Foreign Prison Conditions Improvement Act of 2010
Latest action. Placed on Senate legislative calendarThe list of measures reported out of committee and eligible for floor action. Being on the calendar is not a promise of a vote.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) under General Orders. Calendar No. 724.
Foreign Prison Conditions Improvement Act of 2010 - Directs the Secretary of State to annually report to Congress describing prison and detention facility conditions in countries receiving U.S. assistance, including a list of countries whose governments do not meet minimum prison and detention facility standards but are, and those who are not, making significant compliance efforts.
Urges the Secretary and the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to provide assistance to countries whose governments do not meet such minimum standards but are making significant compliance efforts. Prohibits such funds from being used to construct new prisons.
Directs the Secretary to enter into negotiations to achieve the purposes of this Act with a government listed in the report as not making significant compliance efforts. Authorizes in order to achieve such purposes: (1) the Secretary and the Administrator to restructure or reduce U.S. assistance to such government; and (2) the Secretary to issue or deny visas for U.S. travel by officials of such government.
Directs the Secretary to establish within the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor a full-time equivalent Deputy Assistant Secretary level position to advance the purposes of this Act.
Authorizes appropriations.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Reported to Senate with amendment(s)" stage on December 21, 2010. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on December 21, 2010: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 724.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 111th Congress (2009-10), 383 of the 10,778 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.6 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Patrick Leahy (D-VT) introduced it on September 16, 2010, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Republican.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on September 16, 2010, 5887 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 5791 days ago, on December 21, 2010.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 111th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2011 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers