well, thank you to everyone who joined us and we look forward to speaking with you soon. >> this week on the c-span networks promote the house and senate are both in session, has picks up legislation to perform past and the midnight deadline to avert a shutdown in the senate will follow on that bill. the upper chamber will continue work on president by the judicial and executive nomination. tuesday 9:30 a.m. eastern live on c-span three, the senate on the committee holds a corporation hearing michael cruella to be general and commander clement and 10:00 a.m. eastern live on c-span.oregon). u.s. certain general senate crime financial committee on the children and teens in america wednesday 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span three the senate commerce

committee holds a hearing for gigi, the federal communications commission. wednesday 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span.org and for c-span now video app, the chair of the commodities futures testifying before the senate agriculture committee to discuss what powers agencies need to crack down on abuses encryptor currency markets. watch live on the c-span network or c-span now, our mobile video app. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. >> a new mobile video app from c-span, c-span now. download today. ♪♪ >> head of the federal bureau testifies before congress about the first step act from a

criminal justice reform law that congress approved in 2018. the subcommittee on crime hearing touched on recidivism rates, education and bills training for inmates and vaccine mandates for employees. >> the subcommittee will now come to order. the chair is authorized to declare recess of the committee at any time. good morning and welcome to today's oversight hearing of the federal bureau of prisons. we have established an e-mail address distribution list circulating exhibits motion or other written material numbers might want to offer as part of our hearing today. to submitike materials, send them to the e-mail address previously distributed to your office and we will circulate members to material and staff and members as quickly as we can. i asked members to make your mind -- you'd your microphones were not speaking which will help prevent feedback and other technical issues. he may unmute any time you seek

recognition. i recognize myself when opening statement. today's hearing on oversight federal bureau of prisons is a follow-up to the hearing the subcommittee held january 21, 2022 it was our commitment that they would have the representative at this time off the federal prison to hear directly from the leadership to secure answers. the hearing last week how the implementation first step act impact, the bureau's response to the pandemic and implementation used within the bureau among other topics. crucial topics in the line of justices many questions were raised in many audit with speak directly, michael here today so we may delve deeply into issues

faced by the bureau. two years in, covid remains the most pressing and impactful issue facing prisons as the virus continues to wreck havoc while many of facilities, uncomfortable whether or not they have met the challenges and facts. from the outset, increase health risks for people living or working in confined spaces, especially true for prison systems or social distancing must be balanced to ensure his safety and h security. we continue to hear horror stories of facility struggling to contain the virus. last week, approximately 40% of inmates at the court institutionally where wanting with only 80 correction officers available for service which means every officer on duty is responsible for three prison units. we must collaborate to ensure remnants of the past can be

corrected by this administration with a new approach, a new commitment to the reformation of this system. on monday we learned the medical center and fort worth, texas, my state has the fourth highest covid positive members of any facility in the country, 248 inmates and 46 members covid positive. eight women have died from covid at fmc are small since the beginning of the pandemic while 18 inmates died of covid at fort worth mail facility. the number of covid positive in the system fluctuated between 6,009,000 inmates in the same two weeks, the number of inmate to die from covid related illnesses is now 84. there are too many in custody to reduce the spread of covid and

it appears there is a slow and ineffective utilization, i should be complied with with discretion caputo has prisons have mechanisms within the authority to reduce the number of inmates in custody, compassionate release, comparese act in the first step act. modified even by general barr although using overly restricted criteria, thousands under the cares act to reestablish themselves, their families and the communities and have not re- offended, the bureau and the rj committed for their decision to rescind the previous administration's opinion that would call these individuals back into custody unnecessarily. it's important to note these individuals released on their application as opposed to the assessment of their prisoners determining they could be released which causes a problem we have now.

thousands continue to test positive gopop has failed. i think i just waiting for them to die. january 1, 2022 january 2021 during the height of the pandemic, prisons filed less than 1% of the total compassion reliefef motion filed throughout the entire country. an attempt to response this issue help alleviate the spreading covid, we expanded relief to allow inmates to file their own motion 30 days after they first made a request. one core up to 84 inmates have died in custody of covid related illnesses filed a motion for compassion relief, raising questions about efficiency, efficacy of the process. one is leftod to wonder how justice was served in the process of the 62 inmate in the relief themselves through

counsel and close pre-existing -- pre-existing medical p conditions cited by te bureau after they died of carbon related illness while in custody. the bureau not only grapples with inmate but also family member infections and deaths. the last two weeks, covid positive staff members have ranged from 900 to almost 2000. seven staff members have died. staffing shortages have long been a problem, it made a bad situation even worse. it doesn't go well for the cities of operations for bureau facilities across the country. zach becomes infected or are required to pointing to carter, corbett directly affects the remaining facilities, provide safety security general and covid related medical services and recidivism reducing programming to inmates. i want to take this moment as i concludect remarks to give

appreciation to the corrections officers andcu staff that operae with compassion, hopefully sensitivity and strength as they work everyday. ninety-eight facilities remain at level three of the operation levels which include social distancing in all areas of the facilities. a national lockdown and multiple inmates including those gates. details for the ongoing investigation, this raises concern about the safety and security of the facility particularly in my backyard compromised by long standing staffing shortages. the quinces staffing shortages have been witnessed timein and time again, but death of jeffrey epstein linked to the overtime, requiring them to work and not a corrections officer as a

guardian. i went to the facility and saw the needs of those employees there, they begged for help and did not get it. epstein's epstein's death as a result, they work very hard on this issue. as we go forward, i hope we listen to the issues, we know some issues are being investigated by the oig, we understand the conditions in these prisons are not what they should be. we know the assessment, implementation of the first step act and other programs have not been effectively utilized. we hope to answer that on the pattern program that indicates the national institute in version one, that i understand are being addressed to revise versions of patterns. inmates are assessed under the current version, disadvantaged,

they must be reassessed under the new version. reason is a place of accountability and punishment but also should be a place of redemption, restoration, service and certainly a place for staff to work at. i look forward tors the discussn with our director and i look forward toa continuing to try o restart the federal prison bureau in the way that it should perform.re i will submit to the record the following documents, written testimony submitted for january 2022 committee hearing, the first step act, what are the next steps in the present, a letter from allison, 2022 and two attachments written statement submitted for the generate 21st, 2022 subcommittee hearings,t first step the pandemic relief in the next step for the federal prison.

i now recognize distinguished member from arizona, ranking member for his opening statement, thank you and welcome. >> thank you, madam chair. i think you first for holding this hearing and i also thank you for bringing director of prisons because i think your swift response to many of us who request his presence be here, i appreciate your response to that and we are grateful for that. i welcome director as well, thank you for your service, sir, we are glad to have you here today. the federal. of prisons protecting society by confining offenders in the controlled environment of prison community-based facilities. it's not to provide housing, food security for federal inmates but also top inmate make law-abiding citizens upon s release. americans have interest in

commission because the vast majority of federal inmates well above 90% to be released into our communities regardless of efforts to reduce recidivism. gop's job is not an easy task, it's only become more due to covid. ajthe response to covid to takea number of steps to safeguard the health and safety of inmates, bureau of prison staff and the public. gop prioritized inmates posing significant risk to public, restricted visitors and limited movement on inmates among detention facilities. these are reasonable measures my colleagues on the other side of the aisle want to go further to use covid as a reason to let mark convicted criminals back onto our streets. we embarkth urging to use every tool at his disposal to release as many prisoners as possible. they even passedan legislation n

the house for states to release inmates in local jails. think about this, my colleagues across the aisle want to use tax dollars to incentivize for more convicted criminals to be on the street earlier. the consequences have deadly real-world result as we have unfortunately seen. in march of 2021, eric was released from custody after being granted compassionate release based on covid vernal ability. four months later, he was accused and charged with murdering his wife. a few weeks ago in oregon, charged with first-degree robbery, first-degree theft and felony clean and unlawful use of weapon. he was granted compassionate release to covid related reasons the previous year. in spite of these and numerous times committed by inmates released early from my colleagues across the aisle

released regardless of the crime or prison sentence. people want to open the jails and defined police. this crisis is a public safety crisis as well. i tell you, please pass on our appreciation to your officers and employees, they have a tough job and i want them to know they have our support. i understand many gop officers was concern over the biden vaccine mandate. the covid vaccine introduced legislation to prevent federal agencies from imposing covid vaccine mandates. i look forward to hearing today and i also request that we soon haveve marshall's office in for hearing as well. i have last week's hearing, both sides of the aisle in the office

and ie appreciate you bringing director, it is good to have him here. i yield back the balanceth of my time. >> i think the ranking member for his statement. i acknowledge at this time the service the service of our ranking member, mr. jordan, i think them for the leadership of their committee it is now my pleasure tore introduce today's witnesses or witness, that is michael, the director of the federal bureau prison and began his career with the prison in 1992 as a correctional officer at the federal correctional institute in texas. he is in essence, a committed, dedicated servant to the federal bureau of prisons. he served in position of leadership in texas, kansas, louisiana before becoming

regional director of northeast region in 2016. he became the assistant director for the correctional programs division in 2018 and held that position until appointed director in 2020 in the last administration. let me take note of his service and the many corrections officers i've had and staff, the privilege of bleeding throughout the system and as i indicated, it's to provide and perform restoration continued improvement on the institution of the federal bureau of prisons, we welcome you, director and we thank you for your participation. i'll begin by swearing in our witness and ask our witness to turn on your audio and make sure i can see your face and raise your right hand while i administer the oath. you swear or affirm, under an ot

of perjury the testimony you are about to give is true and correct to the best of your knowledge, information and belief so help you god? >> yes, i do. >> thank you, let the record show that witness answered in the affirmative. pleasebo note your reinstatement will be entered into the record in its entirety accordingly, i ask you summarize your testimony in five minutes to help you stay within the timeframe, there is a timing light on your screen. when the light switches green to yellow, you have when one minute to conclude your testimony. when the light turns red, it signals your five minutes has expired. i now recognize director for five minutes. thank you, you are recognized. >> thank you and for morning. it is my honor to speak today on behalf of 37000 professionals

who work day in and day out for the critical. institution the bureau's work is incredibly challenging and has been exacerbated by the covid virus. our management of the pandemic has been highly scrutinized despite the fact that we have worked in step with the cdc shaping the guidance to the benefit of everyone working in the environment. the bureau is one of the first agencies to offer covid testing and vaccination in january 2021, the cdc recognized the bureau for feeding officers in entities and vaccination utilization. approximately 80% of our staff and 70% of our inmates have been vaccinated and we continue to increase those rates. after the cares act, the bureau began transferring vulnerable and eligible inmates at reentry centers. the bureau has more than 37000 inmates andnd community custody with more than 9000 transferred pursuant to the cares act. after review for potential

placement at home confinement continued based on assessment and balance with law enforcement, another common criticism is we are understaffed, preparedy, without reference. we have approximately 1100. seven institution out of 121 take up almost 40% at least, increasing maintaining staffing levels within appropriated funding levels remain a priority. last calendar year we had over 3000 staff and at one time, hiring 1000 staff above our level. we have proven we can hire and follow hiring is not an issue at the majority level, we are routinely outbid by competing state and local corrections and law enforcement agencies who pay higher wages. accordingly, we continue to work with the department to consider use of additional incentives so we may be more competitive. another area of criticism is the imitation of the first step, the

barrel worked with the department on the development and risk and needs assessment system in support of the national institute of justice to develop the approved assessment tool, staff were trained on the act including the new pattern tool and we work with the union to negotiate policies. we recomputed 150,000 inmates to ensure they receive their time under the new law. delivered 80 different programs based on individual inmate assessment and hired additional staff to expand our programs and we initiated an additional activity to support inmates with mental health issues, disabilities or other special needs. we've expanded program it's from drug treatment and training, over 75000 inmates participated in first program by the end of 2021. we are modernizing education platforms to include the use of

tablets, for better program accessibility and we have created an online system directly connected to volunteers. we are exploring ways in providing inmates with id cards under the real id act. we engaged to evaluate our programs and working with nih i to engage to review risk and needs assessments. we are developing a stronger data analytics monitoring evaluation and the programs. gop worked in conflict with the department to finalize the rule regarding this, we applied the rule retroactively and immediately released almost 4000 inmates from home confinement and we are releasing approximately 1600 inmates from facilities and transferring only 2500 inmates in custody. over 8000 inmates for pre-released custody or supervised release. the bureau supports has always

been committed to the imitation of the first step act and we are statutory compliance. last year the governmental accountability office support highlighted areas where the bureau needed tore improve in response, i established a task force to address these areas as a result of this work, eight of the recommendations are now closed. our work in this area continues. distinguished members of the committee, this concludes my statement. >> madam chair, i think you are still on mute. >> it's because my delicate fingers, i push it and it doesn't seem to want to open up. let me try to hit it real hard.

let me do something a little different if i might -- i'm not sure -- is -- >> i am here. >> i am going to yield to you at this time and i will follow. thank you. your recognize for five minutes. >> thank you very much, madam chair. good morning, i am glad to have you here today and i'm sure you are aware two weeks ago the subcommittee held a hearing on matters pertaining prisons and the first step act and covid epidemic. i was glad to hear from experts on these topics i'm afraid i'm still left with a few questions, questions i believe you might be the one to answer. let me take a minute to thank you for your service and also acknowledge your quick responsiveness on several occasions when i've reached out

specific situations. one of the ways the chairs act attempted to address the covid epidemic was in ourur present system, providing additional authority to grant compassionate release for incarcerated persons who had a number of criteria demonstrating low risk of re- offense as opposed to themp wayi was described a few minutes ago, democrats asking for the prison doors to just be opened up indiscriminately. can you tell me how many people think the gop have been granted early release under this program? i wanted to know for those people who work granted, how many re-d offended? i know there have been individual cases but i want to know if you have any numbers overall or percentages of how many people were re- incarcerated due to technical violations, a curfew or phone call or how many people really released and unaccounted for, how many people find it again

with violent crime. >> thank you, appreciate the opportunity to make distinctions here. i think there is often confusion and i will try to clarify. first, as i stated in my opening remarks, released -- transferred 37000 under the cares act to home confinement. compassionate release is a separate entity. the gop could not release someone from custody, under the statute and current policy, we make a recommendation in court, the court makes the final decision, not the present. the bureau present doesn't take a position on the motion themselves. as you stated, there is criteria we use ourur criteria to evalua, enjoy each individual case is compelling and circumstances, carefully considered, individualized cases. we also take into account public safety but i stress we do not

independently do that the court makes the final decision. we do not track data, i do not have it in front of me compassionate relief because when they receive a reduction, they are no longer in our custody. i can answer the other part of your question, of the 37000 transfer to home confinement unity, possibly 9000 the cares act, 320 i am aware of have committed a violation brought back custody. eight of those were new crimes i'm aware of, one was a serious crimes, have the details in front of me. >> you said again, 320? could you repeat that again? >> 320 of the inmates under cares act home confinement have re- offended and brought back to secure confinement. >> so you don't know how many

work technical violations? you said eight committed new crimes so i assume the rest work technical or what? >> i appreciate that, i can clarify. the most prominent offense, abuse of alcohol or drugs, some -- they weren't where they were supposed to be, most were violations about nature, some were misconduct from eight were new crimes committed in the rest work technical violations. >> can you talk about vaccine distribution, one among staff, how many staff have been vaccinated. >> our staff, approximately 80% of our staff, 30,000 staff are fully vaccinated. we have about 95000 inmates, 93 -- 90000 a month the moving target changes constantly. it's about 70% of our population and continue to offer vaccines a booster to all inmates and of

course people can change their mind at any time if they choose to come back and get it, we make the vaccine available. >> for the 20% of the staff not vaccinated, what protocols do you have in place? do they have toim test weekly or what is in place? >> prior to the mandate were offering weekly testing.he when the mandate camee out, we mandated weekly tested for unvaccinated. there was a preliminary injunction issued by. judge, we ceased enforcement of the vaccine mandate and all processes with it but we continue to encourage staff and inmates to become vaccinated and it is a moving target but it's an average of about 80%. >> thank you, my time has expired. >> it's now working. it's my pleasure to yield to you your five minutes for

questioning up the director, thank you very much. >> thank you, madam chair.. you for being here today, federal court issued an injunction blocking president biden's vaccine mandate for federal employees, or any employees fire for not receiving a vaccine prior to the injection being issued? >> i don't have the exact numbers but we can certainly follow up and get that information. >> are you saying you believe some were fired, you just don't have an exact number? >> i believe some work but i do not have the information in front of me but i could get back to you. >> thank you . those employees will be rehired. >> i will consult with my human resource director, there are processes, they do have due process so we can f get back to you with that. >> thank you very much. other federalwe agencies are

