[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 175 (Tuesday, November 13, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H13828-H13829]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  2000
                           SECOND CHANCE ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the House on 
the passage of H.R. 1593, the Second Chance Act. I congratulate my 
colleague from Illinois, Mr. Danny Davis, who has worked so long and so 
hard on this legislation.
  I am also proud to be a cosponsor of this legislation because so many 
of our citizens who have been led off course deserve a second chance.
  While the Nation's crime rates have fallen over the last decade, 
there has been an unprecedented explosion in prison and jail 
populations, of which 650,000 men and women are released from State and 
Federal prisons each year, and an even larger number of people are 
being released from our local jails.
  These individuals are arriving on the doorsteps of my neighborhood in 
Baltimore and in neighborhoods across this great country. 
Unfortunately, we are failing to integrate far too many of these 
returning neighbors into the economic and social life of our 
communities. And, as a result, they are returning to crime and, before 
long, returning to prison.
  Nearly two-thirds of released prisoners are expected to be rearrested 
for felony or serious misdemeanor within 3 years of release. Such high 
recidivism rates translate into thousands of new crimes each year, at 
least half of which can be averted through improved prisoner reentry 
efforts.
  For me, these statistics are not nameless and faceless people. They 
are very real. I live in the inner city of Baltimore, where 
approximately 700 to 800 former prisoners are reentering our 
neighborhoods from prison every month.
  A lot of good work is being done in the City of Baltimore to move 
these individuals on the path to productive citizenship; however, we 
can do much more and we can do better.
  The Second Chance Act will do just that by addressing critical 
breakdowns in the services provided. The legislation will strengthen 
overall efforts to reduce recidivism, increase public safety, and help 
States and cities to better address the growing population of ex-
offenders returning to our communities.
  The bill focuses on development and support of programs that provide 
alternatives to incarceration, expand the availability of substance 
abuse treatment, strengthen families, and expand comprehensive reentry 
services.
  We must end the vicious cycle of recidivism for the benefit of our 
communities and, indeed, our country. This is an issue that touches 
many of the problems that our society faces every day. Take, for 
example, the scourge of illicit drugs; 70 to 80 percent of offenders 
reentering the community have histories of substance abuse. And if the 
treatment they need is not sought or available upon release, relapse is 
likely.
  Prison reentry programs are on the front lines of our national war on 
drugs, and they are desperately needed in communities like Baltimore 
City where this war has become increasingly violent. Ex-offenders need 
help to make a smooth transition into civilian life. Once they make 
that transition, they have the potential to serve as critical resources 
to our communities, acting as mentors to our young people and working 
to unravel the same criminal network to which they once belonged.
  Reentry programs produce successful outcomes for our communities and 
our citizens, but they are also cost effective. Taxpayer dollars that 
could go to providing education, health care, or other vitally 
important services are instead going to support the costly criminal 
justice system. According to

[[Page H13829]]

the Bureau of Justice statistics, expenditures on corrections alone 
increased from $9 billion in 1992 to $44 billion in 1997. Those numbers 
have continued to rise over the past decade. We stand to save billions 
of taxpayer dollars by reducing recidivism rates by steering our ex-
offenders away from a life of crime and into a productive society.
  Every human being deserves a second chance to turn his or her life 
around. That is why I am so glad that we have passed H.R. 1593, the 
Second Chance Act. And again, I thank Congressman Danny Davis for his 
leadership in introducing and spearheading this legislation. I applaud 
all of my colleagues who voted in favor of it, and I urge the Senate to 
move swiftly.

                          ____________________