Reps. Horsford and McKinley Introduce Contraband Elimination and Safety Act of 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Reps. Steven Horsford (D-NV-04) and David McKinley (R-WV-01) introduced the bipartisan Contraband Elimination and Safety Act of 2021. The legislation would direct the Federal Bureau of Prisons to start a pilot program to test a solution to reduce the amount of contraband that enters its correctional facilities without restricting inmates' rights to receive postal mail. Studies have shown that inmates who maintain close contact with their family members while incarcerated have better post-release outcomes and lower recidivism rates.

"The United States has the highest incarceration rates in the world, with 2.3 million people held in prisons or jails. The mail service is one of the oldest and most commonly used methods to introduce contraband into correctional facilities, creating an expensive and often lethal problem for both inmates and correctional facilities staff," said Congressman Steven Horsford. "I'm proud to introduce the Contraband Elimination and Safety Act of 2021 with Congressman McKinley to protect access to the mail system for incarcerated people while giving prison officials a safe alternative to mail restrictions that prevent inmates from communicating with the outside world."

"We've heard consistently from our federal correctional officers in West Virginia and around the country about the drugs, weapons, cell phones and other dangerous contraband they find daily. When this finds its way into our prisons, it creates an unsafe environment for inmates, officers and staff," said Congressman David McKinley. "Adding additional screening protocols to process and authenticate mail is a common sense way to help improve the safety of those within our prisons."

A one-pager on the bill can be found here.

The full text of the bill can be found here.

MEDIA CONTACT
Geneva Kropper | Geneva.Kropper@mail.house.gov | 202-849-0251