Federal Prisons Accountability Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4138 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 JUNE 14, 2023 Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania (for himself and Mr. TRONE) 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 2023’’. 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 04:59 Jul 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4138.IH H4138 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 4138 IH Justice with a budget that exceeded $7,000,000,000 1 for fiscal year 2018. 2 (2) With the exception of the Federal Bureau 3 of Investigation, the Bureau of Prisons had the larg- 4 est operating budget of any unit within the Depart- 5 ment of Justice for fiscal year 2018. 6 (3) As of 2019, the Director of the Bureau of 7 Prisons oversaw 122 facilities and was responsible 8 for the welfare of more than 176,000 Federal in- 9 mates. 10 (4) As of 2019, the Director of the Bureau of 11 Prisons supervised more than 36,000 employees, 12 many of whom operate in hazardous environments 13 that involve regular interaction with violent offend- 14 ers. 15 (5) Within the Department of Justice, in addi- 16 tion to those officials who oversee litigating compo- 17 nents, the Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, To- 18 bacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Director of the 19 Community Relations Service, the Director of the 20 Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Director of the 21 Office on Violence Against Women, the Adminis- 22 trator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the 23 Deputy Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Ad- 24 ministration, the Director of the United States Mar- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Jul 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4138.IH H4138 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 4138 IH shals Service, 94 United States Marshals, the In- 1 spector General of the Department of Justice, and 2 the Special Counsel for Immigration Related Unfair 3 Employment Practices, are all appointed by the 4 President by and with the advice and consent of the 5 Senate. 6 (6) Despite the significant budget of the Bu- 7 reau of Prisons and the vast number of people under 8 the responsibility of the Director of the Bureau of 9 Prisons, the Director is not appointed by and with 10 the advice and consent of the Senate. 11 SEC. 3. DIRECTOR OF THE BUREAU OF PRISONS. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4041 of title 18, United 13 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘appointed by and 14 serving directly under the Attorney General.’’ and insert- 15 ing the following: ‘‘who shall be appointed by the Presi- 16 dent, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. 17 The Director shall serve directly under the Attorney Gen- 18 eral.’’. 19 (b) INCUMBENT.—Notwithstanding the amendment 20 made by subsection (a), the individual serving as the Di- 21 rector of the Bureau of Prisons on the date of enactment 22 of this Act may serve as the Director of the Bureau of 23 Prisons until the date that is 3 months after the date of 24 enactment of this Act. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Jul 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4138.IH H4138 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 4138 IH (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 1 shall be construed to limit the ability of the President to 2 appoint the individual serving as the Director of the Bu- 3 reau of Prisons on the date of enactment of this Act to 4 the position of Director of the Bureau of Prisons in ac- 5 cordance with section 4041 of title 18, United States 6 Code, as amended by subsection (a). 7 (d) TERM.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 4041 of title 18, 9 United States Code, as amended by subsection (a), 10 is amended by inserting after ‘‘consent of the Sen- 11 ate.’’ the following: ‘‘The Director shall be appointed 12 for a term of 10 years, except that an individual ap- 13 pointed to the position of Director may continue to 14 serve in that position until another individual is ap- 15 pointed to that position, by and with the advice and 16 consent of the Senate. An individual may not serve 17 more than 1 term as Director.’’. 18 (2) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by 19 paragraph (1) shall apply to appointments made on 20 or after the date of enactment of this Act. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Jul 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4138.IH H4138 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB