[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 5814]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING PRISON FELLOWSHIP

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Madam Speaker, in the 1990s we realized that tough 
sentencing for criminals reduced crime rates. But this year alone, 
roughly 600,000 of those prisoners will be released; and statistics 
show that over 60 percent of these parolees will return to prison 
within 2 years.
  To combat this trend, Prison Fellowship, a faith-based group, was 
formed and began to offer job-skills training, drug treatment, and the 
opportunity to cultivate character and faith. The results have been 
dramatic. Just 8 percent of their participants have returned to prison 
within 2 years. It simply produces productive rehabilitated members of 
society.
  But the forces of the left seek to undo the progress by suing Prison 
Fellowship. Americans United for the Separation of Church and State 
have sued them because of this. The left needs to learn that faith-
based programs work many times better than government programs. They 
are seeking to build a more healthy society.

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