Federal Prisons Accountability Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6678 To require the Director of the Bureau of Prisons to be appointed by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 1, 2020 Mr. KELLER (for himself, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. BUCSHON, Mr. LAM- BORN, Mr. MCKINLEY, Mr. ABRAHAM, and Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsyl- vania) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To require the Director of the Bureau of Prisons to be appointed by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Prisons Ac- 4 countability Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) The Director of the Bureau of Prisons leads 8 a law enforcement component of the Department of 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:18 May 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6678.IH H6678 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6678 IH Justice with a budget that exceeds $7,000,000,000 1 for fiscal year 2018. 2 (2) With the exception of the Federal Bureau 3 of Investigation, the Bureau of Prisons has the larg- 4 est operating budget of any unit within the Depart- 5 ment of Justice. 6 (3) The Director of the Bureau of Prisons over- 7 sees 122 facilities and is responsible for the welfare 8 of more than 172,000 Federal inmates. 9 (4) The Director of the Bureau of Prisons su- 10 pervises more than 36,000 employees, many of 11 whom operate in hazardous environments that in- 12 volve regular interaction with violent offenders. 13 (5) Within the Department of Justice, in addi- 14 tion to those officials who oversee litigating compo- 15 nents, the Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, To- 16 bacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Director of the 17 Community Relations Service, the Director of the 18 Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Director of the 19 Office on Violence Against Women, the Assistant At- 20 torney General heading the Antitrust Division, the 21 Commissioners of the Foreign Claims Settlement 22 Commission, the Assistant Attorney General heading 23 the National Security Division, the Assistant Attor- 24 ney General heading the Office of Justice Programs, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:18 May 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6678.IH H6678 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6678 IH the Assistant Attorney General heading the Office of 1 Legislative Affairs, the Assistant Attorney General 2 heading the Office of Legal Counsel, the Assistant 3 Attorney General heading the Office of Legal Policy, 4 the Assistant Attorney General heading the Tax Di- 5 vision, the Commissioners of the United States Pa- 6 role Commission, the Administrator of the Drug En- 7 forcement Administration, the Deputy Administrator 8 of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Direc- 9 tor of the United States Marshals Service, 92 10 United States Marshals, the Inspector General of 11 the Department of Justice, and the Special Counsel 12 for Immigration Related Unfair Employment Prac- 13 tices, are all appointed by the President by and with 14 the advice and consent of the Senate. 15 (6) Despite the significant budget of the Bu- 16 reau of Prisons and the vast number of people under 17 the responsibility of the Director of the Bureau of 18 Prisons, the Director is not appointed by and with 19 the advice and consent of the Senate. 20 SEC. 3. DIRECTOR OF THE BUREAU OF PRISONS. 21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4041 of title 18, United 22 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘appointed by and 23 serving directly under the Attorney General.’’ and insert- 24 ing the following: ‘‘who shall be appointed by the Presi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:18 May 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6678.IH H6678 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6678 IH dent, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. 1 The Director shall serve directly under the Attorney Gen- 2 eral.’’. 3 (b) INCUMBENT.—Notwithstanding the amendment 4 made by subsection (a), the individual serving as the Di- 5 rector of the Bureau of Prisons on the date of enactment 6 of this Act may serve as the Director of the Bureau of 7 Prisons until the date that is 3 months after the date of 8 enactment of this Act. 9 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 10 shall be construed to limit the ability of the President to 11 appoint the individual serving as the Director of the Bu- 12 reau of Prisons on the date of enactment of this Act to 13 the position of the Director of the Bureau of Prisons in 14 accordance with section 4041 of title 18, United States 15 Code, as amended by subsection (a). 16 (d) TERM.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 4041 of title 18, 18 United States Code, as amended by subsection (a), 19 is amended by inserting after ‘‘consent of the Sen- 20 ate.’’ the following: ‘‘The Director shall be appointed 21 for a term of 10 years, except that an individual ap- 22 pointed to the position of Director may continue to 23 serve in that position until another individual is ap- 24 pointed to that position, by and with the advice and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:18 May 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6678.IH H6678 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6678 IH consent of the Senate. An individual may not serve 1 more than 1 term as Director.’’. 2 (2) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by 3 paragraph (1) shall apply to appointments made on 4 or after the date of enactment of this Act. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:18 May 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6678.IH H6678 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS