Letter to Tom Wheeler, FCC Chairman - Inmate Calling Services

Letter

Hon. Tom Wheeler,
Chairman, Federal Communications Commission, Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman Wheeler: More than two million Americans are
currently incarcerated in our nation's jails and prisons.
Their chances for rehabilitation and a successful return to
society are vastly improved if they can remain in
communication with their families, children, and critical
support services. Expensive phone call rates deter such
communication and result in recidivism and costly re-
incarceration.

For the past decade we, the undersigned Members of
Congress, have been imploring the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) to provide a market-based solution to curb
these high telephone rates (see the Family Telephone
Connection Protection Act, first introduced in the 109th
Congress). The Commission is poised on October 22, 2015, to
approve a final order on comprehensive inmate calling
services (ICS) and we firmly believe that such comprehensive
reform is needed to rein in the predatory practices in the
ICS marketplace. The lack of competition and the out of
control site commissions paid to correctional facilities are
partly the cause of these skyrocketing costs. Simply put, up
to 60 percent of what prisoners' families pay to receive
phone calls from their incarcerated loved ones has nothing to
do with the cost of the phone services provided. These
artificial rates account for hundreds of millions of dollars
paid to state prison systems for exclusive contracts.

For several years, the Commission has correctly concluded
that unconstrained site commission practices are the most
significant contributing factor to high ICS rates. In its
2013 order, Reducing High Inmate Calling Rates, the
Commission cited many examples demonstrating the correlation
of site commission and high phones rates.

On September 15, 2015, the Commission outlined in a fact
sheet that it ``strongly discourages site commissions'' but
did not provide any assurance that it plans to eliminate or
curb this predatory practice. It also outlined a rate cap of
$1.65 for intrastate, interstate, and international calls.
Although establishing a rate cap is a step in the right
direction, we believe it must be coupled with eliminating
site commissions in order to yield the lowest possible phone
rates. We, therefore, urge the Commission to use its
statutory authority under Sections 201 and 276 to address
site commissions when it undertakes comprehensive ICS reform.

We have all heard the stories and cries of our constituents
who, at times, have had to pay up to $17 for a 15 minute call
just to stay in touch with their incarcerated loved ones. We
know all too well that ongoing contact between the
incarcerated and their families reduces the rate of
recidivism in our society. Ending these predatory practices
of price gouging at the expense of families is a human rights
issue. As the Commission moves towards a vote on ICS, we urge
you to exercise the fullest extent of your jurisdiction to
protect and service more vulnerable consumers.

Sincerely,
Bobby L. Rush,
Member of Congress.
G. K. Butterfield,
Member of Congress.
Eleanor Holmes Norton,
Member of Congress.
Charles B. Rangel,
Member of Congress.
Marcia L. Fudge,
Member of Congress.