Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy, Ranking Member, Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Criminal Justice Oversight Hearing on "Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Prisons"

April 06, 2000

As we renew our discussion of the issues facing our prisons, I would like to address an aspect of the prison privatization that poses a serious threat to public safety and deserves immediate congressional action -- the interstate transportation of prisoners.

Last year, the escape of convicted child murderer Kyle Bell from a private prison transport bus should have served as a wake-up call, to the Congress and to the country. Kyle Bell slipped off a TransCorp America bus on October 13, while the bus was stopped in New Mexico for gas. Apparently, he picked the locks on his handcuffs and leg irons, pushed his way out of a rooftop vent, hid out of sight of the guards who traveled with the bus, and then slipped to the ground as it pulled away. He was wearing his own street clothes and shoes. The TransCorp guards did not notice that Bell was missing until nine hours later, and then delayed notifying New Mexico authorities. Bell was a fugitive for three months before his capture in January of this year.

Kyle Bell's escape is not an isolated case. In recent years, there have been several escapes by violent criminals when vans broke down or guards fell asleep on duty. Just last week, James Prestridge, a convicted murderer, escaped in Chula Vista, California, while he was being transported from Nevada to North Dakota by a private company called Extradition International. According to the Los Angeles Times, the van was stopped at a rest area when Prestridge overpowered two guards, took one officer's gun, and escaped with another violent offender who was being transported by the same van. They remain at large today.

In addition to these disturbing incidents, there have also been an alarming number of traffic accidents in which prisoners were seriously injured or killed because drivers were tired, inattentive or poorly trained. Privatization of prisons and prisoner transportation services may seem cost efficient, but public safety must come first.

This is why I joined Senator Dorgan in introducing S.1898, The Interstate Transportation of Dangerous Criminals Act. This bill requires the Attorney General to set minimum standards for private prison transport companies, including standards on employee training and restrictions on the number of hours that employees can be on duty during a given time period. A violation is punishable by a $10,000 fine, plus restitution for the cost of re-capturing any violent prisoner who escapes as the result of such violation. This should create a healthy incentive for companies to abide by the regulations and operate responsibly.

I would also like to take this opportunity to urge House action on S.704, the Federal Health Care Copayment Act, which was introduced by Senator Kyl and Senator Johnson, along with Senators Abraham, Ashcroft, Cleland, Dorgan, Grassley, Hatch, Inouye, Lincoln, Sessions and Thurmond. Senator Johnson brought this issue of medical copayments for prisoners' health care to my attention last year. My own state of Vermont does not have a copayment requirement for prisoners' health care so I appreciated the Senator from South Dakota sharing with me the problems he has seen in his State.

After some initial reservations, I was glad to help move this bill out of Committee after it was improved during markup. It passed the Senate by unanimous consent on May 27, 1999, more than 11 months ago, but has still not been acted upon in the House. This is legislation that has the support of the Bureau of Prisons and of the U.S. Marshals Service.

In my view, a critical part of this bill is its protection against prisoners being refused treatment based on an inability to pay. In particular, I am glad the Senate accepted my amendment to make clear that copayment requirements should not apply to prisoner health care visits initiated and approved by custodial staff, including staff referrals and staff-approved follow-up treatment for a chronic illness. The goal of the bill is to deter prisoners from seeking unnecessary health care, not to prevent them from seeking health care when they need it.

In addition, the version passed by the Senate excluded visits for emergency services, prenatal care, diagnosis or treatment of contagious diseases, mental health care and substance abuse treatment from the copayment requirement. Copayment requirements should not prevent prisoners from receiving emergency and critical health care.

I would like to thank the witnesses for being here today and welcome their comments. We will hear today whether the Federal Health Care Copayment Act is still needed, or whether the Bureau of Prisons has been able to make administrative adjustments despite the lack of authority that measure would have provided.