protecting employees who request religious exemption and president biden's vaccine mandate federal employees, has the gop created a database for exemption request? >> again, with the mandate, we were reviewing and improvingue religious and medical exemptions from we have ceased that process because of preliminary injunction and we are following the: guidance. >> i just want to make sure i understand this -- i'm sorry, i didn't mean to interrupt, you were constricting database but notce now? that's what i understood. >> yes, obviously we track and have a process to keep track of the information. yes, there is a database along with everything else we do to track work accountable the services, we have ceased enforcement of that. >> okay. appreciate the questioning

because i have a lot of questions. a couple of examples of individuals released from custody because of covid-19 and serious crimes committed. are they tracking rates to see if individuals would be released because of covid committing crimes after their release? >> the recidivism data we use, our rates are 43%. the state on the data, we work with them, i don't know if time has been, since passing the cares act, i would have to ask questions about that. there is a difference between someone we've released and tracking them someone still in custodyug. >> sorry, i understand the court makes the final determination on

compassionate d release petitio. are you tracking those released on compassionate release at all for recidivism rates? >> i don't want to misspeak, when we released them from custody, we do not track theft, they are release from our custody, they are returning citizens to the state only that data. ... owns the recidivism data. we work with them to get that, but i can get my staff to get back with you. if someone is given

compassionate release you guys don't track it but arizona law enforcement department of corrections, somebody is tracking and gives you data , is that your understanding? >> yes congressman, it's a collaboration of us working with the state and other law enforcement entities . there's a lot of moving parts that are way above my head but that data is obviously being tracked .. >> i've been asking about compassionate release and i guess the first step on the recidivism issue. >> obviously there's interest in our first step data and we're working with outside consultants to review data and things like that. you're working on a platform. one of the criticisms early on is we didn't have that data. it isn't because we don't want to track it. there's a lot of entities and we have to collaborate with other law enforcement agencies to appropriately do that. >> director, i hope we can get that information sooner rather than later and whatever we can do to help facilitate that please let me

know and if you have yours reach out to mine,rci think this information is critical because everybody wants to understand that . meta-chairman, my time is expired and i yield back . >> i think the ranking member very much and i will now yield myself a customary five minutes. my time is short, mister carval. following the death of two inmates, all blp facilities had a lockdown. can you explain the decision to institute the national lockdown and how long inmates confined to their cells during a 24 hour period. if you can give an answer on that we will take a longer one inwriting . >> the decision to lockdown the entire agency is a serious one.

we didn't because we felt we needed to to find out what's going on. i won't get into operational things but the group is custody spread throughout the agency and we need to make sure we separate them and secure them. i'm hoping for lockdown will be short-lived. we do not like keeping inmates in their cells and we will do our best to get them out quickly but keeping safety has everyone in mind if you would give an update on the i moment lockdown stops wewould appreciate it . a lot lower low security facility has 10 inmates, 942 inmates recovered from covid. out of 194 inmates including the correctional institution which includes low offense individuals. that is almost half of the inmate population that has been infected with covid-19. 20 staff arepositive and 40 have recovered . how many inmates were

released from ci and are older inmates and older security facilities such as fca beaumont priority or release under the carezach , and if so what age inmates are given priority or any inmates at fci beaumont. you can answer the last question first, please. >> edyes congresswoman, i don't have the exact data for every specificinstitution at beaumont flow . i know we have it, i just don't have it now . >> the cares act, is that on going to be utilized to date since it is still operable in law, do you use that? >> we continue to screen inmates for appropriate placementunder the care zach . >> and under the care zach with your discretion, individuals do not have to meet the 50 percent time of

their sentence, is that correct? >> that is one of the criteria along with others.re there's only for hyde park criteria. >> but it's directed they do not have to be a 50 percent incarceration rate of their sentence. >> in instances like that we have the discretion but they're easily at the higher level review if the staff and institution feel it is appropriate outside of the cares act we have procedures in place to review cases like that. >> mister manafort andmister colin to your knowledge did not have 50 percent of their sentence, is that correct ? >> i'm not going to talk about individual specific cases congressman but we have procedures in place and a committee that reviews that i can go through that process if you'd like. >> i would appreciate it if

you can provide this in writing if you're not going to discuss it on the individuals released under the 50 percent rule. let me ask you what are you doing to prevent more covid debts in the bop facility? >> congresswoman we been in lockstep with the cep and other entities from day one. we're doing the same thing everyone in the world is doing, where learning how to mitigate this virus as stated earlier. distance to social inside a prison. we learned from that and that's why we appreciate the ability to transfer people out because we were able to lower our population and those low security facilities such as the one you described. following cdc guidance and do everything in collaboration with them and frankly our pandemic plan actually assisted in writing the correctional guidance for the pandemic. >> thank you director and i'll get the rest in writing. are you aware of the racially disparate impact of the pattern risk assessment tool inmates of color may be a more likely to be high risk than whites and with this in mind as you consider revising

the threshold for opportunity of risk categories which would enable more individuals to earn credits and maximize the benefits of the first and take away the racial disparity we see very clearly. >> congresswoman, i want to stress one thing. the bop did not develop by an ij and approved by the attorney general. we are aware of changes and we make those adjustments and score inmates anytimethere's a change and work with the nddepartment to do that. we are the end-user of that tool, we did not create it . >> do you think itwould help inmates on compassionate release if bop filed motions rather than inmates ? >> congresswoman, as i stated earlier we don't have the authority to independently release someone . we work with the department of justice and make recommendations to the court. the judiciary makes the final decision and me to make staff available to gather documents

. we work with the attorneys and public defenders and the courts to ensure all the documents are available so we can go. it's not a quick process, that's what people need to understand . the release process is a difficult one and it has to be done individually, each individual case has to be vetted under its unique circumstance. it's not a fast process. >> thank you very much, we willpursue that with you. i now yield five minutes to the gentleman from ohio . >> thank you madam chair and i want to thank you director since coming over a quarter of a century ago i served as an elected official on city council and on the hamilton county ohio commission and in those two capacities i was very involved with our incarceration at the local level. things like double selling inmates to help with the overcrowding situation that we had and then work release programs where we got inmates

out picking up trash on the highways, cutting down weeds. 241 type programs and those types of things . when i got here to congress and then on to this committee , the judiciary committee i wanted to continue in that effort and one of the closest things was prison industries are now uniform which i wanted to discuss in the second but i also got to work with for example former representative rob portman who is now united states senator. he was one of the principals moving towards this chance act which we worked with him on and then the first step which we passed some time ago and i work with adam schiff in a bipartisan manner on the justice reinvestment initiative to make sure that members, we send out letters over the years urging members to support funding for that particular program. and so before i ask you about

unicorn prison industries i want to say most of the inmates we have at the federal level and this is an indication of the local level as well, these inmates whereas most for the most part do need to be removed from society as they committed a crime and punishment is involved but the fact is the vast majority of peaceful will be out on our streets someday. so we're a lot better off as a society if we recognize that and if possible, we reform some of them and get them job skills that they can actually work in the private sectorsomeday . to keep them from coming back . it doesn't work perfectly, but it can work and i strongly support those and will continue to do that but back to truman industries which then transformed. this is the program that we have where the prisoners at the federal level are in work programs older learning a skill that they will hopefully be able to carry

over to private sector which should help recidivism rates so people, which means that people don't come back to prison and recidivism rates are far too high as we know. people do tend to come back but this is one where the rates tend to be getting better when you get these people a skill and often times we might think of the stereotype of people making license plates but it could be furniture, it could be a whole range ofthings . i'd like to give you time here if you could to tell us how the program is going, what your experiencehas been . how has it affected recidivism rates, is it a positive thing and those types of thingsmister director . >> thank you congressman and unicorp, the sole mission of unicorp is to train and employ inmates for what you said and give them a skill to return to being productive members of society.

the last recidivism review they did which is several years old 24 percent inmates work for a federal prison industry were less likely to recidivate, 16 percent were more likely to be gainfully employed upon release so it is a good program. we like to say it's one of our number one if not the number one evidence-based program, teaching the skills you spoke up. you're correct, 95 percent of people in our custody will return to society though it's important to do that. we have a board of directors, they take their statutory responsibilities very seriously. they do minimize the impact of any given industry. certainly we do that through public comment and board hearings, things of that nature for those that think we are taking from local industries. there's procedures in place that they can apply for that.

