I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3530 
To eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for all drug offenses. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 16, 2015 
Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California (for herself, Mr. HONDA, Mr. GRIJALVA, 
Mr. FATTAH, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. ELLISON, Ms. LEE, Ms. 
NORTON, Mr. POCAN, and Mr. COHEN) 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 subse-
quently 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mandatory Minimum 
Reform Act of 2015’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
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(1) Mandatory minimum sentences are statu-
torily prescribed terms of imprisonment that auto-
matically attach upon conviction of certain criminal 
conduct, usually pertaining to drug or firearm of-
fenses. Absent very narrow criteria for relief, a sen-
tencing judge is powerless to mandate a term of im-
prisonment below the mandatory minimum. Manda-
tory minimum sentences for drug offenses rely solely 
upon the weight of the substance as a proxy for the 
degree of involvement of a defendant’s role. 
(2) In the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, and 
at the height of the public outcry over crack cocaine, 
Congress acted hastily, without sufficient hearings, 
and enacted hard line penalties that targeted low- 
level drug offenders. These penalties included new, 
long mandatory minimum sentences for such offend-
ers. 
(3) According to the Bureau of Prisons, in 
1986, when the new drug law containing lengthy 
mandatory minimum sentences passed, the prison 
population was 36,000. Today, the Federal prison 
population is over 210,000 prisoners, up almost 600 
percent in 29 years. 
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(4) According to the Bureau of Prisons, the av-
erage cost to keep one prisoner in Federal prison for 
one year is approximately $29,000. 
(5) According to the Office of Management and 
Budget, annual spending on the Federal prison sys-
tem rose 595 percent, from $970,000,000 to more 
than $6.7 billion in inflation-adjusted dollars, be-
tween 1980 and 2013. 
(6) According to the U.S. Sentencing Commis-
sion, between 1995 and 2010, over 400,000 drug of-
fenders were sentenced under Federal law; of these, 
almost 250,000 (61 percent) received mandatory 
minimum sentences. 
(7) According to the U.S. Sentencing Commis-
sion, drug offenders released from prison in 1986 
who had been sentenced before the adoption of man-
datory sentences and sentencing guidelines had 
served an average of 22 months in prison. In 2013, 
almost two-thirds of all drug offenders received a 
mandatory sentence, with most receiving a 10-year 
minimum. Most of these offenders are nonviolent or 
lower-level offenders with little or no criminal his-
tory: in 2013, 49.6 percent had few or no prior con-
victions, 83.8 percent did not have weapons involved 
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in their offense, and only 7 percent were considered 
leaders, managers, or supervisors of drug operations. 
(8) Mandatory minimum sentences have con-
sistently been shown to have a disproportionate im-
pact on African-Americans. The United States Sen-
tencing Commission, in a 15-year overview of the 
Federal sentencing system, concluded that ‘‘manda-
tory penalty statutes are used inconsistently’’ and 
disproportionately affect African-American defend-
ants. African-American drug defendants are 20 per-
cent more likely to be sentenced to prison than 
White drug defendants. 
(9) According to the U.S. Sentencing Commis-
sion, between 1994 and 2003, the average time 
served by African-Americans for a drug offense in-
creased by 62 percent, compared to a 17 percent in-
crease among White drug defendants. 
(10) According to the Substance Abuse and 
Mental Health Services Administration, Government 
surveys document that drug use is roughly con-
sistent across racial and ethnic groups. While there 
is less data available regarding drug sellers, research 
from the Office of National Drug Control Policy and 
the National Institute of Justice has found that 
drug users generally buy drugs from someone of 
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fense (58.7 months) as Whites do for a violent of-
fense (61.7 months). 
(14) According to the U.S. Sentencing Commis-
sion, in 2013, almost 34 percent of women entering 
Federal prison did so for a drug offense. Linking 
drug quantity with punishment severity has had a 
particularly profound impact on women, who are 
more likely to play peripheral roles in a drug enter-
prise than men. However, because prosecutors can 
attach drug quantities to an individual regardless of 
the level of a defendant’s participation in the 
charged offense, women have been exposed to in-
creasingly punitive sentences to incarceration. 
(15) Low-level and mid-level drug offenders can 
be adequately prosecuted by the States and punished 
or supervised in treatment as appropriate. 
