releases: https://www.portman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=273D2D9A-20C7-4CD3-88E0-C962A36DCF15
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://www.portman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=273D2D9A-20C7-4CD3-88E0-C962A36DCF15 | On Senate Floor, Portman Calls for Senate Passage of His Second Chance Act as Part of Larger Criminal Justice Reform Legislation | 2018-12-18 | 2018 | 2018-12 | Republican | House | OH | Rob Portman | P000449 | www.portman.senate.gov | legacy | WASHINGTON, D.C. Today, U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) delivered remarks on the Senate floor calling for passage of bipartisan legislation he and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) authored, the Second Chance Reauthorization Act, which is included in the First Step Act, bipartisan legislation to reform America's criminal justice system. The Second Chance Reauthorization Act reauthorizes and amends the Second Chance Act, a law that supports state and local reentry programs to reduce recidivism. Then-Congressman Portman originally authored the Second Chance Act with the late-Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones in 2005, and it was later signed into law in 2008.Since 2009, more than 850 Second Chance Act grant awards have been made to government agencies and nonprofit organizations from 49 states for reentry programs serving adults and juveniles. As of June 2018, more than 164,000 individuals have participated in these programs.In total, Ohio has received more than $39 million in Second Chance Act grants since 2009, which includes funds to assist Ohioans re-entering the community with services such as job training, drug rehabilitation, case management and mental health treatment. Transcript of his remarks can be found below and a video can be found here. I want to talk today about the criminal justice reform legislation that's before the Senate. This is legislation that deals with two huge issues in our criminal justice system. One is important sentencing reforms. A lot of this is leveling the playing field, for instance, between crack cocaine and powder cocaine, what kind of sentencing ought to be used, something that has been talked about for many years. There is, in our view, many of us, an injustice with the levels of sentencing. That's important. Second, this legislation deals with an issue that many states are finally figuring out, which is that we need to do something to keep people who are leaving our jails and prisons from coming right back in to the criminal justice system again. These numbers are just amazing, 95 percent of those who are incarcerated will be released someday, we all know that, 95 percent of them. When people are released from prison or jail, over a three year period about two-thirds of them are rearrested. Some call it the revolving door. There's a fancier word for it, it's called recidivism, and it's a huge issue because, think about that. If two-thirds of the people are back in the prison system or the criminal justice system, that means they committed another crime. That means our communities are less safe. It also means that the taxpayer ends up picking up the tab, both the cost of prosecution again but also the cost of incarceration, which can go from $25,000 a year to $40,000 a year depending on what system these prisoners are in. In many of our states, frankly, this has driven the push toward doing something about it because the state budgets have been overwhelmed with the cost of criminal justice. So we've committed ourselves here in Congress to deal with that, to try to reduce the crimes, bring families back together, help people be able to live out their purpose in life. And God's purpose in life for all of us may be a little different but it's certainly not to be someone in the revolving door of the criminal justice system. One thing we have focused on is how do you give people the tools to be able to be more successful when they have left prison and reentered society. I've worked on this for the past 15 years, and one thing that we came up with was legislation called the Second Chance Act. The Second Chance Act was put into law about 11 years ago. It is an idea, actually, that George W. Bush talked about in his speech to Congress, joint session of Congress about 14, 15 years ago. And what he said was, Let's give people a second chance. We believe in redemption in this country.' Many of us believe in it as it is from its biblical roots. But it is something that George W. Bush believed in. And then he also said, it makes no sense because people are costing the communities more, more crime, costing taxpayers more through prosecution and incarceration. So let's do something about it. Not hold people back because of their mistakes in the past, but instead give them the tools to be able to lead a better life, a more productive life. The Second Chance Act has worked well over the years. It's provided this on-ramp to help ex-offenders reenter society appropriately. However it needs to be reauthorized. The criminal justice reform legislation we have before us deals with this issue of rehabilitation. It deals with this issue of giving people the tools to be able to succeed by job training, mental health treatment, by drug treatment, and that's important. Once they get out of the system that's where the Second Chance Act is so important. The message is clear. It tells ex-offenders if you want to turn your life around and become a productive member of society, we want to help you do that. Rather than incarcerating these repeat offenders, sometimes generation after generation, let's put our tax dollars to use in a more effective way to break this vicious cycle and turn these lives around. Congress appropriated funding for the Second Chance programs this year at $85 million, up from $68 million in some years in the past. We're actually putting more funding against it. But the program needs to be reauthorized to improve the program, to put more accountability measures into the program. And that's what it does, and again, it's part of this broader criminal justice reform that we are voting on today. I have spent a lot of time going around my state of Ohio seeing how these Second Chance Act grants are working. One thing they have done in my state and probably in your state is they have created these reentry coalitions. Now, because to get a coalition grant it's easier to have a reentry coalition making application for it, you have these comprehensive coalitions. l only had a few in Ohio and a few of our counties. Now we have them in over 60 of our counties and it's great because you have the business sector coming together, the private sector along with the law enforcement folks, along with the treatment providers. And I've seen it work all over our state. I've seen so many people who have successfully been able to make that transition from prison and a life of crime and this revolving door into a productive life. I'll tell you about one person who is always on my mind when I think about this. It's someone I met at something called Central Kitchen. Central Kitchen is a reentry program run by the Lutheran ministry in Cleveland, Ohio. Melvin is the gentleman I met there, and Melvin's story is classic. Melvin had been in and out of prison his whole life for about a decade and a half. He was in prison, out of prison, in prison. He grew up in a rough neighborhood as he said, he got involved with drugs and alcohol. He couldn't get out of the cycle, couldn't get out of the revolving door. One day he said he heard about this program and said, I'll check it out.' It's a faith-based program. They tend to be particularly effective, in my view, but it's one that's supported by legislation like the Second Chance Act. And sure enough, it's worked. Melvin learned how to cook. He then worked there at the Central Kitchen, went on to work full-time at another restaurant. As he said, What better way to be rewarded. What better way to be forgiven.' He started his own catering business. Now he's no longer defined by his past. He's defined by his willingness to take advantage of the Second Chance Act. His eyes are now on the future. By the way, one thing he told me that I'll never forget is, I finally got a place to live again. I got my apartment back.' And he said, Most importantly to me, I got my child back.' After 15 years of being in and out of prison, paying some child support, sometimes not, he now has his little girl living with him and he's a role model for her. And I've seen these role models all over our state. I've seen them in factories. I've talked to supervisors in factories who tell me the Second Chance employees, they are the role models, they show up on time. They're grateful. They realize they have been given a second chance and take it seriously. Mr. President, I support the underlying legislation, criminal justice reform law that we are now going to take up here on the floor. I think it's the right thing to do for our country in so many respects. Our communities will be safer. Taxpayers will be able to spend their money more efficiently and effectively. And to these individuals who are now given the chance and given the tools to be able to lift themselves up and lead productive lives, that is their purpose in life. God's purpose in life for them is being fulfilled by this legislation. I'm glad it's being reauthorized as part of this underlying legislation. I encourage my colleagues to support this legislation. I thank Senator Leahy, the co-author of the Second Chance Act on the other side of the aisle. This has been been bipartisan from the start. I want to thank the president and Jared Kushner for their support of this legislation. I also want to thank those members of the Senate who have been so involved in this, particularly my colleagues on the Judiciary Committee, Senator Durbin, Senator Lee. I just talked to Senator Lee about this legislation a moment ago. He's been tenacious. Senator Grassley, Senator Feinstein, Senator Graham, Senator Booker, Senator Whitehouse, Senator Cornyn and others. This legislation will make a difference in my state of Ohio and around the country and I encourage my colleagues to support it. ### | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |