Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016--Conference Report--
Floor Speech
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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, Senator Booker from New Jersey is on the floor. The three of us asked to come to the floor at 3, because the rollcall was delayed.
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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I am going to be brief because I want to defer and give my time to the Senator from New Jersey.
We are going through a moment in America's history that we are going to remember for a long time. We are used to shooting deaths. Sadly, gun violence has become part of America. Unfortunately, we are also used to mass murders, where more than four people are killed in one of these shooting incidents. But it rocked America's conscience and soul when five policemen from Dallas were murdered. Those five policemen were Officer Brent Thompson, age 43; Officer Patrick Zamarripa, age 32; Officer Mike Krol, age 40; Senior Corporal Lorne Ahrens, age 48; and Sergeant Michael Smith, age 55.
Yesterday, President Obama and former President Bush were there for the memorial service to honor these men and to honor everyone in law enforcement who gets up each morning, puts on a badge, and risks their lives for us--for me, for my family, for my neighbors, for my community, for my town, for my State, and for my Nation.
America was rocked by the senseless murder that took place in Dallas, TX. But it isn't the only thing that has stunned the conscience of America. At the same time, we have seen some shocking and disturbing videos. In Baton Rouge, LA--the home State of the Presiding Officer-- Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old father, was shot and killed outside a convenience store. In Falcon Heights, MN, Philando Castile, age 32, was fatally shot in his car during a police traffic stop for a broken taillight. His fiancee and her 4-year-old daughter were in the car.
Those three events came together--the killings of the police in Dallas, and these video shootings--and shocked the conscience of America in a way that I haven't seen before. It really called into question some basics about our country and where we are going and what we need to do.
President Obama said we must try to find common ground when he spoke at this memorial service. He is right. I thought about that over the weekend, and I called my colleague and friend from New Jersey and talked to him about it. I said to him: When it comes to really showing America, and particularly those who feel aggrieved by the current State of justice, our bill on criminal justice reform speaks to a fundamental issue as to whether or not minority populations--people of color--are treated fairly in our system of justice.
Senator Lee just spoke. For those who may not know him, Senator Lee is a conservative--a tea party conservative, I believe he would probably say--Republican from the State of Utah. Senator Lee is joining us--Durbin of Illinois, Booker of New Jersey, and Senator Grassley of Iowa--in this effort. How many times do we run into that, where four Senators with such diverse political beliefs come together on one bill--this bill? As Senator Lee explained, what we are setting out to do here is to right an injustice--an injustice that is filling the Federal prisons, sentencing individuals to lengthy sentences for nonviolent, nongun drug offenses.
This is long overdue, and it is something that we need to do. If we did it, it would say yes to those across America who are asking: Is Congress listening? Is the Senate awake to what is going on in our country? It would say to them: Yes.
On a bipartisan basis, these four Senators, and many more, are prepared to bring reform to our criminal justice correction and sentencing system. Will it solve all of our problems? No, not at all, but it is a significant step forward.
I was serving in the U.S. House of Representatives over 25 years ago when a famous basketball star at the University of Maryland died from a drug overdose. We were shocked by this. They came in and said it is possible that he was a victim of crack cocaine. We had never heard the term before. What is crack cocaine? A new form of cocaine crystals that are cheap, highly addictive, and destructive. Len Bias was his name. We were asked to put into law a sentencing provision that would be a warning to everyone across America: Don't use crack cocaine.
We did. We imposed a new sentencing guideline for crack cocaine 100 times the penalty over powder cocaine--100 times. What it meant, sadly, over a span of 25 years is that hundreds, if not thousands, of individuals were convicted of possessing and selling crack cocaine and sentenced for extraordinarily long sentences.
I ran into one of them in the city of Chicago. Let me tell a story. It is brief, but it tells a story.
Alton Mills, age 24 in 1994, was a runner, a seller when it came to street drugs. He was caught on his third offense of selling street drugs. His third offense. He had never served a day in jail, not one. His two previous offenses ended up in probation, and he didn't end up with any correctional time. But this third one was the third strike. It turned out that Alton Mills at age 24, for his third sale of crack cocaine, was sentenced to life in prison--life in prison.
He languished there. Thank goodness, his mom and dad never gave up on him. He found a public defender, whose name, ironically, was MiAngel Cody. She went to work and fought for him and took her message to every office, including mine, and I took her message to the White House. Alton Mills' sentence was commuted. He came out of prison after 22 years behind bars. That is one example--22 years.
What we are trying to do is come up with a sentencing system that is sensible, that punishes those who are guilty for sure, but does it in a smart and thoughtful way--reforming and saying to populations across America, yes, we can be a more just society.
This criminal justice reform idea is one that is not only bipartisan, but it passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee in October of last year--October--by a vote of 15 to 5. It was a bipartisan rollcall vote that came out of committee. Why haven't we taken up this bill? Why don't we take this up as soon as we return in September? Why don't we say to people across America that we are going to do something positive in terms of restoring justice in this country to everyone across the board in this bipartisan bill?
That is why we come to the floor today, and that is what we are asking for. It will save money for taxpayers in addition to bringing justice to the system. I believe the money we save can be brought back to our law enforcement agencies for training and equipment. So let's show our faith in their efforts to keep America safe, and let's show our commitment to justice in this reform.
I am fortunate because I was joined in this struggle by a brand-new Senator from New Jersey then named Cory Booker. He has been an extraordinary voice in this effort.
Senator Lee and I were doing pretty well until Cory Booker came along, and he has added more firepower and more horsepower to this effort than any other Senator could, certainly any new Senator. I commend him for helping us in this effort and being committed to it in his heart.
At this time I would like to yield the floor to my junior colleague from the State of New Jersey, Senator Booker.
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