{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.lankford.senate.gov/news/press-releases/icymi-lankford-celebrates-launch-of-prison-fellowship-academy-at-fci-el-reno-marking-years-of-work-to-expand-faith-based-rehabilitation-in-federal-prisons/", "ICYMI:\u00a0Lankford Celebrates Launch of Prison Fellowship Academy at FCI El Reno, Marking Years of Work to Expand Faith-Based Rehabilitation in Federal Prisons", "2026-07-02", "2026", "2026-07", "Republican", "Senate", "OK", "James Lankford", "L000575", "www.lankford.senate.gov", "lankford", "https://www.lankford.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "page_html", "OKLAHOMA CITY, OK \u2014 US Senator James Lankford (R-OK) recently celebrated the launch of the first federal Prison Fellowship Academy at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in El Reno, Oklahoma, following a ribbon-cutting ceremony held earlier this month. Prison Fellowship is the first nonprofit to have a program designated as an evidence-based recidivism reduction program under the First Step Act by the US Department of Justice\u2019s Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). The designation marks a milestone in a decades-long effort by Lankford to ensure faith-based organizations have a seat at the table in federal rehabilitation efforts.\n\n\u201cThis ribbon-cutting ceremony represents a breakthrough for religious liberty behind bars and a victory for all who affirm the principles of human dignity, accountability and fairness, both inside prison and upon reentry,\u201d said Lankford.\n\n\u201cThis partnership with the BOP not only represents major progress in bringing transformational programming to more people in federal prisons, but it also highlights the belief that no person is beyond redemption,\u201d said Heather Rice-Minus, Prison Fellowship president and CEO. \u201cThe Prison Fellowship Academy is designed to help participants prepare for a successful future, both inside and outside prison walls. We are honored to work with the BOP to expand its impact nationwide.\u201d\n\nYou can view Lankford\u2019s remarks ahead of the ribbon-cutting ceremony HERE.\n\nBackground\n\nFor years, Senator Lankford has championed the role of faith-based organizations in federal prisons, fighting to ensure they have equal access to rehabilitation work and are not sidelined by federal bureaucracy. His efforts have been instrumental in building the legal and policy framework that made today\u2019s announcement possible.\n\nIn 2018, Lankford voted in favor of the First Step Act, a landmark bipartisan legislation that expanded rehabilitative programming in federal prisons and created the framework for faith-based organizations like Prison Fellowship to partner with the BOP.\n\nLankford successfully amended the First Step Act to explicitly allow faith-based groups to provide job training, social development, and family programming on equal footing with non-faith-based organizations. Prior to this amendment, the Bureau of Prisons had largely shut faith-based groups out of recidivism reduction work in federal facilities. That change directly paved the way for Prison Fellowship\u2019s historic designation as the first nonprofit evidence-based recidivism reduction program under the First Step Act.\n\nLankford co-authored the bipartisan MERCY Act with Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), which was incorporated into the First Step Act and limits the use of solitary confinement for juveniles in federal custody, ensuring young people retain access to rehabilitative and educational programming while incarcerated.\n\nLankford is a cosponsor of the Safer Supervision Act, bipartisan legislation supported by Prison Fellowship that modernizes federal supervised release by tailoring conditions to individual circumstances and reducing barriers to successful reentry.\n\n###", 1, "2026-07-03T08:00:00Z", "2026-07-03T08:01:30Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.lankford.senate.gov/news/press-releases/icymi-lankford-celebrates-launch-of-prison-fellowship-academy-at-fci-el-reno-marking-years-of-work-to-expand-faith-based-rehabilitation-in-federal-prisons/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9307721629738808, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}