>> thank you and i don't have a lot of time left so let me ask one other thing. i know it's one of the greatest challenges that you all have when inmates are there a that their criminals so they got there because they committed a crime and they can pray on each otheror they can make it dangerous for the guards. program like prison industries, is that also a mechanism for or a tool for maintaining good behavior and making sure that it's just a less dangerous environment than it otherwise might be ? >> absolutely congressman. one of the biggest things that we battle in prison is idle minds. anything we can do to keep these people productive learning a trade or skill is our goal . >> i think my time is expired madam chair so i yelled back. >> let me for a moment thank the members are youtoday . i will yield to mrs. simmons in a moment but i want to acknowledge congresswoman scanlon and sicily need. congresswoman holden, congresswoman bates, congresswoman tiffany, congresswoman massey ,

congressman fitzgerald, thank you for your presence here today. it's my pleasure now to yield five minutes to the gentle lady from florida, you are now recognized. thank you so much for your service. >> thank you so much madam chairwoman. thank you for the exceptional work you are doing in this particular area. director, it's great to see you. thank you for joining us. i just want to first of all just make it quite clear that we all understand that there are some people who need to be locked up. but we also understand that many of them will integrate back into society and it is incumbent upon us to make sure that they have the training, tools,techniques they need to be successful . we all understand that. director, you spoke about

unicorp and how successful it has been. you just talk a little bit more about that program and how we can even improve upon the success of that program, how can congress be a better partner in helping those that will be coming back into society? >> i appreciate that congresswoman. i think speaking about it and being able to support the program in and of itself often times we are criticized that we are taking jobs from the local community. as stated earlier we have ana board of directors that oversees that. it's a great program. the more we can teach inmates to trade and keep them working . the other thing i think that it home is that we're teaching them the soft skills of reentry. some of these folks have never had an actual job and in fact punch a clock so to speak. they also are earning 80s living for being

incarcerated. part of that is changing their responsibility. a lot of them are able able to help support their families, teaching reentry. i often stress we want the same thing. we want people to go back in society as productive members of society and we are committed to doing that. half of our mission is keeping people safe and secure and the other half which were equally committed to is making sure they getthe skills to go back and be productive members of the community . >> you also talk about in your opening statement some of the challenges that you have in terms of meeting staff and requirements that you're being outbid by ngother state and local organizations. and certainly our agencies are certainly sensitive to that. could you talk more about increased salaries is probably the answer but could you talk about some of the other may be creative ways that you are looking to not

only recruit ceos but to retain them. >> thank you congresswoman. very much a priority for us and it always has been. i stated earlier that there is a narrative out there that we can't hire. that's not true. we proved we can hire. we have several locations chronically back and those cases as you stated we have a hard time competing with local industryor other correction agencies.we don't set the pace for that, opm does that and we are working with the department . we userecruitment and retention incidents . we use relocation incidents, all of those are things that we work with to get approval from the apartment and support to be able to look at these areas. some of these hard to staff places as the congresswoman stated earlier our beaumont. beaumont is the rest of the

pay scale. it's hard to compete with local industry when they get paid more working down the street . that's one of the chain colleges. beaumont, i spent 40 years of my career there so it's not the facility. it's us being able to beat with the location. >> director finally i remember hearing concerns about t centered around officer safety because of staffing shortages where personnel that weren't necessarily trained as correctional officers if you will were being utilized in that capacity. you talk a little bit more about that and address the rumors that all of us, put those at ease about it.

>> i appreciate the opportunity to set the record straight. first off we would not put untrained people inthere. we are fortunate as a correctional agency. it's one of the things we pride ourselves on that all of ourstaff are correctional train.they receive the same training regardless of where they work so we have uniform staff that are correctional officers and the nurses, food-service people, the teachers. everyone goes through the same training. that gives us the ability to utilize these tasks safely . that narrative is inaccurate . we are challenged with staffing and i'll tell you that we are funded at 90 percent and during my tour as director our priorities in staffing, we have funded all the positions that we get money for . as i mentioned earlier at one point i hired 1000 over, my staff went 1000 over. able to do that because of our attrition rate so we tried to get ahead of it. it's a constant challenge. there's a lot of moving parts. it's a large organization, 30,000 staff isa lot of people to keep trackof . >> madam chair, i'm out of time and i yelled back . >> time has expired, thank you so much. it's my pleasure to yield now five minutes to congresswoman

congressman steube. >> thank you for being here and obviously the committee has a lot of questions. july 1 of last year i wrote a letter to both you and the director of the dp departments of corrections about the treatment of the january six suspects. your office responded july 21 the dc department of corrections has so far refused to answer and where almost a year after the fact that i sent the letter. i recognize many of the most egregious examples of mistreatment of january 6 inmates not in your system but in the dc jail. it has been reported that january 6 inmates in the dc jail are not vaccinated for covid-19 are forced into solitary confinement for 14 days after meeting with their attorney. yes, sir no, does dot have the same policy in your facilities ?

>> no congressman, we do not. >> i'm glad to hear that and i also highlight how illegal the policies of the dc jail regarding inmates are. it's been reported january 6 inmates in the dc jail have not been allowed haircuts or to attend religious services unless they are vaccinated for covid-19. a yes, sir no, does dot have the same policy? >> congressman, we treat all people in our custody, everybody has equal access and is treated with dignity and has access to everything equally. >> thank you for your response. this further shows how egregious the dc jails mistreatment of january 6 inmates was. inmates in the dc jail have been denied medical treatment and this was largely the basis for a federal judge finding the work in contempt.

in your experience as a career law enforcement officer is this acceptable conduct by a correctional institution to deny medical treatments ? >> congressman, i'm not going to comment on what a correctional agency does without knowing all the information. i would stress t in the dlt which i represent everyone has equal access to medical care programs and community placement, things of that nature. >> i did and they're not answering my questions so i'm highlighting the differences in how you run your agency and how they're running their . additionally i'd like to ask for an update on the statistics provided to me and your offices response to that letter. if you know the answers i had that would be great but i understand if you don't have that in front of you or you don't know but i would like your commitment to follow up with my office meon the following. first the number of january 6 inmates in your custody awaiting trial and the number of such inmates tare in special housing units.

second, the number of january 6 inmates serving sentences and the number of such inmates who are in special housing units. i would ask yourcommitment to get me those responses . >> i can get you those responses. i'm aware, we have 19 in our custody, eight of those are pretrial and as to their housing today i don't want to misspeak but i will follow up with that information. >> i would appreciate that. you said 19 in custody and how many pretrial assignment? >> each of those arepretrial. i don't know their exact status today . >> if you can provide the details of that not just to me but i'm sure the members of this committee would also be interested in that information. i got a little bit of time left so one morequestion . your office response to my letter was noted judges routinely make recommendations to the bureau

regarding placement of an inmate. a atspecific institution or enrollment in programs. your office also noted that the bureau's policy requires andi quote a good faith effort to follow these judicial ilrecommendations . i would point out such recommendations are very much at the discretion of the judge and while i generally have faith in our judiciary, on discretionary issues such as this is obvious possible for personal biases to come into play. my question is this, if a judge makes a recommendation on the terms of the january 6 inmates custody and that recommendation was influenced by the judges medical leanings, dod would be compelled by policy to make a good-faith effort to follow the recommendation, is that correct? >> recommendations made by judiciary we certainly respect them and work with them but there's a lot of moving parts in our agency. we think the model of determination is simply that of recommendation. we get the look but ultimately we make a decision based on the best place to quarter and keep people safe

and secure. >> thank you madam chair, my time has expired. >> is my pleasure to yield five minutes to the gentle lady from pennsylvania, congresswomandean . >> thank you madam chair for posting this important hearing and i thank you director carvahal for your work. i was happy to hear last april before the senate judiciary wocommittee that the ot was working to expand health treatment and vocational training and life skills. i also hope the dot is expanding substance use disorder treatment, recovery therapy and the rest. one thing i had in mind in particular our educational m opportunities. we know they make all the difference in helping to break the cycle of recidivism and incarceration which is why i introduced elijah

cummings the prep act, legislation that would ensure incarcerated individuals receive educational opportunities they need to reenter their communities after completing their sentences. can you give us information on the number of people to the day enrolled in your system and educational opportunity ? >> yes congresswoman. the information, the current information we have over 25,000 inmates enrolled in one of our 80 evidence-based programs that require productive duactivities. even since covid-19 although we were hindered by the pandemic over 151,000 inmates completed programming. of course the literacy program, the ged. we offer many trades. we have to hundred color your

technical education and we've done a lot of work with expanding programs for the offenders. we have dedicated staff just to be sure that we process that population with special needs. we are working with department of labor to expand apprenticeship programs because we know vocational trade else people get jobs when they go out. >> some of the things the act would be to higher education, college credit, what percentage of inmates are enrolled in educational programs ? >> i don't have the exact numbers off the top of my head but i'll follow up. i'm sure we can get you that information. >> if you would that be great. what programs are in place regarding addiction and substance abuse disorder and what percentageof inmates , with mental health or addiction and how many are being offered treatment? >> congresswoman, we have many drug abuse programs available. we have our residential drug release program which is e one

of our best evidence-based programs. we also extended our mac treatment to target specific etsubjects for the opioid, people with opioid use disorder and we currently work on expanding those treatments. i don't know the exact percentage. it is a high amount of people that come into our system for drug and alcohol abuse . i don't have the percentages but wecan give them to you . >> i would appreciate it if we could get the percentages and also to understand if treatment is universally available throughout the system . we know that there is a high correlation of addiction, substance abuse tadisorder and incarceration. on to the solitary confinement in the few minutes i have left. we read reports that you're from inmates and their families on the dangerous aspect ofsolitary confinement .

has serious lasting psychological damage contrary to the questions i just asked you . free pandemic it was conservatively estimated that 60,000 to 80,000 people were confined to solitary and we understand that solitary may have been used as a substitute during covid-19 for isolation, medically required isolation. can you give us an update on the use of solitary confinement and importantly i hope on arecognition that it is a failed practice . >> congresswoman, we average around 5000 inmates at agiven time in our restrictive housing units . 8000 of use those are for administrative purposes pending placement or conducting investigation. sometimes for their own safety. there was 1100 in their pending disciplinary action.er we tried to go further and we try to limit at the time that

someone's been in restrictive housing. one of the things we've done to address this issue for some of the reasons you stated is we've expanded what we call our reintegration housing program which allows that group of inmates who tend to spend time in restrictive housing general population type atmosphere a smaller general population so that we can remove them from restricted housing. that is something we monitor daily. we're committed to ensuring everyone in there as access to programming . we also ensure that we make rounds daily check on inmates that have constant inmate contact. >> thank you for your questions and i look forward to the information coming to the committee and i yelled back. >> the gentle lady time has expired and i'm pleased to yield five minutes to mister tiffany, you are recognized for five minutes. >> good morning madam chair. first of all director, can

those that were fired as a result of not taking your staff as a result of not taking the evaccine, can they get their jobs back ? >> congressman, we have crosses for all that and i'm certain we will follow them and for the appropriate due process. following opmguidance and regulation and all the rules and laws . >> is greatest prison ministry allowed in the bureau ofprisons ? >> yes congressman they are. >> and they've been in during covid? >> we had to restrict through our operations obviously people coming in for their safety and for our . we don't want to introduce covid into our environment but it's been restrictive and we have a matrix operational. if they fall into that criteria they can n make those adjustments daily so for any given place i can't answer that today but we can get you

the information if you're interested in specific locations. >> with the explosion in crime in the united states the last couple of years you seen an increase in the inmate population in bureau prisons? >> congressman, our population has decreased over the last several years . >> is part of that as a result of the covid releases you've done? you detail those earlier. >> it is and keep in mind where on the backend of the criminal justice system so it takes time to go through the system so i would defer some of that information probably to doj. we get them at thebackend . >> thank you very much. whether you're vaccinated were unvaccinated you can still contract covid-19. why are we stillreleasing inmates ? >> congressman, if i

understand your question correctly, under the care zach, is that what your question is western mark why are we releasing inmates into thecare zach ? >> yes. >> because it is a statute, we're calling it. the guidance were given so we follow along. >> do you think we should rethink that as a congress that sets this policy or can? can change the :policy? >> i would defer to you and the members ofcongress . >> so we had the two stabbing deaths down in i believe the beaumont facility in texas . prior to the stabbing incident, if these two people would have had covid, is it possible they could have asked for release? under the law? >> i want to make sure i paid the right picture here.

we're going to review everybody but the security level where this incident happened and the fact that these individuals were members of the security group and in a high security, the chances of them being released were probably very slim because one of the criteria is you cannot have a crime of violence and it appeared these two individuals wereinvolved in violence . precisely why prisons exist. there are a small fraction of people that are cgoing to continue their criminal activities . >> so it's not completely rolled out that they could havegotten released . >> congressman, that's why we have the criteria we utilize our good discretion and judgment and follow that statute. >> federal prison inmates are keeping large sums of money as much as $100,000 each in government run deposit accounts effectively shielded from court orders including people like the pedophile larry nasser, the boston bomber.

what specific plans does the bureau have in place toensure victims get what they are owed ? >> good question. first off i want to stress something that apparently the bop does not have the authority to seize funds independently from inmates without their consent. we are working with the department of justice to change that rule that will allow them to recover funds or a veportion of their funds to payfines and restitution . our inmate trust fund collects about 6 million annually to make sure that they pay restitution but i say again we don't independently have the tl authority to treat funds. we work with orother law enforcement agencies. the united states attorney's office in those matters. >> that's something madam chair that should be looked at. the other thing i would urge madam chair is we need to hear after hearing mister steube's questioning and i'm so glad the representative

ones concerned about solitary confinement. we need to have a hearing on the january 6 detainees and a full hearing of what is going on with those detainees because they are being submitted to conditions that many on this committee including the other side of the isle find reprehensible. it's time to have a hearing on january 6 detainees. >> the gentlemen's time is expired and i'm pleased to yield to the gentle lady from pennsylvania, miss scanlan. you are recognized for five minutes. >> thank you madam chair and i appreciate you having this hearing and thank you director carvahal for being with us. i was hoping you could help me clear up the baseline that we're talking about here. as i understand it the inmate population ifor the bureau of prisons from 1940 to 1980 was around 24,000. >> if my memory serves, i'm

pulling off your website. but then the population doubled in the 80s to 58,000, doubled in the 90s to d136,000 and continued to climb until 2013 at which point the bureau of prisons was having about217,000 people, is that right ? all right. so what is the current assessment of prisoners in the presence? >> i'm not sure i understand your question. >> ru housing 163,000inmates ? >> yes, i'm sorry. 134,000 in our 120 bureau facilities and there's about 6200 and private contract facilities, 7100 in rrc's and 5400 mentioned in confinement under the care zach.

>> i was having trouble figuring out where all those numbers were. i think everyone on the committee knows by the time we have widespread agreement everyone from the koch brothers to the obama justice department saying we are over incarcerating people and it's a financial drain as well as human capital and a human rights problem. there's been some emphasis on n the purpose of the bureau of prisons to punishment but it has a rehabilitative purpose, doesn't it ? >> yes congressman, i'd like to stress we're not here for punishment . the taking of their time by the criminal justice system, that's their punishment. we're here to house people remanded to our custody and prepare them to reenter society and keep them safe . we're not here as punishment, that's not how we look at the agency.

>> i'm particularly interested in as some of my colleagues have been in the rehabilitative function, the efforts that are made to ensure that when people are released from prison they're able to successfully reenter. and that they're not worse off than they were before they went in, in fact what is the current recidivism rate here to your knowledge from the federal prisons? >> it's about 43 percent. >> you might want to update the website, it says 34re percent . had there been achange in recent years ? >> i have to have my staff if look at that. i'm not familiar with it being a third. >> it's on the homepage. so which with respect to my colleague miss dean talk a little bit about some of the educational programs. i've recently had a constituent reach out about a

participation in the bureau of prisons drug abuserelative rehabilitation program . and they've encountered problems getting on their earned credit counted towards release . because the program was caused by covid-19. eventually, this decisions relative was able to get that but it happened in court and that's not a particularly cost-effective method of dealing with this for anyone. i know that it was caused many facilities. is that stillthe case and if not , is it back up and running at all facilities where it was previously offered? >> congressman as stated earlier, it impacts our institutions. we have operational matrix, we have been affected by it. i know that certain inmates have been affected and we expect ourstaff to work with them . not familiar with a

particular case you're talking about but we couldget back with you on that specifics of that case . but otherwise, we go to the point of trying to work with them so they can benefit from home confinement. finishing the program, getting their contract. the whole goal is for them to get the time credit and distress were not trying to keep people in except unless they need to be in. they earn anytime credits we want them to go back to society as appropriate. >> one last question and i'm running out of time. i was interested in the apprenticeship programs so people have hard veskills that are going to enable us to become employed when they get out. what is introductory on that and how many have apprenticeship programs and what efforts are being made to expand that? >> the gentlemen's time has expired, i'll allow you to answer the question. >> we can get back with you with that specific information. we're working with the department of labor. >> i appreciate it andhealed back .

>> it's my privilege to yield five minutes to mister massey, gentlemen's records recognized for five minutes. >> thank you madam chairwoman and thank you director carvahal for your staff being responsible rvresponsive to my inquiry about how many vaccination uiprescriptions have beengranted at the bop . it looks like as of january 20 a report found 738 exemptions, most of them religious exemptions. instead of asking you i want to inform you that this has had a negative effect on the ground of the office, the fact that they are required to live under avaccine mandate and these inmates are not . that is interesting that the inmates have more rights than officers themselves. they also resent they had to apply for religious exemptions when in fact they should have been granted the medical exemption but at some of them have been able to get

the extension and you may want to check in on whether it's completely suspended this mandate because there are officers who are still required to do the weekly testing if they're not vaccinated. per the mandate and also to certify that they have a religious exemption even as of this week they had to do that . so i appreciate the accommodations that you have made because it will negatively affect morale and recruitingif we do keep this vaccine mandate in place . i want to ask you how many correctional officers were budgeted for the bop by congress? >> i'll give you my number and if not i gotcha. the hnumber i have and i'm tryingto see if it's correct is 1446 . >> punishment again, i appreciate the opportunity to clarify that . as civic correctional officers what we call the correctional officers that work in those is

approximately 14,000. of the b,20,000 for into his fixed thousand additional support positions on the correctional officer series, this is a classification issue and it's often confusing. that encumbers other positions that work in correctional services the actual truth correctional officers that we look at is approximately 14,000 . >> have the 6000 been hired? >> we have currently congressman about 1100 correctional officer vacancies right now. almost half of those are at seven locations that are hard to fill. >> there's one facility in my district the ashland fbi where five years ago they had 130 officers and now they have 100 and they're told they're going to 98. if they've got more inmates and we see that augmentation is being used ththere i'm concerned that the inmates going up and the officers are going down.

i'd like it to be a safe environment and i think it's understaffed. it's not safe. also there utilizing overtime virtually every day that facility and it would be cheaper for the taxpayer if we had more slots filled. and i've heard that augmentation is being used there to backfill some of those slots. i'm not going todebate whether they're trained enough . you've thalready addressed that and assured us that they are what is augmentation and where do the people come from when they go serve in roles that correctional officers might otherwisestill ? i think your muted director. >> augmentation is a necessary tool we use in our agency to make sure that we complete the first part of our mission and that's to keep everyone as safe as they

are. in order to be able to do the second partwhich is to give people a chance to return . as you stated we often try not to do it but it's certainly a tool that we have to use. we use people from other disciplines such as teachers, nurses, things of that nature. we try to limit that where decisions arebased on the roster locally, the ceo makes a determination . i stated earlier we had approximately 1100 professional officer vacancies and i like to stress we are funded and at 90 percent. we have 38,884 positions. we are funded for 35,161, about 323 vacancies that about $500 million for short. our correctional officer rates as high as 94 percent and it's currently 96 percent our goal is to fill every position that we are funded for but i can't spend money we don't have . >> i would like for you to

look specifically at ashland fci and my concern about augmentation should be a s concern we all have. when you take people away from being teachers to being dark leor other services, then the teaching doesn't happen and then we can see higher recidivism because we know that vocational schools and education correlate to recidivism. i would hope you could get those slots filled and that we could rely less on overtime and less on pulling those teachers away who are so important and the other people who are important for complying withthe first step . thank you for indulging me and i yelled back. >> i'm privileged to yield five minutes to the gentle lady from georgia and i thanked her for her powerful remarks . the young lady from georgia is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you chairwoman lee. good afternoon, director carvahal. thank you for being here today and thank you for your

service as the director as you will soon be leaving the bureau and we want to thank you for your service during this subcommittees last year and. we had an opportunity to review implementation of the first steps act and at the bop and impact covid-19 has had on bop operations. i use that opportunity to inquire into the bop policies by directing the treatment and care of pregnant women specifically the bop's national alignment on health and safety of pregnant women. since that time this year the bop has taken action to better align policies for about five of the eight care topics that the gao found to not fully be aligned with national guidance recommendations but i hope the bureau will continue to work to ensure that all eight of those care topics are met .

so that the health of pregnant women and bop facilities is currently protected and cared for but today i want to examine how bop is handling its reentry services. the successful reentry of citizens into society is integral and recidivism efforts, crime in our communities and the financial health of these offenders leads to rejoining society but it's kind of difficult to i guess assess recidivism patterns unless you have properly collected the data on it. for example the last federal justice statistics on recidivism by federal offenders that i was able to locate was published in june 2016. the latest publication of the employment status of released federal offenders was published last asdecember so that covers federal inmates released backin 2010 . so further the latest bop publication numbers that i was able to find was from 2006.

director carvahal, what steps has the bop taken to improve its data collection and more effectively track the progress incarcerated individuals as rothey transition from prison to reentry centers or home confinement and does the bop have plans to create standard metrics to evaluate reentry outcomes such as job placement, recidivism so that at the bop facilities can share their best practices. >> i appreciate your interest in this, it is important to , us. it's a very complicated process the gathering of recidivism data and we work inconjunction with state and nc other law enforcementagencies . we are not whole owners of that data . i have my staff are working with other components to set up a platform and we are committed to working on entering that platform to get that data and to track it . >> once that is done or

initiated and completed could you please my staff would love to have what that platform looks likeand what it entails . if you would. >> we can do that congresswoman. >> i'm curious to know how many reentry coordinators at the board of prisons has purpose and or per person or, how many vacancies are there were these jobs. joyou mentioned the number of vacancies that you have but how many vacancies are for these jobs and whatsteps has the board of prisons taken to fill these positions ? >> we are committed to filling all our vacancies and as i stated earlier we strive to do that. i don't know the exact number of reentry affairs tornadoes but those are positions that we strive to fill. as we do all of our positions and as we stated earlier we are filled every position we have. we are committed to continue to do that. i can't get you the exact

numbers, i don't happen in front of me. >> we really appreciate the effort. i think my colleagues and i would beinterested to have that information and i appreciate that . well as has been stated by many of my colleagues before me, we are very concerned about aryou know, actually people say that criminals have rights and yes they do have rights just as victims have rights and we want to make sure that when those that are incarcerated do have the ability to have fair treatment while they are incarcerated. because at the end of theday, their human beings to thank you so much madame chair. i yelled back the balance of my time . >> the gentle lady has yielded that. it is my privilege to yield five minutes to the gentleman, mister fitzgerald.

you are recognized for five minutes. >> sorry about that. my colleagues on the other side of the island introduced several pieces of legislation that would eliminate bale in the federal system and make states that utilize bale for pretrial release and eligible for grants under the edward burns memorial justice assistance grant program. these reforms continue to be pushed as a way to tragic events where violent criminals are believed either on bond or when they're involved in some of these terrible crimes of which some of my colleagues have been talking eaabout this morning. jurisdictions in california, maryland, new jersey, new york and in my own district which i represent lockey county has modified their mail practices to eliminate

or deemphasize the use of monetary mail systems. coupled with i think some of my colleagues desires which has been going on for a year, discussions about the funding or dismantling police departments or fail reform efforts. it's is troubling i think and it's making some of the communities lest safe for sending the wrong signal or message. to some of these individuals that commit these crimes. additionally, the pretrial integrity and safety act would provide grants to states if they eliminate their money mail systems. and then things like the minnesota freedom fund which even vice president harris was involved in for a period time . lvthis fund and others that are similar and kind of

contributed to this overall concern. and then right in my backyard in the fifth congressional district of wisconsin, we had the national attention given to the waukesha christmas parade murders. darrell brooks was released after running over a woman with a vehicle, this was prior to the parade and released on bail despite having a lengthy criminal history including a chart for aggravated battery and an outstanding warrant in nevada gg after stepping bail for a sex-related crime. and then as you know he subsequently drove his car through the christmas parade in waukesha wisconsin killing six individuals. one of them and eight-year-old boy. they'll reform policies such as cashless bail have been

supported by some of my colleagues actually do more harm than help in what i would consider some of the minority communities that could have benefited from i think some of these reforms that we discussed at thestate and federal level . director, i guess crimes considered felonies are being treated as misdemeanors for civil infractions. you know, in controlling kind of the criminal and the justice system from the perspective of the benefits always goes into the criminal . once the fallout and i know you talked about this earlier but under the first step, the act calls upon prisons to create rules around evidence-based recidivism reduction programs and productive activity. could you comment?

