Within a week of each other, Senator Grassley and Representative Goodlatte, respective chairmen of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees, introduced parallel sentencing reform bills with bipartisan cosponsors. By and large in identical language, the two would amend existing mandatory minimum sentence provisions found in federal drug and firearms laws. The differences between S. 2123 and H.R. 3713 , occasioned by the manager's amendment adopted before the Senate Judiciary Committee passed S. 2123 , are noted in the prefatory remarks for each chart, and in the remarks relating to the inventory of federal crimes. The subjects of their proposals appear in earlier proposals including (1) H.R. 2944 , which Representatives Sensenbrenner and Scott, the chairman and ranking minority Member of the House Judiciary Committee's crime subcommittee, respectively, introduced for themselves and others, and (2) S. 502 / H.R. 920 , introduced by Senator Lee and Representative Labrador with additional bipartisan cosponsors. Their common components notwithstanding, the bills have some varying features. The Controlled Substances Act and the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act establish a series of mandatory minimum sentences for violations of their prohibitions. Trafficking—that is, importing, exporting, or manufacturing, growing, possessing with the intent to distribute—a very substantial amount of various highly addictive substances, such as more than 10 grams of LSD (§841(b)(1)(A)), is punishable by imprisonment for not less than 10 years or more than life. When substantial but lesser amounts are involved, such as 1 gram of LSD (§841(b)(1)(B)), sentences of imprisonment for not less than 5 years or more than life are called for, and imprisonment for not less than 10 years or more than life in the case of a subsequent conviction. Penalties for both sets of offenses increase if the crime results in a death or if the defendant has a prior conviction for a drug felony. The proposed amendments are noted and compared in Table 1 . S. 502 / H.R. 920 would reduce the mandatory minimum for the high volume §841(b)(1)(A) and §960(b)(1) offenses to imprisonment for not less than 5 years from not less than 10 years, and the mandatory minimums for the medium volume §841(b)(1)(B) and §960(b)(1) offenses to not less than 2 years from not less than 5 years. H.R. 2944 would eliminate the mandatory minimum for the high volume §841(b)(1)(A) and §960(b)(1) offenses, except when the defendant was the organizer or leader of a 5 member or more drug enterprise. It would eliminate as well the mandatory minimum for the medium volume §841(b)(1)(B) and §960(b)(2) offenses, except when the defendant was the organizer, leader, manager, or supervisor of a 5 or more member drug enterprise. Moreover, the recidivist enhancement would only come into play when the prior conviction for an offense carrying a maximum penalty of imprisonment for 10 years or more; resulting in a sentence of imprisonment for 13 months or more; and from which the defendant had been released within 10 years of the commission of the subsequent drug offense. H.R. 2944 would allow the court to treat each of its amendments, here and throughout the course of the bill, as grounds for reduced sentencing, on the motion of the court, the defendant, the prosecutor, or the Bureau of Prisons. S. 2123 / H.R. 3713 would create a mini-safety valve to reduce the mandatory minimum for the high volume §841(b)(1)(A) and §960(b)(1) offenses to imprisonment for not less than 5 years, unless the offender had used violence in the commission of the offense; had acted as a supervisor or leader of a drug enterprise; sold to minors; failed to fully reveal all the information or evidence at his disposal relating to the offense or related offenses; and had no prior serious drug or violent felony convictions. S. 2123 / H.R. 3713 would both expand and contract drug recidivist mandatory minimums under the high volume and medium §§841(b)(1)(A), 841(b)(1)(B), 960(b)(1), and 960(b)(2) offenses. Under existing law, any prior drug felony conviction triggers the enhanced recidivist mandatory minimum. Under S. 2123 / H.R. 3713 , only drug convictions carrying a maximum penalty of 10 years or more and resulting in a sentence of a year or more would trigger the increased recidivist mandatory minimums. On the other hand, convictions for kidnapping, burglary, arson or other serious violent crimes would also serve as a basis for the recidivist mandatory minimums. The bills would allow the courts, on their own motion or that of the defendant or the Bureau of Prisons, to resentence defendants, convicted prior to S. 2123 / H.R. 3713 's enactment, as though the bills' reduced recidivist mandatory minimums were in place at the time of prior sentencing. In doing so, the courts would be compelled to consider: the nature and seriousness of the risks