this cynthia schenk is a mother of three beautiful children turn advocate for criminal justice reform policy for time in prison. her 15 year sentence under drug conspiracy laws was commuted by president obama after she served eight years in prison. ms. schenk was featured in hbo documentary "the sentence" here ms. piper kerman, author of "orange is the new black" which is about the 13 months by bruce ohr at the federal correction institution in danbury, connecticut. she is an advocate who teaches writing classes at two state prisons in ohio as an affiliate instructor with oberman university. ms. aleks kajstura is the legal director for prison policy, for the prison policy initiative and is played a central role in building is in policy initiative campaign against prison gerrymandering and let the organizations work on its second major issue, sensing enhancement zones. ms. patrice onwuka, a senior policy analyst at independent women's forum. we welcome our witnesses and thanked them for participating in today's hearing. please note a written statement will entered into the record in it

i'm grateful to add my voice with other return citizens like cynthia schenk and charlotte gore here with us today to call for changes to u.s. criminal justice system. our expenses are essential to understanding the reform that's needed in the system so that it will both provide for public safety but in a way that is legal, humane, and sensible. and that's what i'm here today. so incarceration rates are not driven by crime rates. they are driven by policy decisions. for decades women and girls have been the fastest growing part of the prison population in the united states. -- >> we will leave this hearing on women in the criminal justice system for just a moment. the senate is expected to gavel in for a brief pro forma session with no votes scheduled. the chamber has been coming in every three business days during the summer recess. allstate were period, legislative work will resume on monday. live senate coverage here on c-span2. the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington, d.c., september 6, 2019. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3,