Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) holds a press briefing to promote efforts to rid prisons and jails of cell phones.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Good morning and welcome everyone, we're here today to discuss the Stealth of JANJA format.
00:28Good morning and welcome, we're here today to discuss the Cell Phone Jamming Reform Act.
00:33I'm honored to be joined by Congressman David Kustoff, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin
00:39and correctional officers and professionals from state and local governments across America.
00:46Thank you all for supporting this important legislation to keep criminal activity off
00:50our streets, out of our neighborhoods and away from our communities.
00:54When criminals go to prison, they should not be able to pose a threat to public safety.
00:58However, because of contraband cell phones, convicted criminals continue their illicit
01:03activity while sitting in a prison cell.
01:07In Georgia, a major prison drug ring used contraband cell phones to move more than 14
01:14kilos of meth and nearly a kilo of heroin into the greater Atlanta area.
01:20In South Carolina, prison inmates running a sextortion scheme targeted hundreds of
01:26our troops, leading to the tragic suicide of several victims.
01:32And in New Jersey, an inmate used a contraband cell phone to arrange an assault on his ex-girlfriend
01:39and the murder of her new boyfriend.
01:43Contraband cell phones in prisons endanger the general public as well as the correctional
01:49employees who dedicate their lives to keeping Americans safe.
01:54Lieutenant Osvaldo Alboratti, a federal Bureau of Prisons correctional officer, was killed
02:02by a group of inmates because of his work to seize and stop the flood of contraband
02:07into a detention center.
02:10Incarcerated criminals used a contraband cell phone to contact the gunman who took his life.
02:19Within prison walls, contraband cell phones are dangerous weapons.
02:22For too long, we've turned a blind eye to this glaring public safety threat as crimes
02:27are planned, facilitated, and ordered by convicted criminals already serving prison sentence.
02:35No more.
02:36The Cell Phone Jamming Reform Act will allow state and federal correctional facilities
02:40to use targeted cell phone jamming equipment in prison housing facilities.
02:48The precision of this jamming equipment will render contraband cell phones useless for
02:52criminals in prison without interrupting the normal communications of law enforcement and
02:57emergency first responders in the area.
03:01State officials will have full discretion as to where and how this jamming equipment
03:06is used in prison facilities, thus providing local correctional officers and law enforcement
03:12with the tools they need to keep Americans safe.
03:16We should pass the Cell Phone Jamming Reform Act to keep cell phones out of prison cells
03:21and crime out of our communities.
03:25Thank you all for being here.
03:26I'm now pleased to turn over the microphone to Congressman Kustoff.
03:32Thank you, Senator.
03:35Thank you, Senator Cotton.
03:36Good morning, and I want to thank all of you for being with us today as we today in the
03:41House of Representatives will introduce the Cell Phone Jamming Reform Act, and I'm glad
03:48that we're being able to do this today.
03:51I want to thank so many people, all the correctional leaders, the Correctional Leaders Association,
03:57the American Correctional Association, our state attorney generals, our governors, and
04:03so many others across the nation who are supporting our efforts.
04:08I think this is a simple issue.
04:10I think it's one we can all get behind, and frankly, it's a no-brainer.
04:16It really should not be possible for people behind prison bars to order hits on people,
04:24to conduct gang activity, to traffic drugs, while behind the walls of the prison.
04:32The extent of this coordinated criminal activity carried out by inmates, it's a serious threat
04:39to everyone, those who guard and protect those in prison, as well as those in our communities.
04:48In my home state of Tennessee, we had an inmate who used a contraband cell phone to organize
04:54and orchestrate a drug conspiracy by shipping packages full of drugs to his girlfriend.
05:03Now this is outrageous.
05:06You can tell these stories and hear these stories in all 50 states across the country.
05:13I'm a former United States attorney.
05:15It's an honor to serve as the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, and
05:20I know firsthand how dangerous this activity is and how prevalent it's become.
05:28If we want to stop crimes from behind bars, then we've got to allow state and federal
05:35prison officials to jam these signals.
05:39When criminals go to prison, their days of calling the shots are over.
05:46They shouldn't be able to do it from behind the prison walls.
05:49If there is no cell signal, there is no crime.
05:54And so it's critical that the federal government support, defend, and provide the necessary
06:02resources for correctional facilities to operate effectively and to ensure the well-being
06:08of the public.
06:10And that's why we are introducing the Cell Phone Jamming Reform Act today.
06:15By preventing criminals from conducting operations from behind bars, we can crack down on crime
06:22in this nation, and we can importantly protect inmates, the guards, and the public at large.
06:30Congress should act.
06:32Congress should act now, because each and every day that we wait, innocent lives remain
06:38at risk.
06:40And I appreciate all of our colleagues here today, and especially appreciate a man who
06:46has been a friend who I served as a U.S. Attorney with and is now the Attorney General of the
06:52state of Arkansas, Attorney General Tim Griffin.
06:55Tim.
06:58First, I want to thank Senator Cotton and Representative Kustov for putting, bringing
07:05this bill back up.
07:07It was shocking to me that it didn't pass the first time.
07:11It's fundamentally common sense.
07:14I was speaking to our leadership at the Department of Corrections, the state police in Arkansas
07:19yesterday.
07:22We're begging.
07:23We're begging for this bill to become law.
07:26So you may ask yourself, who could oppose this?
07:31I mean, we know what the problem is.
07:34Who could oppose it?
07:35Well, let me give you a couple of names.
07:38It's people like Samuel Hartman that opposes it for sure.
07:43Samuel Hartman is back in prison now.
07:48He's serving a life sentence for rape.
07:52He escaped one of our prisons in Arkansas.
07:56In the entire ordeal, his escape was like something out of a movie.
08:01It was all planned via cell phone.
08:04So he communicated via cell phone with his wife and his mother.
08:11He arranged for a pickup time when he was doing garden duty in a facility.
08:19He got out of the facility.
08:21He met his wife and mom in a car, which was armored with bulletproof protection.
08:29I'm sure he ordered that from his cell phone.
08:33They took off on their escape, went to a boat ramp where they had jet skis waiting for them.
08:42This is for real.
08:44This was all organized via cell phone.
08:47They got on the jet skis and escaped.
08:50They were found in West Virginia by U.S. Marshals 17 days later.
08:57That was all done by cell phone.
09:00That was Samuel Hartman.
09:02There are many others like Mr. Hartman who oppose this bill.
09:10Antoine Simmons, he organized a takeover of a maximum security unit at one of our prisons.
09:19It was all done via cell phone.
09:22We have found CSAM, child sexual abuse material, on cell phone contraband in our prisons.
09:31We've had individual prisoners orchestrate the extortion of money out of a mother outside
09:40the prison by threatening to kill that lady's son if they didn't get the money.
09:48All of this is done in prison.
09:51And I will tell you that in February, we had a serious threat group leaders study within
09:57our prisons, and we found that the 230 most dangerous threat group leaders had 308 multiple
10:06possession of cell phone violations.
10:09These are leaders of the Bloods, the Crips, the Aryan Circle, the White Aryan Resistance
10:15and the Gangster Disciples.
10:16Here's the bottom line.
10:17We know what the problem is.
10:20We know how to fix it.
10:21It's about time we get this done.
10:25Hi, I'm Frank Strada.
10:31I am the Commissioner for Tennessee Department of Corrections, and I want to thank Representative
10:37Kristoff and Senator Cotton for letting me be part of this today.
10:40As I said, as the Commissioner of the great state of Tennessee, I oversee the care and
10:45custody of over 20,000 incarcerated offenders and 5,000 staff.
10:50And this bill represents and will provide an additional safety measure for the men and
10:54women who work tirelessly each and every day to protect communities from the public dangers
10:59that we face in a correctional environment.
11:02And having the ability to jam cell phone communications in a prison environment will create a safer
11:07workspace for the staff and a safer environment for the inmate population to engage in rehabilitative
11:13and education programs crucial to the successful reentry in our communities.
11:19This bill will reduce a constant threat we face with inmates' ability to make unmonitored
11:23calls and continue criminal activity during their incarceration.
11:28This bill will greatly reduce the hazards of contraband and create a safe and a workspace
11:32for all.
11:33To Representative Kristoff and Senator Cotton, we appreciate the time and attention you have
11:38put forward in this bill.
11:40The support of leaders like you and other members of Congress truly show that you care
11:44about corrections and the job that we do each and every day, and we appreciate you for that.
11:52Thank you, Frank.
11:53And thank you to all of the correctional leaders and officers that we have here today to advocate
11:59on behalf of the Cell Phone Jamming Reform Bill.
12:02I'm now happy to open it up to questions.
12:07Yes.
12:09Thank you, Senator.
12:10On this bill, you have here, you have the opportunity to rise to the cost of a manhunt.
12:15It's obviously something to do with cell phones because of the cost of a manhunt.
12:19On the signal chat, there are, of course, new chats published today by the Department
12:24of Information that show that the phone calls have been released through chat.
12:27If you look online, the available information on defense policy states that any information
12:32pertaining to manhunt, military strikes, time games, people involved in operation,
12:37is classified as secret.
12:39So, Secretary of Defense, can you answer that?
12:42Wait, the law here?
12:44On your second question, no.
12:46I haven't read the story yet, but my aides have shown me what was apparently released
12:50this morning.
12:51There was no locations listed there.
12:53There were no sources of methods.
12:55There's no specific target.
12:56Certainly, there was nothing called war plans, which was an embellishment, an exaggeration
13:01by a known left-wing partisan opponent of the president.
13:05On your first question about landlines, do you mean landlines inside of prisons?
13:10So, I'll defer to some of our technical experts here, but the unique problem of cell phones,
13:16obviously, is that they're movable.
13:18They can be hidden.
13:19They can be used, therefore, to target other inmates, correctional officers, or innocent
13:23civilians outside, rather than force correctional officers into arduous, almost impossible,
13:29daily, even hourly routines of searching for cell phones.
13:33The bill would allow them to put a jamming mechanism over housing units only to ensure
13:39that cell phones are not being used in an inappropriate way inside of those housing
13:44units.
13:47Hey, I'm Brian Sterling.
13:48To answer your question, I'm a director of the South Carolina Department of Corrections.
13:51In South Carolina, a cell phone costs about $7,000 to $8,000.
13:56A minute phone call costs $0.05.
13:58You can talk to your family for $0.85 a day for 25 years before you would get to that
14:04$7,000 or $8,000 number.
14:06So, that just doesn't hold water anymore.
14:09That argument is just not factual.
14:11We also have tablets now, so they can talk to their family members in their cells.
14:15So, that's not a problem either.
14:21Any other questions?
14:23Yes.
14:25I think we're still, obviously, we're still getting facts.
14:36I've got faith in Secretary Hedgpeth.
14:38I know the men and women in uniform do.
14:40And most importantly, President Trump does.
14:43And I would just add, I think Secretary Hedgpeth, and more importantly, President Trump, acted
14:48appropriately in finally taking action against outlaw rebels in Yemen.
14:53I know many in Washington are scandalized by this story.
14:56What I'm scandalized by is that for 15 months, Joe Biden left our sailors on the Red Sea
15:01like sitting ducks.
15:03And he allowed these rebels to shoot continuously at Israel.
15:06And I think what we shall focus here on is not the way this was communicated, but the
15:11effects that were achieved against adversaries of the United States and Israel, who are also
15:16a cat's paw of Iran.