there has to be a relationship between those incarcerated and certainly a set of statutes at the state and federal level and how the fact that , what's the interaction during your time as director? >> i'm not sure i understand your question. we are committed to reentry test been part of our mission. the other is keeping people safe. we don't control who comes into our custody. that's on the front end of the justice system. the court determined that so whenthey come in here, our mission is to keep everyone safe . make sure they have equal access to programming and as stated before 95 percent of those people reoffend. >> one of my experience as a state legislature as well as think in kind of a relationship i tried to develop with thefederal system in the state of

wisconsin . one of the things that's always linked is the literacy rate compared to recidivism. we find that if an inmate can read and an eighth grade level therefore more likely to reconnect. is that something you guys have looked at were checked into and is it something that you monitor ? >> congressman, we have lots of literacy programs, ge's and we encourage inmates as part of the risk enabled assessment when they come in. we assess them and we address their needs. we assign them programs to address their needs. that's precisely what the first step act is for. we had a needs assessment and we do formalize them as part of the step act. >> thank you madame chairman, i yelled back. >> i think the gentleman for his questioning. now i'm pleased to yield to

the gentle lady from st. louis missouri, vice chair of this committee. congressman busch you are recognized for five minutes. >> thank you chairwoman for promoting this important hearing. i actually ask unanimous consent to enter into the record the experiences of 17 women across five federal facilities which have been provided by the national council of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women and girls . >> about objections so ordered. >> in these emails women in federal custody detail horrifying counts of not being allowed to get out of their beds, all because of lockdowns. being forced to eat expired food, having little to no access to medical services to treat cancer and other underlying conditions. having to pay $10 to file a complaint. this is all happening under your watch. these are complaints coming from not one, not two facilities but five different facilities which makes clear that these issues are not isolated but their systemic.

these women cannot hold you accountable. they cannot so we can. and i would like to use this opportunity to ask you questions that they cannot directly ask you out of fear of retaliation. mister, yes, sir number are you aware of these complaints across so many of your facilities within. >> .. >> we absolutely keep a lot of complaints and take all allegations seriously. with follow-up process and work with the inspector general and law enforcement agencies and certainly fbi investigatory

agencies, we take all allegations seriously. >> in my able to access them? >> if you would like, i could have staff reach out to you for particular information you are interested in and we will provide that. >> thank you, thank you. in the midst of a raging pandemic that's made incarcerated individuals uniquely vulnerable, allowing people to serve from their homes and families underway from the abuses, the population has grown, keeping them in present for years in active cruelty. april last year, you told the committee that 50 to 75% of those incarcerated had been reviewed for home confinement and 24000 out of 150,000 people in federal custody was placed in home confinement. have all of those incarcerated been reviewed for home

confinement instead of 60 to 75%? >> we review all eligible inmates in the cares act, we did that and replace over 37000 inmates. 9000 were under cares act statement, those are 9000 would not be custody in this time the population has been reduced. >> we look at the website earlier today from across the website inaccurate? >> i'm not certain which information -- >> the federal bureau. two weeks ago i and representative sent a letter seeking verification on the opposite guidance on home confinement cares act. we asked for a response no later

than february 7 this year will be get a commitment from you that is forthcoming? >> i am aware of your letter and we are certainly working on that. i understand there is a clearance process of which i do not control so we are committed to get you in response to your letter. >> thank you, my office will be in contact. i yield back. >> thank you very much, it is my pleasure to yield to the gentleman from iowa, mr. owens for five minutes. mr. owens, who are recognized for five minutes. we will then be happy now to move to the gentleman from rhode island, mr. cellini. we are pleased to yield five minutes, you are recognized now. >> thank you for being here, i to join what you've just

referenced, i look forward to your response. we held a hearing generate 21st to learn more about response to the pandemic, specifically discussing compassionate release and tool to release occupancy and keep people safe. my first question is, legislation to expand release availability during a public health emergency and given the evidence we seen about successful reintegration through compassionate release during covid seems to be that makes sense to utilize those tools. what is the current policy considerate passionate release of individuals at high risk and serious illness from covid-19? >> the compassionate release process sometimes is confused with the home confinement which we used for quicker placement, reduction in senate process is much more difficult, designed to

be a timely process. each individual has to be reviewed -- >> it's my understanding you don't use compassionate release or recommend it for the serious risk of illness of covid, you don't use that process at all? >> under the cares act we refuse placement and home confinement but yes, we do. if they follow reduction in senate motion, we do evaluate in our policy, we just don't independent release somebody from custody. >> i know, my question is do you use individuals high risk of serious illness from private and what is your current policy in terms of applying that for such individuals? it's not a hard question. >> if they submit a request, we follow our statute and review it. if it's appropriate, we make the motion. if not, it is denied. >> healthcare workers across the country are seeing burnout after two years on the fight front

lines of this pandemic. staff feels similarly especially during outbreaks in the facility. given the statistics over time and infection rates in considering the ongoing risk of covid and expanded authority releasing individuals into home confinement, not utilizing strategies like this release more fully to reduce incarcerated individuals and federal prison? >> we are. we make recommendations to the co- as appropriate and they make a decision, cap the gop. if the motion is made up of the first step act which they can do after 30 days, we don't take a position on the motion, we are not targeting those cases in the coast to the system. >> my colleague raised questions about in solitary confinement and the number increased five

100% in 2020 without 300,000 people in solitary confinement at any one time. the policy of using this restricted housing as a substitute for cdc recommended isolation that's caused unbelievable harm to incarcerated individuals so what steps is the leadership taking to ensure its following appropriate guidance like the cdc guidance on medical isolation, not in solitary confinement during this or any future public health emergency? >> we follow cdc guidance in some cases we go above and beyond. i'd like to clarify medical isolation is often confused with solitary confinement, there are instances when inmates are in constructive housing are isolated from a medically isolated. we don't place people from the general population or medical

isolation, we don't place them in restrictive housing. if there is a case is an issue where we are out of space, they are appropriately -- there are different rules for that. >> december 2020, un special were on torture, related to solitary climate in the u.s. present stating that severe and often irreparable psychological and physical consequences solitary climate are well documented range from anxiety, stress and depression, cognitive impairment suicidal tendencies. mental pain or suffering may well amount to psychological torture. are they aware of the damages up in solitary confinement in their care you have policies in place to reduce confinement while you have the background and supporting documents revealed to

us the status in solitary confinement in your effort to mitigate? i think you are on mute. >> will certainly get back to you and will tell you we are committed to continuing to properly reduce use of restrictive housing in some cases, there is we support we do have policies in place access to programming and time credit and we can get that information and answer any questions you would like regarding that. >> they are experiencing psychological torture is sufficient so i look forward to the information i yield back. >> the gentleman time has expired, thank you. my pleasure now yelled to be extinguished gentleman from

california and many members. we yield to you for five minutes, you are recognized for five minutes. >> thank you for holding this important hearing. thank you for your public service. approximately how many covid vaccines in prisons are administered? >> we've administered today over 293 -- over to 92000 doses for staff and inmates. 80% of staff, give or take, 80% are vaccinated and about 70% of inmate population. it is a moving target because there are people coming in-and-out, every person is offered the opportunity. >> has anyone died as a result of the covid vaccine? >> i do not know that, i would have to get you information from a medical doctor, i do not have the information.

>> would have been told if somebody died after getting the vaccine. >> i'm sure i would have, i just don't have the information in front of me. >> i'm going to tell you, you would have been told. did you see the cdc, if you get a covid vaccine and a booster shot, you are 97 times less likely to die than if you are unvaccinated from profit. are you aware of that? i want to agree with the former president who said covid vaccines are one of the greatest achievements of mankind. i want to talk about the religious exemption. i am catholic. the pope was also called by part of christ, has said getting the covid vaccine is a moral

complication. what i want to know is, with the present given religious exemptions to folks at catholic and if so, what basis could that be on? >> i don't personally review the exemptions. we have processes in place. i'm certain we can get you that information, we have ceased because of the preliminary injunction who ceased process of religious and medical exemption for the time being. >> if you could give me the information, that would be great. now, two articles for the record, the first from june 19, 2020 titled prison capitol forces under scrutiny for use protest and training mishaps. the second article is titled the story behind bill far from

politico and dated june 5 to 20. i'd like to ask you for the personnel used for protesters and where they are marked? >> we did assist the department of justice and other law enforcement proponents during the protests. i was asked this question during a press conference. initially the first few days, staff were not properly marked for people on the civilian side to recognize they have local institutional and they directed that within a couple of days. we marked to show personnel, it was an oversight when it came to our attention, we have marked if deployed, they are properly marked they are operating in the federal bureau.

>> for future occurrences, they will be identified if i understand correctly. >> we corrected the issue before the end and we have deployed them and they are appropriately identified for offices. >> accepted use of force teargas and others not appropriate. my question goes to training, they are trained to deal with prison issues, do they also get training on dealing with crowds exercising their first amendment right of free speech? >> i know some about things are under review so i don't think it's appropriate for me to comment on that. i can check back with my staff the status we can answer your questions off-line. i don't want to in this form,

the matter is still under review. >> thank you, if you could get that information, it is important. it will prevent the attorney general from the u.s. marshal to deputize folks in the cities to crackdown on the amendment of free speech on not right. with that, i yield back. >> my fingers again but thank you very much for your questioning and it is certainly my privilege now yelled to another important distinguished member of this body of tennessee, you are recognized for five minutes.

>> thank you, madam chairman and thank you for holding this hearing. any questions asked earlier, let me know, the hearing of the helsinki and from on those issues. these are important issues and i want to make this hearing pandemic has highlighted many federal bureau the help of those in the custody staff public and address understaffed in promoting important reforms such as first act. what lessons have you marked during your tenure and what advice you have for your successor to address these issues we've seen within the? >> sorry. if you're asking about the pandemic, we follow cdc guidance

from day one we learned need to protect the most vulnerable, the elderly and isolate the sick and pointing the same blessings the rest of the country in the world, mitigate better also some of the lessons learned and we've got processes in place and we work with the cdc and invite them into our institution and our pandemic plan is in collaboration with the cdc. >> let me ask you about the first step act from one of the few successes mr. trump had operational warp speed. it should happen, it wasn't. it should be eligible for release, not operation warp speed. >> i'm not sure you know what we are referring to, we are fully compliant, that is compliant

with this act way ahead of the time, we formalize it and released inmates and earning time credits, i'm not certain what you are referring to. >> if you need to have votes eligible for release? maybe you got it done, at one time it wasn't done. >> who are awaiting the process which i don't control, we submitted that into the last administration the end of january 20 it was finalized in january. there compliant with the first step act. >> well, fattest the. the biden administration, the reincarceration of the confinement of the cares act. in your field, was home confinement under the cares act assessed do you agree in their

ability to assimilate back into the home with their families? >> we are always committed to returning people, 95% of our people who grow, we understand it's important and we released over 37000209, 9000 under the cares act. only 320 fs worry re- offenders and follow the statute and the rules. we follow the laws implement it and continue to do so. >> department of justice office of legal counsel published a memorandum present was not required to return them to home confinement under the cares act, the president was the emergency but under your guidance for the safety the department of justice memorandum if new interpretation of all while so the people home confinement will be able to remain home confinement and apply for commutations.

>> i am aware of this opinion and we are working with the department. we have not mailed down to how when we do, will be as transparent as possible make sure everyone gets information but we take information and guidance of the attorney general and continue to follow the law. >> thank you. let me ask you this, you are the head of the bureau presence, were you not when mr. epstein suicide allegedly? >> i was not you were there so michael collins was arrested and brought back into solitary confinement when he tried to exercise his rights, were you not? >> i believe that did happen under my authority. >> were you asked, did you have anything to do with that or were you made aware of that to have him brought back into custody and put in solitary confinement? >> i was not made aware that. i was briefed on it "afterwards" because he is a high publicity

case but i was not directly involved in that decision. >> thank you. next question, since mr. epstein committed suicide in the security offered, have you seen to it miss maxwell has better security? or supervision to make sure she doesn't do anything to end her life? >> time has expired, you may answer the question. >> i don't want to discuss specific security issues on any individual but we are properly and sure people in our care have the appropriate supervision. >> thank you. >> thank you very much. this has been an important hearing, insightful on both sides of the aisle. as we come to a conclusion, you

have additional points you want to place on the record at this time? >> first of all, thank you again for being here and i look forward to the number of responses indicated to me you and your staff did. i look forward to seeing those and i will yelled back to you. >> i think the gentleman very much. one final piece of the testimony, and adjunct faculty at the nyu local health in our previous hearing, his investigation revealed lack of access to care when a new medical problem occurred, the line of questions from several members. this process in most settings relies on the ability of the

incarcerated people to submit a written or electronic concern and vent be seen in a face-to-face encounter with in a day or two. the first facility they have the time or opportunity to present at the detention center in brooklyn new york, it quickly became apparent that only were many people reporting calls requests included covid symptoms were being ignored but the facility was destroying the original request which violates basic correctional standards. this is an accountability during in a recognition that there should be, if you will, accountability and exercise of punitive measures, we all concluded these are human beings deserving of restoration dignity, men and women. can you comment on that kind of action? >> i appreciate you allowing me to clarify. i am aware, we've looked into

and followed up, i won't discuss that specific incident but i will assure you each institution has a care clinic overseen by a board state certified physician and medical director. we have outside oversight and joint commission, aca and we've received the same review any outside clinic or nursing home. we are reviewed by independent reviews so i'm not sure -- we get oversight. if there's a mistake made or something of that nature, we look into and do something about it to correct the issue. >> thank you. what i would ask specifically is some of the questions that may not have been answered, our staff will get with you so we can get answers in writing and that in particular the detention center in brooklyn new york. your memory, i want a direct response an answer on that matter and i think you for that. i am also going to suggest a

board of health oversight for the department presence -- federal bureau presence. i know you have a number of agencies but i think one specifically focused on helping the bureau going forward would be very helpful. finally submitted to the record, the 16th man to die from covid in the facility as i conclude, i'm not sure whether or not you will appear before the committee or committee in the other body but let me take the opportunity to show appreciation from a person who has chosen as his career to serve the nation. obviously coming into the bureau many years ago, you have continued to make commitment to serve the nation so is my privilege to say thank you for your service and it should not be unnoticed, who served under many administration, democratic and republican if you've chosen

to commit yourself to hopefully lives and ultimate liberty of individuals we hope will be restored and enter into society if never to return again. i hope that is your patient, safe and as i think you, i want to make sure we thank the hard-working officers who blow by the appropriate mixture reform accountability and compassion so thank you again for your testimony this morning. in your service to the nation from this concludes today's hearing. thank you to our witnesses for attending. all members will have five legislative days. additional questions for the witness or materials for the record. the hearing is not returned. i hope that was hurt. thank you very much. >> this week on the c-span network about the house and senate are both in session from of the house to pick up

legislation to fund the fiber 18 midnight deadline to avert a shutdown. the senate will follow suit on that note. the chamber will continue to work on positive binds judicial and executive nomination. on tuesday 9:30 a.m. on eastern, live on c-span three, the senate on services committee held confirmation hearing for michael carella to be general and commander of the u.s. central command. 10:00 a.m. eastern, live on c-span.org and the c-span now video app. u.s. surgeon general testifies before the senate finance committee on shortfalls and mental health care for children and teens in america. wednesday 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span free from of the senate commerce committee or the confirmation hearing to have the federal communications commission. wednesday 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span.org and the c-span now video app. the chair of our futures trading commission testifies before the senate agriculture committee to discuss what powers the agency needs to crackdown on abuses

crypto currency market. watch this week, live on the c-span network or c-span now, mobile video app. head over to c-span.org for scheduling information or stream video live or on-demand any time. c-span, the unfiltered view of government. >> born governor kate brown outlined her priorities for remaining here in office. in particular on the issues of employment, housing and climate change. >> good afternoon. thank you for joining me today. thank you senate president, peter courtney after more than 40 years of public service, your imprint on oregon will not be forgotten. congratulations to you house speaker dan and a warm welcome to new legislatures, you are