{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://clayhiggins.house.gov/2018/12/20/higgins-votes-against-misguided-criminal-justice-reforms/", "Higgins Votes Against Misguided Criminal Justice Reforms", "2018-12-20", "2018", "2018-12", "Republican", "House", "LA", "Clay Higgins", "H001077", "clayhiggins.house.gov", "clayhiggins", "https://clayhiggins.house.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "\u201cWhile the First Step Act has some positive reforms for our prison systems, I could not support the liberal changes made in the Senate\u2019s version of the bill. Many of America\u2019s top law enforcement organizations are opposed to this bill. It lacks the necessary protocols to ensure the effectiveness of early release programs. I am well on record as supporting reasonable, compassionate criminal justice reform. However, I will not support reckless criminal justice reform. There must be more thorough measures in place that ensure released felons are held accountable if they continue to commit criminal acts or endanger public safety. Further, restricting sentencing guidelines for repeat offender, heavy drug dealers as well as violent gun crimes is a bad idea. The Senate\u2019s liberal revisions of the bill make it poisonous for America. Although the House version of the First Step Act was, overall, good legislation, wise and compassionate legislation\u2026 the Senate version has gone too far.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:11:43Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://clayhiggins.house.gov/2018/12/20/higgins-votes-against-misguided-criminal-justice-reforms/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.1531817726790905, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}