Vote Explanation for H.R. 6691, The Community Safety and Security Act of 2018
Today, the House considered H.R. 6691, the Community Safety and Security Act of 2018. I voted no. The Supreme Court recently ruled in Dimaya v. Sessions that our understanding of a “crime of violence” is “unconstitutionally vague.” It is necessary that Congress work on a more clear definition, and I want to be part of that open dialogue and bipartisan discussion.
But this bill was introduced only seven days ago with no committee consideration, no experts, no testimony, no discussion. That makes it only the most recent piece of legislation in a long line of American criminal justice policy that was rushed through Congress without understanding the full consequences. Without understanding the decades-long ramifications. It’s how we ended up with the world’s largest prison population, disproportionately comprised of people of color. It’s how we ended up putting more non-violent offenders into prisons with mandatory minimums. Those prisons too often run by corporations who want more heads in more beds to feed their bottom line.
In 1986, it was new sentencing laws on crack and powder cocaine. Handing out the same mandatory minimum of a 5-year punishment for having five grams of crack as 500 grams of powdered cocaine — designed with the full knowledge of who was and wasn’t using each.
In 1994, it was the new crime bill. Drafted based on fear and paranoia with the full weight of our justice system falling harder on black American than white Americans. The full impact still being seen today where 25% of black children have a parent in the criminal justice system compared to just 4% of white kids.
No surprise that these led to a growing prison population. In 1980, we had 320,000 people locked away in prisons. In 2016, it was 1.5 million — the rate of black men six times higher than white men; the rate of Hispanic men 2.5 times higher than white men. Many sitting behind bars for non-violent crimes, unable to contribute, work a job, pay taxes, raise their family, and live to their full potential.
H.R. 6691 could continue the trend set by those bills, expanding the definition of violent crimes to include crimes that don’t involve the use of force or threat of force. That don’t involve violence. It could allow those convicted of nonviolent offenses to face the same severe consequences and mandatory minimums as criminals that did use or threaten force. It could expand the number of teenagers who are prosecuted as adults. And it could increase prison sentencing.
We need true criminal justice reform, not more policies rushed through Congress that will put more people behind bars for non-violent crimes.
