Issue Position: Federal Prison Industries/UNICOR

Issue Position

Federal Prison Industries, also known as, UNICOR, is a government-owned corporation that employs federal prisoners to manufacture products and perform services to fulfill contracts that are sold to executive agencies and departments in the federal government. Examples of these products and services include clothing and textiles, office furniture, electronics, fleet and industrial products, recycling, and services such as call center and help desk support. UNICOR operates 81 factories in federal prisons across the country with sales totaling over $600 million in the last year alone.

As the system is currently set up, if UNICOR wants a contract from the federal government it gets it. More often than not UNICOR is given a contract, not because other companies do not produce the product or service requested, but because UNICOR receives preferential treatment when it provides services to other branches and agencies of the federal government. This process takes jobs away from hardworking men and women that are currently employed by the private sector, has a negative impact on economic growth and does not guarantee the highest quality product or best use of taxpayer dollars.

My bill, H.R. 2098, eliminates UNICOR's no-bid contract status, allowing for small businesses to compete with this government-owned goliath. With millions of Americans out of work and small businesses still struggling to keep the lights on, it makes no sense for the federal government to be using prison labor to limit our nation's job creators from bidding on contracts. This bill ensures the priority is to preserve market access for small businesses and create jobs for hardworking men and women in the 2nd District and across the country, not someone who is serving a sentence for breaking the law.

This legislation will also require UNICOR to submit a detailed analysis of the impact to the private sector before entering into new product markets and would not be able to sell products commercially or internationally where the only customer could be the federal government. It also prohibits agencies from contacting with UNICOR in which inmates would have access to sensitive or classified information.

The issue at hand is not the prisoners working or prison labor. The problem is UNICOR's business practices and how the current system shuts out the private sector.

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