MR. TAYLOR: Thank you, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. (Applause.)
MR. TAYLOR: So I vividly remember December 2018, waking up one morning and reading in the newspaper that Congress had signed - had passed, and the President had signed, the FIRST STEP Act. I literally did not believe that would ever happen. (Laughter.) And, I mean, so much so that I got up and said,
"I can't believe it. Like, he said he'd do it. But I didn't think it would happen." And here we were.
And I realized there were so many people who had worked behind the scenes, people like Mark Holden, who's here in the room from Koch Industries. So many of you had worked to make this a reality.
And the first thing I thought was: What can I do as an American to do my part in this? I represent an organization called the Society for Human Resource Management, and we represent 300,000 HR people across the globe. Our companies employ 115 million people every day. And so we said,
"There's some role that we must be able to play."
And, instantly, it hit me: What's the next step? What we know is that once people get out, too often - get out of incarceration - too often they return because they can't find a job. These aren't bad people; they're people who are trying to survive. And we can play a role in that if we can help remove some of the barriers - those barriers that lead to high levels of recidivism. Again, no one wants to go back.
And so what we needed to do is figure out how we could play a role - the country's human resource professionals - to remove the barrier of employment. And so we're bringing back people back into the workplace.
So, I went back to my team; it was, of course, a week before Christmas, and they said,
"Wait a minute. What? You want me to work over the weekend?" I said,
"Yes." Mark Holden and his team, Jenny. Jenny is in the room. Thank you, Jenny. We all said we'd work together on the weekend with my Chief of Staff and our team, and we came up with an idea.
Over literally a one-week period, we launched a website called
"Getting Talent Back to Work." And we got 1,500 employers across this country to immediately sign to join the movement because we needed employers to commit. It wasn't enough to get people out of incarceration; we needed to get them employed. In a very short period of time, after announcing it with Charles Koch, Richard Branson, myself, we had people just signing up.
And so now, all of a sudden, Mr. President, your goal - your goal of getting that five times the number down to single digits - we're going to do it. And the Society for Human Resource Management. (Applause.) SHRM and our 300,000 members are committed. We're going to play our role. We're going to be warriors to get these warriors back to work. Thank you. God bless you. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Johnny. He'll do it too.
This afternoon, we also have an exciting announcement to ensure former inmates can overcome some of the greatest barriers to employment, including limited access to transportation, which is needed for interviews and for jobs.
To make this announcement, I'd like to invite up a very special guest and a powerful advocate for not only justice reform, but just a good person. And I hear she's starting to study law. She's also one of the most successful people in the entertainment business. Soon she'll be one of the most successful lawyers - I hate to tell all my lawyers back there. (Laughter.) But I knew her father, and I'll tell you, she's got good genes - that I can tell you. Good genes for everything. And she's been a real friend, and her husband has been a real friend of mine. Kim Kardashian West. (Applause.)
MS. KARDASHIAN WEST: Hi. It really is such an honor to be here today, so thank you. My whole journey with criminal justice reform started about a year ago when I came to see the President, after speaking to Ivanka and Jared - who really fought for me to get here - and I pled the case of Alice Johnson, who the President granted clemency to.
And after that, I really spent so much time going to different prisons because I really had no connection to anybody on the inside and really just felt like, for me, I am at the place in my life that I wanted to make a difference and just wanted to do the right thing, but I didn't know how or what to do, or even really what was going on.
And so after going to visit so many different prisons and really sitting down with lifers, with every situation you can possibly imagine, my heart just completely opened up and I wanted to do more. So I started to study the law, which is law school, basically, in California.
And my attorneys are here today, Erin and Jessica, from Cut50. (Applause.) Thank you.
So the best part of it is I learned so much that I don't even know if - I don't want to speak for anybody in law school, but I learned so much just, basically, working on memos and being the assistant to them while the FIRST STEP Act was happening, and like learning how you get bills passed, and working on it from the ground up. So to get the President's support and to see it come to fruition was magic.
And the one thing that I just realized that needed so much support, that I'm happy to help and be supportive where I can, was the reentry of people coming home and seeing the lack of support that really existed. Whether it's housing or the amount of letters that I get with people just needing transportation to job interviews, to jobs - these people want to work. They want the best outcome. And I'm so happy to be here today amongst people that want the same thing and that really believe in supporting their reentry.
So I'm so happy to announce today that we have a rideshare partnership where formerly incarcerated people will be gifted gift cards so that they can get rides to and from job interviews, to and from jobs, family members, and that is so important - so needed.
And I just want to thank the President for really standing behind this issue. And seeing the compassion that he's had for criminal justice has been really remarkable.
So I just want to thank all of the organizations that are partnering with everything that's going on and really being supportive, because it really does mean a lot to so many people that I've had the pleasure to speak to.
And I think the ultimate goal is everyone wants the community to be safe. And the more opportunity that we have and that they have, and the support that we help give them, the safer everyone will be. And the recidivism rate will be - continue to just get lower.
And so, I'm just thankful to everyone here that's in support, and so proud of this partnership with the rideshare organization. So, thank you. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Kim. Thank you. Great. I think she's pretty popular, huh? What do you think? (Laughter.) I can tell you this: If she is your assistant - she's your assistant. Two lawyers? (Laughter). She's your assistant? She's the highest paid assistant in history. (Laughter.) There's never been anything like it.
Anyway, thank you, Kim. That was beautiful.
I want to also just, while I'm here - a couple of friends and they've been rally incredible to me: Pastor Darrell Scott. Just stand up. He is something. (Applause.) He's a religious man, but I watched him on CNN so often and, you know, I wouldn't say that's the friendliest. And I watched you take apart people like they were nothing. So thank you, Pastor. He's a pastor.
PASTOR SCOTT: In 2020, we'll do it again.
THE PRESIDENT: 2020, we'll do it again. We're going to do it again.
And Pastor Paula White. Thank you, Paula. That support has been incredible. Thank you, Paula. Thank you very much. (Applause.) Great job. Right from the beginning, both of them.
In every action we take, we are revitalizing our cities, restoring hope to our communities, and uniting citizens all across our country. We're helping families grow their incomes and attend the schools of their choice, earn a great living, and have a truly rewarding career. We want to ensure that every American is prepared for the jobs of today and for the industries of tomorrow.
And together, we are expanding the blessings of America for every citizen, from every background, from every community, and every walk of life.
We are breaking down old barriers, tearing down yesterday's obstacles, and replacing the failures of the past with the bright and limitless future. That's what we have going. It's a limitless future.
So many people in this room and so many people outside of this room - they're given a second and, in some cases, a third chance, in all fairness. And I will say, they are really, really producing. It's a great thing to watch. If you - you know. You know all about it. And you know about it very well. And thank you.
MR. KOUFOS: Thank you, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: We really appreciate your being here. And we'll not stop until everyone in our national family can achieve their own beautiful American Dream.
I want to thank everybody for being here. God bless you. God bless America. I very much appreciate it. Thank you all very much. Thank you. (Applause.)
END • 4:56 P.M. EDT
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