Prison Staff Safety Enhancement Act

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Prison Staff Safety Enhancement Act, which would require DOJ to improve the safety of Bureau of Prisons facilities across America. More specifically, S. 307 would make improvements to how BOP assesses and responds to sexual harassment and assault by inmates of staff members.

Federal prison staff go to work every day to protect the public safety, to prepare people for successful reentry into

our communities, and to keep our communities safe. Yet, they often face threats of sexual harassment and sexual assault by inmates.

A 2023 report from DOJ's inspector general found that 40 percent of more than 7,000 surveyed BOP staff reported that they themselves had been sexually harassed by an inmate. The report found that reports of sexual harassment were even more prevalent among female staff members. Mr. Speaker, 69 percent of female BOP staff said they had been sexually harassed by an inmate on the job. This harassment included whistling, catcalling, genitalia exposure, sexual remarks, and sexual gestures.

The inspector general also found the true scope of the problem is not really known because BOP has not adequately or consistently collected data on the problem. This has prevented BOP from taking effective action.

That is why the act would require BOP to fully implement recommendations made in the 2023 IG report or explain why it cannot do so. It would also require BOP to provide updated data to the inspector general on the number and prevalence of inmate-on-staff sexual harassment and sexual assault episodes, require the IG to analyze the sufficiency of the data, and make any necessary recommendations to Congress and the Attorney General on how the Bureau of Prisons can reduce the pervasiveness of these incidents.

Lastly, it would require the Attorney General to adopt nationwide standards for prevention, reduction, and punishment of sexual harassment and assault committed by incarcerated individuals against BOP employees.

By requiring BOP to fully implement the recommendations of the IG report, this act would improve BOP's data collection, training, and policies on both sexual harassment and assault. It would also require BOP to conduct regular risk assessments within individual facilities and across BOP, with an emphasis on the risks for female staff.

I applaud Senator Ossoff for his work on this legislation. He has worked to improve the conditions and safety of our Federal prisons for both the staff and inmates. I was proud to support passage of the Federal Prison Oversight Act, a bipartisan, bicameral bill that he led with my colleague, the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Crime, Congresswoman McBath. That bill was signed into law in 2024 and established new independent oversight of BOP. It received broad support from civil rights groups, prison employees, and criminal justice groups, but its full potential is yet to be realized. Congress should fully fund the Federal Prison Oversight Act so it can be fully implemented and add to the safety improvements in the bill before us today.

We know from past failures in oversight that we must do more to make our prisons safer for inmates and staff alike. Such failures include years of systemic sexual assault of incarcerated women and whistleblower retaliation at one of the Federal woman's prisons in Dublin, California, that led to closure of the facility and criminal convictions of nine BOP officers, including the warden himself. This never should have happened. I hope we can continue to work together to make sure our prisons are safe for everybody who enters them, whether involuntarily as an inmate or voluntarily as a staff person.

Our prisons are some of the most challenging and difficult work environments in America. BOP has faced longstanding staffing challenges, from poor morale to ever-declining recruitment and retention rates. By working to reduce the intolerable sexual harassment and assault of staff members, this legislation would take an important step toward improving safety across BOP facilities and the ability of staff to carry out their crucial public safety mission.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support S. 307, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I should note that the bill does not address staff-on- inmate sexual harassment or assaults, but the Prison Rape Elimination Act does. Yet, this administration has been actively dismantling the protections of this legislation. I hope we can work together on that as well.

This bill would require the AG to adopt nationwide standards to prevent the sexual harassment and assaults of BOP staff members by inmates. It would also improve BOP's efforts to address this conduct if it takes place, and it will strengthen oversight of the Bureau of Prisons so we can improve the safety of staff working in every corner of the country. Nobody should fear harm of this kind while on the job, regardless of where they are employed in America.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues for their hard work on this bipartisan legislation. I encourage all of our colleagues to join us in supporting this legislation that has been broadly endorsed by organizations, including the American Correctional Association and the Fraternal Order of Police.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 307) to address sexual harassment and sexual assault of Bureau of Prisons staff in prisons, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on S. 307.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Prison Staff Safety Enhancement Act, my bipartisan legislation to better protect the men and women who serve in our Federal corrections facilities.

Every day, correctional officers and other Bureau of Prisons employees go to work in an environment that is inherently challenging and, at times, dangerous. We ask these law enforcement professionals to maintain order and security in Federal prisons, often working in close proximity to individuals who have been convicted of serious crimes.

There are risks that come with that responsibility, but sexual harassment and sexual assault should never be accepted as simply part of the job. The scope of this problem is deeply troubling.

A Department of Justice survey of Federal Bureau of Prisons employees found that 40 percent of them reported experiencing sexual harassment or sexual assault by an inmate--40 percent. These are men and women who are serving our country and protecting our communities. They deserve to know that their safety matters, that misconduct against them will be taken seriously, and that those responsible will face meaningful consequences.

That is why I introduced the Prison Staff Safety Enhancement Act. This legislation takes a straightforward, fact-driven approach.

First, it requires the Department of Justice inspector general to conduct a comprehensive review of the incidents and the effects of sexual harassment and sexual assault committed by incarcerated individuals against correction officers and other Bureau of Prisons employees.

Importantly, we aren't just asking how often this is happening. The inspector general must also examine what happens to inmates who engage in this conduct, including what sanctions and consequences are available and how those consequences have actually been used over the preceding 5 years. That matters because rules on paper mean very little if they aren't effectively protecting the people who work inside these institutions.

The inspector general will then report these findings to the Attorney General and to Congress. Based on that work, the Attorney General will be required to establish national standards for the prevention, reduction, and punishment of sexual harassment and sexual assault against Bureau of Prisons personnel.

This is what responsible oversight should look like: understand the scope of the problem, determine whether existing consequences are working, and establish clear standards to better protect the people we ask to do this difficult and dangerous work because, ultimately, this bill is about the men and women in the uniform.

Our correction officers and prison employees are public servants. They maintain order in some of our Nation's most challenging institutions, and the work they do inside those walls keeps the rest of our communities safe. We ask a great deal from them, and we also should stand up for them.

I am proud that this has been a bipartisan effort. I am grateful to Senators Marsha Blackburn and Jon Ossoff for their work advancing the Senate companion.

Protecting the men and women who serve in our Federal prisons should not be a partisan issue. No correctional officer should have to accept sexual harassment or assault as a condition of their job. They deserve our respect. They deserve our support, and they deserve our action.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the Prison Staff Safety Enhancement Act, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the Prison Staff Safety Enhancement Act, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of S. 307 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. Speaker, I was unable to vote during the series today. Had I been able to vote, I would have voted: YEA on Roll Call No. 284, passage of S. 307--Prison Staff Safety Enhancement Act and YEA on Roll Call No. 285, passage of S. 32--LACA.

Mr. Speaker, on this day, I missed a series of votes. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 284 and YEA on Roll Call No. 285.

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