Press Releases

U.S. Representative Matt Cartwright (PA-08) announced at a press conference earlier today that as chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies, he successfully secured $180,460,000 in additional funding for the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) in the 2023 Government Spending Package to sustain and increase BOP recruitment and hiring efforts nationwide.

“This funding will address critical staffing shortages at federal prisons across the country, including the U.S. Penitentiary, Canaan, in Wayne County,” said Rep. Cartwright. “This much-needed financial support will provide robust federal investment in the safety of our federal prisons and the brave correction officers who go to work in them every day. I was proud to deliver this essential funding as the chair of the Commerce, Justice, Science Subcommittee.”

Overall, the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) was funded at $8.7 billion, an increase of $582.6 million, or 7% more than the fiscal year 2022 enacted level, and includes funding for programs to allow prisoners to reenter society successfully as well as communications and security upgrades and other maintenance and repairs in federal prison facilities.

$180 million of the increase secured by Rep. Cartwright, above the Administration’s request for BOP operations, will go towards the recruitment, retention and hiring of qualified corrections officers by offering competitive pay and benefits as well as retention and hiring bonuses.

“It has been ten years since my son Officer Eric Williams was brutally murdered by an inmate at USP Canaan. Eric was working alone in a housing unit of 125 high security inmates when he was killed. Had there been a second officer on hand, the outcome may have been very different,” said Donald Williams, father of the late Senior Officer Eric Williams. “My organization, Voices of JOE, has worked in conjunction with the Council of Prison Locals these past ten years trying to address the staffing crisis within the Bureau of Prisons. With this money now allocated by Congressman Cartwright and his Appropriations Committee, we are hopeful that some real resolution will be forthcoming to alleviate this ongoing crisis of understaffed prisons.”

“We appreciate Congressman Cartwright’s support and his ongoing efforts to help us recruit and retain employees at USP Canaan,” said Corrections Officer Dave Demas, who is also the Union President of AFGE Local 3003. “In addition to corrections officers, we’re actively hiring for a number of positions including all levels of medical personnel and administrative and clerical workers. The money Congressman Cartwright has helped us secure will really help us in our recruitment efforts and maintain our high standards of safety and professionalism throughout the institution.”

To further support USP Canaan, Rep. Cartwright joined with Senator Bob Casey to send a letter to the Secretary of Labor, the Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and the Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget requesting Wayne County’s inclusion in the New York locality pay area. This recommendation, which would increase the salaries of federal employees working in Wayne County, has been tentatively approved by the President’s Pay Agent, and following a formal rulemaking process, workers would begin receiving the increased pay in January 2024.

As the chair of the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Cartwright was responsible for overseeing more than $80 billion in annual federal spending, including funding for the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Prisons.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons was established in 1930 to provide humane care for federal inmates by professionalizing and centralizing the federal prison system. The Agency employs more than 34,000 workers and houses over 150,000 inmates in 122 institutions across the country.