    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book I)]
    [January 29, 2008]
    [Pages 125-128]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks During a Visit to the Jericho Program in Baltimore, Maryland
    January 29, 2008

        Thank you all for coming. I'm proud to be standing with you men. Thank you very much.
    Thank you very much for your hospitality.
        Last night in my State of the Union, I highlighted the important
    work being done by faith-based organizations. This morning I was pleased
    to visit one of these inspiring groups, the Episcopal Community Services
    of Maryland, right here in Baltimore. I cannot thank you enough for the
    chance to take a tour. And, Bonnie, you and
    your staff have been most hospitable.
        I've come to look firsthand at the Jericho Program, which is helping
    former prisoners make a successful transition back to society. There's
    no more important goal than to help good souls become--come back to our
    society as productive citizens. I'm honored to have been with those who
    have worked hard to deal with their circumstances in such a way that
    they become productive citizens. I'm standing next to two such men, and I met probably
    seven others downstairs.
        I do want to thank Bonnie Ariano for
    joining me and the Secretary. I'm going to talk about the
    Secretary's role here in a minute, in this
    important program. I thank very much Greg Carpenter, a former prisoner who is now a mentor, a leader in this
    program. And he's a--I appreciate his heart.
        I welcome Jay Hein, Director of the Office
    of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives at the White House. I do want
    to thank State Senator David Brinkley for
    joining us; Senator, proud you're here. I appreciate the Jericho staff.
    I want to thank the Episcopal Community Services of Maryland board of
    directors. I appreciate you all coming. I thank you very much for
    supporting this program.
        When I came into office, the Nation's traditions of religious
    freedom and equal opportunity were facing unnecessary obstacles.
    Throughout America, religious and community groups were providing
    effective assistance to people in need, but there was a great reluctance
    on the part of the Federal Government to help them. There was the notion
    that somehow that there needed to be a clear separation of church and
    state, and therefore, we shouldn't be using taxpayers' money to help
    programs that were helping to meet important national goals.
        Unfortunately, in some instances where there was an interface with
    Government, people were told that in order to interface, you have to
    take the cross off the wall or take down the Star of David. In other
    words, you had to abandon the very principle by which you existed in the
    first place. And it made no sense. If a program was effective because
    they were willing to recognize a higher power, if a program was
    effective because people responded because they felt a call from a
    higher power, then to deny the higher power really reduced the
    effectiveness of the program.
        And so 7 years ago, my administration created the White House Office
    of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives to deal with this problem. We
    wanted to focus our Government and taxpayers' money on solutions, on
    effective programs, and we recognized that many of the effective
    programs existed in the faith community. Washington,