15:18That's what I think was appropriate.
15:20And that's what I applaud not only Pete Hegseth for and Mike Waltz for, but most importantly,
15:26the Commander-in-Chief, Donald Trump.
15:28Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
15:31Is there anything left for the Senate to talk about further in terms of the sitting down
15:36of Israel's supporters?
15:39I don't think so.
15:40As we discussed yesterday at our hearing, to the extent there was any allegation of
15:44classified information here, that was not information that was coming from either Tulsi
15:49Gabbard or John Ratcliffe.
15:51So as far as I know, it's outside of our jurisdiction.
15:54Again, I haven't reviewed every single line that's been posted this morning.
15:59I'm sure that many people will be calling for investigations.
16:03But again, what I think is most important here is not the way this information was communicated,
16:09but the actions that were taken to actually attack the Yemen rebels who had been targeting
16:15our sailors and international shipping and our friends in Israel and Saudi Arabia and
16:20the United Arab Emirates for more than a year without any serious repercussion from Joe Biden.
16:26Going back to the software issue, clearly this is something that you all have tried before.
16:31What do you think of the current environment and the SEC also on the industry side?
16:38So the industry has long argued that this technology is not mature.
16:44It's rudimentary.
16:45It could lead to inadvertent blocking of first responder signals or persons who live near
16:52prison sites or who are driving down the road next to it.
16:56The technology since we first introduced this bill has increased greatly down to very precise targeting.
17:03So the correctional leaders we have behind us could tell you we're not even talking about
17:07entire prison campuses.
17:08We're talking specifically about housing units inside of those prisons.
17:13So I don't think industry's objections anymore hold water.
17:17We look forward to working with the FCC if this bill is passed to make sure that it's
17:21implemented in a careful and deliberate way that solves the problem that our correctional
17:27leaders have inside their prison without having any unintended consequences.
17:32David or anyone else?
17:35Just briefly, Senator Cotton said the technology is really advanced in terms of jamming.
17:40And I think we can all agree that if people lawfully have cell phones, they should be
17:45entitled and be able to use and get a signal.
17:50The programming with some technology is you can program lawful numbers from within a prison
17:58or jail that can make or receive calls.
18:02But if there's a contraband cell phone, and obviously that number is not authorized, it
18:07doesn't get a signal.
18:09So the technology has advanced a lot over the last several years.
18:14It will continue to advance.
18:16And the fact that you can protect the innocent people, those who should be able to lawfully
18:23use cell phones and not harm them, to me, makes this issue a no-brainer.
18:33Yes, ma'am?
18:35There was a young woman in the back that had a question for you, Frank.
18:49We'd like to get the support of the carriers.
18:52And obviously the carriers will weigh in.
18:56We want to hear what they have to say.
18:59But if we can do what we talked about a few moments ago, and that is identify people who
19:06are in jails or prisons, guards, other personnel who lawfully have the right to be able to
19:13use their phones, allow them to have access, and essentially cancel out the contraband
19:19cell phones, that protects everyone.
19:23So we want to hear from the telecoms.
19:27We want them to join in.
19:29And in the end, there's no reason for anybody to oppose the bill.
19:57Well, as I said yesterday, Signal was authorized for use by the Biden administration.
20:09As Director Ratcliffe of the CIA testified, it was loaded onto his devices the very first
20:14day he was at the office.
20:17And the information that was disclosed this morning did not include locations.
20:21It did not include specific targets.
20:23It did not include sources and methods.
20:25It was certainly not war plans, as it was exaggerated or embellished to be said.
20:29I'm sure the administration, like all administrations, will continue to review how it communicates
20:34inside and deliberates consistent with the requirements of operational security and presidential
20:40record-keeping rules.
20:42But I think here, the real story is the incredibly successful strikes in Yemen that has protected
20:49our sailors and protected our friends in Israel and international shipping.
20:54And that's where we should focus.
20:56Thank you all.