Date: 2016-02-24
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. as the senior member of the House Judiciary Committee and as the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Crime. Terrorism. Homeland Security. and Investigations. as the Representative of Houston. I am privileged to be able to support this legislation. legislation that. I am very glad to say. had been included in our draft prison bill. a bipartisan bill. But because of the urgency of this matter. I am very glad to be on the floor of the House with the cosponsors. sponsors. and the chairman of the full committee. Mr. GOODLATTE. and the ranking member of the full committee. Mr. CONYERS. as well. joins in the importance of this effort. My heart aches for Eric Williams family. and it aches for the circumstance that caused him to lose his life. Obviously. this young man was committed to public safety. the criminal justice system. and. in fact. the rehabilitation of those who were incarcerated. even in highrisk circumstances. I rise to support S. 238. the Eric Williams Correctional Officer Protection Act of 2015. to make sure that this provision. providing a tool of safety for these brave corrections officers. does not go out of existence. I want to extend my thanks again to Judiciary Chairman GOODLATTE and Ranking Member CONYERS. as I indicated. for their ongoing. bipartisan leadership. But again. let me refer back to Eric Williams. the namesake of this legislation and the tragedy of his death. I want to offer my sympathy to the family members and to again say that this death did not have to happen. As I discuss the bill. I want to make the point that we should not shortchange the resources needed for the men and women who are on the front lines of protecting us and securing a criminal justice system to make it work. In this instance. that is what happened. A death had occurred earlier. but the pilot program did not reach to Erics facility. and that is inexcusable. But. fortunately. this permanent adding or expanding of this bill will make sure that every highrisk facility under the Bureau of Prisons will have this pepper spray. The Judiciary Committee unanimously passed the groundbreaking prison reform bill. as I said. 2 weeks ago. This measure was included. S. 238 codifies a pilot program that has increased Federal prison safety nationwide. It is crucial. However. it is set to expire in a few days. and I look forward to my colleagues bringing forth the criminal justice bill. It is important to move this bill now. Tomorrow marks 3 years since the death of Correctional Officer Eric Williams. who was stabbed by an inmate at a highsecurity facility. He was working alone. as I said. with 100 inmates. high risk. Armed with only a radio. keys. and handcuffs. he was unable to defend himself against the aggressive attack. If Officer Williams was equipped with pepper spray. then he might still be here with us today. Passing S. 238 will honor Officer Williams. The provisions of this bill require BOP to issue oleoresin capsicum spray. known as pepper spray. to certain staff at a higher security prison. This requirement is truly common sense and does not apply to minimum or lowsecurity facilities. It only applies to staff that may respond to an emergency situation in the prison. S. 238 includes critical safeguards to ensure pepper spray is used appropriately and only when necessary to prevent acts of violence. it is determined that pepper spray is not dangerous. only in limited circumstances. The legislation requires the officer or employee to complete a pepper spray training course before being issued the spray. annually thereafter. It establishes parameters for using the spray. and it may only be used to reduce acts of violence. In doing so. S. 238 makes it clear that pepper spray may not be used to punish or coerce inmates. or in an excessive. inappropriate fashion. Finally. let me say that it is with sadness. but with pleasure. that we provide this legislation and move it quickly so that we can provide that permanent armor. if you will. to protect these officers who are dealing with highrisk inmates. I ask my colleagues to support this legislation. As a senior Member of the House Judiciary Committee. as the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Crime. Terrorism. Homeland Security. and Investigations. as the representative from Houston and as a cosponsor of legislation that includes this same measure. I rise in support of S. 238. the "Eric Williams Correctional Officer Protection Act of 2015." Let me extend my thanks to Judiciary Chairman GOODLATTE and Ranking Member CONYERS for their ongoing leadership on bipartisan criminal justice reform. When the Judiciary Committee unanimously passed a groundbreaking prison reform bill just two weeks ago. that bill included the measure before us today. S. 238 codifies a pilot program that has increased federal prison safety nationwide. This crucial program. however. is set to expire in just a few days. While I look forward to working with my colleagues to bring our bipartisan criminal justice reform bills before this Chamber soon. we must pass S. 238 now to avoid letting this important program expire. Tomorrow marks three years since the death of Correctional Officer Eric Williams. who was stabbed by an inmate at a high security facility in Waymart. PA. Officer Williams was working alone in a unit of more than loo inmates. Armed only with a radio. keys. and handcuffs. he was unable to defend himself against the aggressive attack. If Officer Williams was equipped with pepper spray. then he might still be here with us today. Passing S. 238 will honor Officer Williams. The Eric Williams Correctional Officer Protection Act of 2015 provides officers in higher security facilities with the means to protect themselves when necessary. S. 238 requires BOP to issue oleoresin capsicum spray. known as pepper spray. to certain staff at higher security prisons. This requirement is truly common sense: it does not apply to minimum or low security facilities. and it only applies to staff that "may respond to an emergency situation" in the prison. S. 238 includes critical safeguards to ensure pepper spray is used appropriately and only when necessary to prevent acts of violence. Specifically. this legislation: requires the officer or employee to complete a pepper spray training course before being issued the spray. and annually thereafter. and establishes perimeters for using the sprayit may only be used to reduce acts of violence committed by prisoners against themselves or others. In doing so. S. 238 makes it clear that pepper spray may not be used to punish or coerce inmates. or in an excessive and inappropriate fashion. The need to provide permanent protective equipment cannot be overstated. Mass incarceration has led to dangerously overcrowded federal prisons. Such conditions can frequently lead. or at least contribute to. unnecessary violence. High and medium security level facilities make up 42 percent of the total BOP population. In FY2013 these facilities were operating 52 percent and 45 percent over capacity. respectively. Officers in these facilities must be equipped to protect themselves and others. In 2010. there were almost 1.700 assaults on BOP staffabout 49 per 5.000 inmates. BOP requires officers on regular duty to carry a radio. body alarm. and keys. Outside the pilot program and aside from emergency situations and special teams. officers do not carry pepper spray or batons. Officers must rely on communication skills and training to deescalate confrontations. These are critically important skills and we know that our welltrained federal correctional officers are generally able to use these skills to avoid violence. In some instances. however. these skills may not be enough and. when they are not. these officers must not be defenseless. The issuance of pepper spray. alongside proper training. will go a long way to assisting these officers when all else fails. We ask a lot of federal correctional officers. We support these officers with training and skills. but that is not always enough. When faced with acts of violence against themselves and others. they must be wellpositioned to cut that violence short. It is therefore vital that we pass S. 238 now. Accordingly. I urge my colleagues to join me. the National Association of Police Organizations. Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association. American Federation of Government Employees. and Council of Prison Locals. in supporting the Eric Williams Correctional Officer Protection Act of 2015. I reserve the balance of my time.