One of the more interesting aspects of FreedomWorks' justice reform project is studying the over-criminalization. It is an issue that many want to avoid, preferring instead to focus their efforts on other very worthy issues like sentencing and corrections reform. Of course, we support these efforts. With 4,500 to 5,000 federal criminal statutes and as many as 400,000 regulations carrying criminal penalties, over-criminalization is a problem, and it is one that does not get nearly enough attention.

The House Judiciary Committee is poised to take up several bills dealing with justice reform. Among the bills scheduled for markup on Wednesday are the Sentencing Reform Act, sponsored by Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), and the Criminal Code Improvement Act, introduced by Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.). FreedomWorks has released letters of support for both bills.

As one of our more than 6.9 million FreedomWorks members nationwide, I urge you to contact your congressman today and ask him or her to support the Criminal Code Improvement Act of 2015, H.R. 4002, and to co-sponsor it if they have not already done so.

The epidemic of over-criminalization was the focal point of remarks delivered by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) on Monday afternoon. Justice reform has been a hot topic in Congress this year, particularly in the Senate, where several Judiciary Committee members are finalizing the language of a bill that would bring modest sentencing and prison reforms to the corrections system. Unfortunately, over-criminalization has been largely missing from the debate.

Justice reform is a topic that has received a lot of attention from members of Congress. Front-end sentencing and back-end reentry reforms have dominated the discussion on Capitol Hill, as well as out outside of Washington. Over-criminalization of federal criminal law, however, has not received nearly enough attention.

In April 1790, the first Congress passed the Crimes Act, a law that established a criminal code in the United States. The Constitution listed only three crimes -- counterfeiting, piracy, and treason. The Crimes Act codified those crimes and added a little more than a dozen others, including murder, larceny, and perjury. The list of federal offenses was short and easily defined.