to an individual or the community; the defendant's conduct following his initial sentencing; and the statutory sentencing factors which they must ordinarily weigh before imposing punishment. S. 2123 , but not H.R. 3713 , would make it clear that resentencing proceedings would be subject to the victims' rights provisions of 18 U.S.C. 3771, and that an inquiry into facts and circumstances associated with the initial sentencing would be a prerequisite to consideration of a resentencing motion. Section 3771 assures victims of the rights "to reasonable, accurate, and timely notice of any public court proceeding, involving the crime ..." and "to the right to be reasonably heard at any public proceeding in the district court involving ... sentencing ..." H.R. 3713 , but not S. 2123 , would insist on a sentence of imprisonment for not more than 5 years to be added to, and to be served after, any sentence imposed for the drug trafficking, exporting, or importing offenses, when heroin or fentanyl are involved. In addition, H.R. 2944 provides that no person shall be sentenced to enhanced punishment under the Controlled Substances Act if the conviction was for possession of a controlled substance, was classified as a misdemeanor in the relevant jurisdiction, or the conviction has been set aside. Further, the government bears the burden of proof in proving beyond a reasonable doubt the existence of the prior conviction. The so-called safety valve provision of 18 U.S.C. 3553(f) allows a court to sentence qualified defendants below the statutory mandatory minimum in controlled substance trafficking and possession cases. To qualify, a defendant may not have used violence in the course of the offense. He must not have played a managerial role in the offense if it involved group participation. The offense must not have resulted in a death or serious bodily injury. The defendant must make full disclosure of his involvement in the offense, providing the government with all the information and evidence at his disposal. Finally, the defendant must have an almost spotless criminal record, that is, not more than 1 criminal history point. Criminal history points and categories are a feature of the U.S. Sentencing Commission's Sentencing Guidelines. The Guidelines assign points based on the sentences imposed for prior state and federal convictions. For example, the Guidelines assign 1 point for any past conviction that resulted in a sentence of less than 60 days incarceration; 2 points for any conviction resulting in a sentence of incarceration for at least 60 days; and 3 points for any conviction resulting in a sentence of incarceration of more than a year and a month. The Sentencing Commission's report on mandatory minimum sentences suggested that Congress consider expanding safety valve eligibility to defendants with 2 or possibly 3 criminal history points. The report indicated that under the Guidelines a defendant's criminal record "can have a disproportionate and excessively severe cumulative sentencing impact on certain drug offenders." The commission explained that the Guidelines are construed to ensure that the sentence they recommend in a given case calls for a term of imprisonment that is not less than an applicable mandatory minimum. In addition, the drug offenses have escalated mandatory minimums for repeat offenders. Moreover, similarly situated drug offenders may be treated differently, because the states punish simple drug possession differently and prosecutors decide when to press recidivism qualifications differently. S. 502 / H.R. 920 would raise the qualification threshold to 3 criminal history points from 1 criminal history point and make no further changes. H.R. 2944 would expand the safety valve to mandatory minimums associated with the use of firearm during and in furtherance of a drug trafficking cases as well as to drug trafficking mandatory minimums. The bill would also raise the criminal history point threshold to 3 as long as the defendant's prior criminal record did not consist of convictions for violence, firearms, racketeering, terrorism, or sex offenses. H.R. 2944 would also discount convictions that were the product of a reduced, distressed, or coerced state of mind. S. 2123 and H.R. 3713 would change the safety valve as well. First, a defendant would be safety valve eligible with 3 or fewer criminal history points if he had not been convicted previously of either a drug trafficking offense, a violent offense, or a "3-point offense" (i.e., one for which he was incarcerated for 60 days or more). Second, the two proposals would permit the court to waive the criminal history disqualification, in cases other than those involving a past serious drug felony or serious violent felony conviction, if it concluded that the defendant's criminal history score overstated the seriousness of his criminal record or the likelihood that he would commit other offenses.