Fair Sentencing Act of 2010

Floor Speech

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Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, I want to first thank my good friend, subcommittee Chairman Bobby Scott, for yielding me this time and for his leadership on this very important issue. He and committee Chairman Conyers have worked for years to eliminate the unjust and discriminatory disparities between crack cocaine and powder cocaine.

Although I'm disappointed that this measure does not entirely eliminate the disparity, I want to commend Senators Durbin, Sessions, and Coburn for crafting a very significant compromise. The Fair Sentencing Act of 2009 will significantly reduce the disparity in sentencing for crack and powder cocaine and help to correct an enormous disparity in our criminal justice system.

When the current law was passed, Congress felt that crack cocaine was a plague that was destroying minority communities. Twenty years of experience has taught us that many of our initial beliefs were wrong. We now know that there's little or no pharmacological distinction between crack cocaine and powder cocaine, yet the punishment for these offenses remains radically different.

Down where I come from, Mr. Speaker, we say that when one learns better, one should do better.

Equally troubling is the enormous growth in the prison population, especially among minority youth. The current drug sentencing policy is the single greatest cause of the record levels of incarceration in our country. One in every 31 Americans is in prison or on parole or on probation, including one in 11 African Americans. This is unjust and runs contrary to our fundamental principles of equal protection under the law.

Since 1995, the United States Sentencing Commission has issued report after report calling on Congress to address this unfair disparity. According to the Sentencing Commission, restoring sentencing parity will do more than any other policy change to close the gap in incarceration rates between African Americans and white Americans.

The American drug epidemic is a serious problem, and we must address that problem. But our drug laws must be smart, fair, and rational. The legislation to be considered today takes a significant step towards striking that balance.

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