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    DC, oftentimes is a process-oriented town. We need to work hard to make
    it a results-oriented town. And if one of the compelling national
    interests is to help good people who have been in prison come back and
    readjust and learn skills and the attitudes necessary to be a productive
    citizen, if that's an important national concern, then we ought to turn
    to programs that are meeting those results. That's what we ought to do.
        And that's what's happening right here. That's why I'm here. This is
    a program that is working, and it is supported by the Federal
    Government, and it should be.
        Since 2001, the Government has leveled the playing field. That's one
    of our objectives early on in my administration, was to level the
    playing field, to make it easier for faith-based and community groups to
    compete for billions of dollars in Federal grants, grants that would
    help them accomplish their objectives.
        With this newfound support, America's faith-based groups are getting
    results. If you ask people here, is a program working, the answer is,
    absolutely. It's one thing to ask the director;
    more importantly, it's another thing to ask those who have benefited.
    These are men who
    were, in some ways, lost and lonely and found love and redemption at
    Jericho. I'm going to talk about them in just a second.
        But there are all kinds of programs that are helping meet our
    national needs and goals. There are programs to help provide mentors for
    70,000 children whose parents are incarcerated. There are programs to
    help deal with drug addiction and alcohol addiction, programs to help
    young people in our inner cities escape gangs. These are all programs
    where a faith-based or community group has dedicated their lives to
    solve a problem. And it makes sense for the Federal Government to give
    these programs a chance to access taxpayers' money.
        When we begin the work, we didn't settle for just opening an office
    in the White House; we opened 11 offices for faith-based and community
    initiatives throughout the Federal Government. It's one thing for the
    White House to have an office, but most of the money--or all the money,
    for that matter--is appropriated to different Cabinet officers and their
    secretariats, and then those distribute the money. And so we wanted to
    make sure that this faith-based initiative was rooted throughout the
    Government.
        And one of the offices is at the Department of Labor, ably headed by
    Secretary Elaine Chao. She's a member of my
    Cabinet. Every year, nearly 650,000 men and women are released from
    prison, and one of her top priorities, along with the Department of
    Justice, is to help those readjust to our society. And there's a
    compelling reason to: Half the people getting released from prison go
    back. And the idea is to help deal with that issue. We don't want people
    going back to prison; we want to help them readjust in society. And it
    turns out that faith-based programs are very effective. And this is such
    a program.
        The whole purpose of Jericho is a prisoner reentry initiative.
    That's why you exist. It's interesting how a program like this works.
    This is a small program, really, to some of the really large faith-based
    programs. And by the way, part of our initiative was to encourage what I
    call ``social entrepreneurship.'' It's to stand side by side with
    smaller programs, because smaller programs, when they're proved to be
    successful, turn out to be larger programs. And larger programs
    obviously help more people, but they also serve as an example.
        I like the fact that you call yourselves ``the Jericho.'' After all,
    the walls came tumbling down. That's what's happening here; old walls
    are tumbling down, and new lives are being built.
        One of the great things about a faith-based program--one of the
    great aspects of a faith-based program is there's a lot of people in our
    society who hear the call to love a neighbor. That's, after all, one of
    the key tenets of faith: Love a neighbor

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    like you'd be--like to love--be loved yourself. And so what you find
    here is programs supported by people who want to make a difference in
    our society, and it doesn't require a government law to cause them to do
    so. You need to pass a law and sign a law that says, you will love your
    neighbor; there's a higher law that does that. And these programs just
    gather that love and work to save societies one soul at a time.
        And we've got two such souls here. Adolphus Mosely, he came here last summer after having been
    released from prison, and he graduated from one of Jericho's work
    training programs. And he started--got him a new job. And he's proud of
    that.
        By the way, first, there's a--people have got to come here and
    realize that there are people who love them and want to help them. And
    second, there is the practical application of helping somebody find
    work. Addiction is hard to overcome. As you might remember, I drank too
    much at one time in my life. I understand faith-based programs. I
    understand that sometimes you can find the inspiration from a higher
    power to solve an addiction problem. This program helps along these
    folks who have--had been dealing with addictions.
        I also appreciate Thomas Boyd. He spent
    nearly 4 years in prison. He came here September. And thanks to the
    program, he's got a new dilemma: He had to choose between several job
    offers. [Laughter] That's a good dilemma to have. He's supporting
    himself. He's--both these men are reunited with their daughters. They
    find great pride in the fact that they have chosen a path with the help
    of the folks at Jericho. They shared with me their love for their little
    girls, and I know the feeling. And I appreciate the fact that, you know,
    that you're on your feet and you're feeling good and strong and you're
    assuming the responsibility of fatherhood.
        And so I've come to herald programs such as the Jericho Program. Our
    Government should not fear the influence of faith in our society. We
    ought to welcome faith-based programs. Last night I called on the
    Government to make the charitable choice provisions of our law
    permanent. We shouldn't say to programs such as this, we'll help you
    through a Department of Labor and Justice grant, and then turn our back
    on the program when it's successful. There ought to be consistency of
    policy. Our Government ought to welcome results. We ought to say, thank
    God there are people such as this in our neighborhoods and societies
    helping these good men.
        So it's an honor to be here. I'm proud to be in the presence of
    Americans who care deeply about our country and are willing to do
    something about the future of the country by helping lost souls find
    love and hope in their lives. And I want to thank the--I want to thank
    very much the Episcopal Community Services for sponsoring this program.
        Again, I want to thank you all for leading with your hearts. Thank
    these two good men
    for joining me today. God bless you. Proud to be with you. Thank you.
        All right. Thank you all.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:45 a.m. at the Robert M. Davis House. In
    his remarks, he referred to Bonnie Ariano, director, and Greg Carpenter,
    coordinator for mentoring and training, Jericho Program.

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