(16) The Departments of Justice, the Treasury, 
and Homeland Security are the agencies with the 
greatest capacity to investigate, prosecute and dis-
mantle the highest level of drug trafficking organiza-
tions. Low-level drug offender investigations and 
prosecutions divert Federal personnel and resources 
from prosecuting high-level traffickers. 
(17) Congress must have the most current in-
formation on the number of prosecutions of high- 
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level and low-level drug offenders in order to prop-
erly reauthorize Federal drug enforcement programs. 
(18) Congress has an obligation to taxpayers to 
use sentencing policies that are cost-effective and in-
crease public safety, in addition to establishing a 
criminal justice system that is fair, efficient, and 
provides just sentences for offenders. Mandatory 
sentences have not been conclusively shown to re-
duce recidivism or deter crime. 
(19) Prisons are important and expensive; the 
limited resources in the Federal criminal justice sys-
tem should be used to protect society by incapaci-
tating dangerous and violent offenders who pose a 
threat to public safety. The Federal judiciary has 
the expertise and is in the best position to sentence 
each offender and determine who should be sent to 
Federal prisons and the amount of time each of-
fender should serve. 
SEC. 3. APPROVAL OF CERTAIN PROSECUTIONS BY ATTOR-
NEY GENERAL. 
A Federal prosecution for an offense under the Con-
trolled Substances Act, the Controlled Substances Import 
and Export Act, or for any conspiracy to commit such an 
offense, where the offense involves the illegal distribution 
or possession of a controlled substance in an amount less 
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than that amount specified as a minimum for an offense 
under section 401(b)(1)(A) of the Controlled Substances 
Act (21 U.S.C. 841(b)(1)(A)) or, in the case of any sub-
stance containing cocaine or cocaine base, in an amount 
less than 500 grams, shall not be commenced without the 
prior written approval of the Attorney General. 
SEC. 4. MODIFICATION OF CERTAIN SENTENCING PROVI-
SIONS. 
(a) SECTION 404.—Section 404(a) of the Controlled 
Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 844(a)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘not less than 15 days but’’; 
(2) by striking ‘‘not less than 90 days but’’; 
and 
(3) by striking the sentence beginning ‘‘The im-
position or execution of a minimum sentence’’. 
(b) SECTION 401.—Section 401(b) of the Controlled 
Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 841(b)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1)(A)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘which may not be less 
than 10 years and or more than’’ and inserting 
‘‘for any term of years or for’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘and if death or serious 
bodily injury results from the use of such sub-
stance shall not be less than 20 years or more 
than life’’; 
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(C) by striking ‘‘which may not be less 
than 20 years and not more than life imprison-
ment and if death or serious bodily injury re-
sults from the use of such substance shall be 
sentenced to imprisonment for any term of 
years or for life imprisonment’’ and inserting 
‘‘for any term of years or for life’’; 
(D) by striking the sentence beginning ‘‘If 
any person commits a violation of this subpara-
graph’’; and 
(E) by striking the sentence beginning 
‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision of law’’ 
and the sentence beginning ‘‘No person sen-
tenced’’; 
(2) in paragraph (1)(B)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘which may not be less 
than 5 years and’’ and inserting ‘‘for’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘not less than 20 years or 
more than,’’ and inserting ‘‘for any term or 
years or for’’; 
(C) by striking ‘‘which may not be less 
than 10 years and not more than’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘for any term of years or for’’; 
(D) by inserting ‘‘imprisonment for any 
term of years or for’’ after ‘‘if death or serious 
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bodily injury results from the use of such sub-
stance shall be sentenced to’’; and 
(E) by striking the sentence beginning 
‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision of law’’ 
and the sentence beginning ‘‘No person sen-
tenced’’; and 
(3) in paragraph (1)(C), by striking ‘‘of not less 
than twenty years or more than life’’ and inserting 
‘‘for any term of years or to life imprisonment’’. 
(c) SECTION 1010.—Section 1010(b) of the Con-
trolled Substances Import and Export Act (21 U.S.C. 
960(b)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘of not less than 10 years 
and not more than’’ and inserting ‘‘for any 
term of years or for’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘and if death’’ the first 
place it appears and all that follows through 
‘‘20 years and not more than life’’ the first 
place it appears; 
(C) by striking ‘‘of not less than 20 years 
and not more than life imprisonment’’ and in-
serting ‘‘for any term of years or for life’’; 
(D) by striking ‘‘and if death or serious 
bodily injury results from the use of such sub-
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