Allard Meets With Attorney General Regarding Supermax

ALLARD MEETS WITH ATTORNEY GENERAL REGARDING SUPERMAX

U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.) met Wednesday with U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to seek his support for Allard's efforts to add $12 million to the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations bill to fund a perimeter fence at Supermax. During the meeting, the Attorney General pledged to work with Allard to address the funding issue for the fence.

The Attorney General also briefed Allard on the steps being taken to address the concerns raised in the recent Inspector General's report on Supermax.

"Today's meeting was extremely productive," said Allard, following the meeting. "Attorney General Gonzales assured me that the mail deficiencies raised in the Inspector General's report are being addressed, and he agreed to discuss the need for a perimeter fence with the Bureau of Prisons Director and follow up with me on the potential avenues to funding the fence."

Allard conducted an extensive tour of the Supermax facility on Monday, Oct. 30 and met with local law enforcement, prison guards and community officials afterward to hear their concerns regarding prison operations. On Thursday, Nov. 9, Allard met with Federal Bureau of Prisons Director Harley G. Lappin to convey the concerns he received in his meeting with local officials and citizens in Florence concerning Supermax and to address the issue of a perimeter fence.

"I have taken the concerns raised to me during my visit to Supermax and the meeting with Florence citizens back to Washington and have brought them directly to the attention of the Director of the Bureau of Prisons and to the Attorney General," said Allard. "Supermax houses some of the most dangerous prisoners in the country and we need to ensure we are doing everything needed to protect the prison personnel and the surrounding communities."

http://allard.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=232058&Month=11&Year=2006