizations and persons with an in22 terest in corrections and the reentry of offenders 

23 back into the community. 

24 (h) PERSONNEL MATTERS.— 
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1 (1) BASIC PAY.—Members of the Commission 

2 shall serve without pay. 

3 (2) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The members of the 

4 Commission shall be allowed travel expenses, includ5 ing per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates author6 ized for employees of agencies under subchapter I of 

7 chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while 

8 away from their homes or regular places of business 

9 in the performance of service for the Commission. 

10 (3) DETAIL OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—With 

the affirmative vote of 2 11 ⁄3 of the Commission, any 

12 Federal Government employee, with the approval of 

13 the head of the appropriate Federal agency, may be 

14 detailed to the Commission without reimbursement, 

15 and such detail shall be without interruption or loss 

16 of civil service status, benefits, or privileges. 

17 (4) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.—

18 Upon the request of the Commission, the Adminis19 trator of General Services may provide to the Com20 mission, on a nonreimbursable basis, the administra21 tive support services necessary for the Commission 

22 to carry out its responsibilities under this Act. 
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1 SEC. 3. TERMINATION. 

2 The Commission shall terminate on the date that is 

3 60 days after the date on which the Commission submits 

4 the reports required by this Act. 

5 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

6 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

7 as may be necessary to carry out this Act.

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