Hoyer Statement on House Passage of the MORE Act

Statement

House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (MD) released the following statement today after the House passed the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act:

"Today, the House passed legislation important to Democrats' work addressing systemic racism and reforming our criminal justice system. Millions of Americans' lives have been upended as a result of convictions for possessing small amounts of marijuana, and the racial disparities in conviction rates for those offenses are as shocking as they are unjust. That's why we passed the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act today, which will decriminalize cannabis possession and create a process to expunge the records of those convicted of non-violent marijuana possession in the past. As a result of those convictions, many now have difficulty finding jobs or obtaining loans, effectively excluding them from economic opportunity, which, in the context of the severe racial disparities of those convictions, represents a modern-day form of segregation.

"I want to thank Chairman Nadler of the Judiciary Committee for authoring this legislation, along with Vice President-elect Harris in the Senate, and for moving it swiftly through his committee before the end of the 116th Congress. I also want to thank Rep. Earl Blumenauer and Rep. Barbara Lee for their longtime advocacy for this type of reform. I hope the Senate will join us in passing this legislation, and I will work with Chairman Nadler, with the Congressional Black Caucus, and with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to continue advancing measures that fix our broken criminal justice system and root out the racial injustices in policing and sentencing in our country."

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