Chairman Goodlatte Opening Statement on Markup of H.R. 3406, the “Second Chance Reauthorization Act of 2015”

Chairman Goodlatte: Today we consider H.R. 3406, the “Second Chance Reauthorization Act of 2015,” introduced by Crime Subcommittee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner. More than 90 percent of the current prison population – at the state, local, and federal levels – will be released one day.  In fact, the Department of Justice has reported that, since 1990, an average of 590,400 inmates have been released annually from state and federal prisons.  The Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) has estimated that nearly three-quarters of all released prisoners will be rearrested within five years of their release and about 6 in 10 will be reconvicted. According to the Department of Justice, the average per-prisoner cost of incarceration in state prison in 2010 was approximately $28,000 per year.  Research by the RAND Corporation has shown that, for every dollar spent on correctional education, five dollars are saved on incarceration costs. We all have a responsibility to ensure that these inmates serve appropriate sentences for their crimes.  However, we also have a responsibility to take steps to help ensure that these criminals do not go on to commit further crimes once released, in order to protect the public safety and innocent Americans.  We also clearly have an interest – a human interest, but also frankly an economic one – in ensuring that inmates become responsible citizens and taxpayers following their release, and do not return to prison. To promote prisoner reentry and improve community reintegration, Congress passed the Second Chance Act, which was signed into law in 2008.  Since the inception of the Second Chance Act, the federal government has made 645 grant awards in 49 states to seed and expand reentry programs, and those programs have served more than 137,000 participants.  Nearly one out of three SCA grantees is a community or faith-based organization.  These important programs have helped reduce recidivism in communities across the country. H.R. 3406 will continue this important work, while making important changes to the existing programs.  The legislation reauthorizes 8 of the 12 SCA grant programs, while making amendments to streamline the programs and ensure grants can be made to nonprofit organizations – including, significantly, faith-based organizations.  H.R. 3406 also repeals four SCA grant programs, none of which were ever funded by Congress.  Finally, it contains responsible auditing provisions to help the DOJ Inspector General prevent waste, fraud, and abuse. This is important, responsible legislation, which will help promote reentry and ensure that ex-offenders become productive citizens, not just better criminals. I thank the gentleman from Wisconsin for his work on this legislation, and encourage my colleagues to support it.