The rate of incarceration in the U.S. is the world's highest, leading to what many lawmakers and policy analysts say is a nationwide imprisonment epidemic. But the beginning of the end of that epidemic started Tuesday, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat from New York, told VOA. A bipartisan prison reform bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a 360-59 vote "strikes an opening blow against the overcriminalization of the nation," Jeffries, one of the bill's co-sponsors, said. U.S. President Donald Trump said "the strong bipartisan vote paces the way for action by the Senate." Last week, Trump endorsed the bill at a White House summit on prison reform, saying, "Our whole nation benefits if former inmates are able to reenter society as productive, law-abiding citizens." If the bill reaches the president's desk for a signature, it would provide $50 million in funding for five years to provide job training, education and substance abuse treatment for prisoners as well as a number of quality-of-life measures aimed at reducing chronically high rates of recidivism among former inmates. But the contentious issue of criminal justice reform has split Democrats and Republicans within their own parties, possibly jeopardizing the bill's chances of passage as it heads to the U.S. Senate. In a letter to colleagues last week, Democratic Senators Kamala Harris, Dick Durbin and Cory Booker joined two House Democratic colleagues, Representatives John Lewis and Sheila Jackson Lee, in saying the bill could not be implemented effectively and could possibly lead to prison privatization. Jeffries told VOA many of the arguments against the First Step Act "were anchored in falsehoods." He added the legislation passed today "is a first step towards eradicating the cancer of mass incarceration" a move also welcomed by many House Republicans. "Rather than allowing the cycle of crime to continue, this legislation takes a practical, intelligent approach to rehabilitation," House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte, a Republican... According to the above context, answer the following question. Where does the US rate of incarceration rank relative to the rest of the world?
OPTIONS:
- it is the number one highest in the world
- not enough information
- it ranks in the top five highest among all countriees
- it is somewhere in the ten highest in the world
it is the number one highest in the world
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Back at their house by the cemetery, Paul and Chloe found Bee in her room, what Paul referred to as her sanctum sanctorum - although no one else ever got the joke, and he refused to explain the comic book reference. As always, lighting was minimal (as opposed to Bee's workshop out behind the house, which was flooded with fluorescents). A bank of TV sets and computer monitors covered one whole wall, arranged on a precarious system of metal shelves that Bee had installed herself. A low, flat coffee table squatted below the glowing displays, supporting three keyboards, a bank of video editing tools and four different phone carriages. Bee sat in her accustomed place - in the midst of a pile of cushions on the floor, fiddling with a mouse in one hand and typing on one of the keyboards while she talked quietly into her headset. Paul and Chloe didn't bother to knock as they came in - Bee already knew they were there. Paul glanced at one of the screens mounted on the wall. Its display, divided into four quadrants, showed various images from inside the house, including the front door they'd just come through and the stairs they'd just climbed. The screen next to it - which Paul himself had salvaged from a bar on Duval that'd recently renovated into a finedining restaurant - showed images from four other cameras that covered the house's exterior. Nothing happened within fifty yards of their Crew's house that Bee didn't see, and if she had her way, that omniscience would soon extend to cover the entire island. "So, Bee, how goes Project Big Brother?" Paul asked. "I wish you wouldn't call it that," she replied. "Sorry, but I have to call it something." "You could call it something nice. Big Brother sounds so mean." "What's mean about a reality show?" said Paul, joking. "What isn't bad about a reality show?" countered Chloe, stepping in to defend her friend. According to the above context, answer the following question. How did Bee know that Chloe and Paul were at the house?
OPTIONS:
- She has cameras placed around the house.
- Paul rang the doorbell.
- Chloe knocked on the door.
- not enough information
She has cameras placed around the house.
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I have never had a lot of money. But I don't believe you have to have a lot for it to become burdensome. Money has always seemed to be a burden. Either you have it and the obligation and responsibility becomes a burden (so I've been told, ha) or you don't have it and life without money becomes a burden. I guess money became a burden to me when I started paying my own bills. Let me explain. I raised my 2 girls by myself. I was fortunate to have a good job as an office manager for a doctor in Dallas. I was able to pay my bills and juggle things around to afford what the girls needed for school and what not. When I didn't have money for something they wanted I felt like I carried the world on my shoulders. I didn't let them know how stressful it all was because I felt like it was none of their business. They were kids and needed to be kids. They would soon enough be feeling the stress of managing their own household and shouldn't be asked to help shoulder that burden as kids. Once, me and my youngest daughter, who was an adult at this time, went to a drive in fast food place and got a couple of drinks. My daughter was treating me and when the car hop came to deliver the drinks, my daughter gave her $5.00 as a tip, which was more than the drinks! I, of course, asked why she did that and she told me that they live off their tips and she knew what that was like having been a waitress before. I said something about her needing the money as well and how money makes the world go around. She said "No, Mom, you can be dead-assed broke and the world is still going to go around." That was when I quit letting money be a burden. According to the above context, answer the following question. How did the mom feel when she could not buy something the girls wanted?
OPTIONS:
- Stressed
- Sad
- Upset
- not enough information
Stressed
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