Hearing on Fed. Prison Industries, Inc., one of the most important correctional programs in the Fed. Bureau of Prisons (FBP). Through this program, inmates are employed in productive, real-life work and learn basic job skills, self-discipline, and the importance of honest, productive work to our society. Under the trade name UNICOR, it produces goods in over 150 product lines and has gross annual revenues in excess of $459 million. The UNICOR program is entirely self-sufficient. No taxpayer moneys are used to operate it. Witnesses: Kathleen Hawk, Dir. of the FBP, and Steve Schwalb, COO of UNICOR; and Joseph Aragon, chmn. of the Board of Directors.

The following developments in recent decades, however, have increased congressional interest in FPI: • the erosion of the nation's manufacturing sector, which has resulted in lower levels of employment in that sector; • the increase in the federal inmate population at the same time the federal government was downsizing, resulting in a reduction of UNICOR's federal market; and • the need to develop [...] Before approving the expansion of an existing product or the creation of a new product, the act required UNICOR to • prepare a written analysis of the likely impact of UNICOR's expansion on industry and free labor; • announce in an appropriate publication the plans for expansion and invite comments on the plan; • advise affected trade associations; • provide the UNICOR board of directors with the [...] L. 107-107) required the Secretary of Defense to use competitive procedures for the procurement of the product if it is determined that the product is not comparable in price, quality and time of delivery to products available from the private sector. [...] In doing so, the act required the Secretary of Defense to conduct research and market analysis with respect to the price, quality and time of delivery of FPI products prior to purchasing the product from FPI to determine whether the products are comparable to products from the private sector. [...] L. 107-314) also required the Secretary of Defense to use competitive procedures for the procurement of the product if it is determined that the product is not comparable in price, quality and time of delivery to products available from the private sector.