    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book I)]
    [April 9, 2008]
    [Pages 490-492]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Signing the Second Chance Act of 2007
    April 9, 2008

        The President. Please be seated. Thank you. Please sit down. Thanks
    for coming. I'm about to sign a piece of legislation that will help give
    prisoners across America a second chance for a better life. This bill is
    going to support the caring men and women who help America's prisoners
    find renewal and hope.
        I can't thank the folks who care enough about a fellow citizen to
    offer their love and compassion. It's through the acts of mercy that
    compassionate Americans are making the Nation a more hopeful place, and
    I want to thank you all for joining us today.
        And I thank the Members of Congress who have joined us as well:
    Senator Arlen Specter, ranking member of the
    Judiciary Committee; Chairman Joe Biden, not of the Judiciary Committee----
        Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Thank
    God. [Laughter]
        The President. ----but of Foreign Relations; but a key member of the
    Judiciary Committee, Senator Sam Brownback,
    as well. So we've got three United States Senators here, and I'm honored
    they are here. Members of the United States Congress--chairman of the
    House Judiciary, John Conyers, and Ranking
    Member Lamar Smith: I want to thank
    you all for coming.
        I appreciate very much Danny Davis
    joining us as well--bill sponsor. I want to thank Jim
    Sensenbrenner and Bobby
    Scott and Howard Coble and Chris Cannon,
    all good Members and all Members who worked hard to get this piece of
    legislation here in timely fashion.
        I thank the Attorney General, Judge Michael Mukasey, for joining us as well. Elaine Chao--thank you for coming, Madam Secretary; Rob
    Portman, former Director of the OMB; and
    all the supporters of the Second Chance legislation. Thanks for caring
    about your country; thanks for working on this piece of legislation.
        The country was built on the belief that each human being has
    limitless potential and worth. Everybody matters. We believe that even
    those who have struggled with a dark past can find brighter days ahead.
    One way we act on that belief is by helping former prisoners who've paid
    for their crimes. We help them build new lives as productive members of
    our society.
        The work of redemption reflects our values; it also reflects our
    national interests. Each year, approximately 650,000 prisoners

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    are released from jail. Unfortunately, an estimated two-thirds of them
    are rearrested within 3 years. The high recidivism rate places a huge
    financial burden on taxpayers; it deprives our labor force of productive
    workers; and it deprives families of their daughters and sons and
    husbands and wives and moms and dads.
        Our Government has a responsibility to help prisoners to return as
    contributing members of their community. But this does not mean that the
    Government has all the answers. Some of the most important work to help
    ex-convicts is done outside of Washington, DC, in faith-based
    communities and community-based groups. It's done on streets and
    smalltown community centers. It's done in churches and synagogues and
    temples and mosques.
        I like to call the folks who are engaged in this compassionate work
    members of the armies of compassion. They help addicts and users break
    the chains of addiction. They help former prisoners find a ride to work
    and a meal to eat and place to stay. These men and women are answering
    the call to love their neighbors as they'd like to be loved themselves.
    And in the process, they're helping prisoners replace anger and
    suffering and despair with faith and hope and love.
        The bill I'm signing today, the Second Chance Act of 2007, will
    build on work to help prisoners reclaim their lives. In other words, it
    basically says, we're standing with you, not against you.
        First, the act will authorize important parts of the
    administration's prison reentry initiative. The goal of this initiative
    is to help America's prisoners by expanding job training and placement
    services, improving their ability to find transitional housing, and
    helping newly released prisoners get mentoring, including from faith-
    based groups.
        The past 3 years, congressional appropriations have supported the
    work in 20 States through a series of pilot programs awarded to
    community- and faith-based organizations by the U.S. Department of
    Labor. The early efforts have fielded promising results. In the first 2
    years of the program, more than 12,800 offenders have enrolled in the
    prisoner reentry program. More than 7,900 have been placed in jobs. Only
    18 percent of those enrolled in the program have been arrested again
    within a year; that's less than half the national average. We like to
    measure results, and the results of these pilot programs are very
    encouraging.
        With the legislation I'll sign today, Congress has recognized the
    success of this good policy, and I thank them for their good work.
    Secondly, act will support the Justice Department's ongoing work to help
    our Nation's prisoners. This bill will help State and local governments
    and Indian tribes and nonprofit groups implement programs that will
    improve the prisoner reentry process.
        These programs will provide further--former prisoners with essential
    services, like housing and medical care. It will help develop prisoner
    drug treatment programs and support prisoner mentoring initiatives. It
    will support family counseling and other services to help prisoners
    reestablish their place in the community.
        In both these ways, the Second Chance Act will live up to its name.
    It will help ensure that where the prisoner's spirit is willing,
    community's resources are available. It will help our armies of
    compassion use their healing touch so lost souls can rediscover their
    dignity and sense of purpose.
        I recently went to a program in Baltimore, Maryland, called the
    Jericho. I met a man there, who has kindly joined us today, named Thomas
    Boyd. He's 53 years old. He spent more than 20
    years of his life using drugs and going back and forth to jail. He
    remembers the day when his daughter sat down, looked him in the eye, and
    said, ``Daddy, I think it's time for you to start doing something with
    your life.''
        He took his daughter's advice. He sought out
    the Jericho reentry program, which is

    [[Page 492]]

    supported by the reentry initiative. When I visited the program, I tried
    to remind them that the least shall be first. I also reminded him I was
    a product of a faith-based program. I quit drinking, and it wasn't
    because of a government program. It required a little more powerful
    force than a government program in my case.
        And he told me that he appreciates the love
    and compassion he felt--feels on a regular basis. He's working; he's
    back with his family; he's a good guy. And I want to thank you for
    coming, Thomas.
        I want to thank you for coming, Thomas.
        Thomas Boyd. Yes, sir, thank you.
        The President. There's a lot of other Thomases out there that we're
    going to help with this bill. And so I thank the Members of Congress for
    joining us. Thanks for your hard work. I thank the members of my
    administration who are going to see to it that the bill is implemented
    properly.
        And now it is my honor to sign this important piece of legislation.
    May God bless the country, and may God bless those who are trying to
    help. Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:31 a.m. in Room 350 of the Dwight D.
    Eisenhower Executive Office Building. H.R. 1593, approved April 9, was
    assigned Public Law No. 110-199.