Prepared Statement by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee
Executive Business Meeting
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Good morning. Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee will markup on a historic piece of legislation, the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act. The bill is cosponsored by Senators Durbin, Cornyn, Whitehouse, Lee, Schumer, Graham, Leahy, Booker, Scott, Tillis, Coons, Moran, Blumenthal, Franken, and Feinstein.
This bill has the broad support of groups from across the political spectrum: Koch Industries, the ACLU, the NAACP, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, Major Cities Chiefs Association, the Obama Justice Department, and former Attorney General Mukasey, among many others, support this bill. The House Judiciary has also introduced a similar bill.
This bill is a success because it is a compromise. None of the cosponsors got everything we wanted. But we reached a broad agreement on certain principles. Because mandatory minimums play an important role in sentencing, we preserve the primary mandatory minimums. But because they can sweep too broadly, we provide more relief from them through the safety valve.
Because we are concerned about violent repeat offenders, we refocus and retarget enhanced minimums and provide new tools for law enforcement. But because the old minimums produced some severe and excessive sentences, judges will have a chance to consider whether to apply these changes to inmates sentenced under the old laws. This is the just and moral thing to do.
And because we must improve our prisons and stop the revolving door, lower-risk inmates will be able to return to society earlier and become productive, law-abiding citizens.
Thanks to many people working together, we have produced a historic bill. This bill shows that the Senate can work to solve an important problem. And I am honored to be a part of it as the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee.
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