Remarks by President Trump at FIRST STEP Act Roundtable with Governor Bryant and Law Enforcement Leaders | Eastern North Carolina Now

    We've moved away from that, I'd guess, two decades ago, maybe when Lindsey and I first got to Congress, maybe a little while before, under President Clinton. And that trickled down to the states.

    It's also impressive to me that this bill, through the leadership of Jared Kushner, has passed the House of Representatives in essentially the same form. And I'm impressed by that. And a few tweaks might have to be made. But I think Senator Hyde-Smith and I understand that there's going to be a real effort to see if we can essentially pass what is essentially the House bill with a tweak or two, and have this as an accomplishment of this Congress and this administration this year.

    So I commend the state officials who work with it every day. You've got the chief corrections officer of the state. You've got the chief law enforcement officer of the state. You have the clergy you mentioned. You have the people on the local level. You have a prosecutor. And you've got Asya with her own personal testimony and story, and it's quite compelling.

    THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Roger. That's very nice.

    Cindy?

    SENATOR HYDE-SMITH: Well, Mr. President, as I've said many times, there's two types of inmates: ones you're scared of, and ones you're mad at because they did something stupid when they were young.

    For the ones you're scared of, you know, we've got a place for them. But so many people, as he referred, many years ago would say lock them up and throw away the key. Everybody in Pelicia Hall's recordkeeping, there's a release date down there. Everybody has a sentence with a release date. I think we better be very smart on what we're doing when that release date comes, because it is a revolving door. The recidivism rate is just a revolving door and they're back. So we've got to be smarter about this.

    And I don't know if you're familiar with drug courts. Drug courts are working fantastic in Mississippi. These are inmates who have to be spoon-fed. They have to come once a week, they have to be tested for drugs. They have to tell the judge are you employed; are you paying your child support; did you do anything over the weekend concerning drugs?

    And when you get them to that point that they're reporting before a judge every week, you are spoon-feeding them. But the best thing about that is, because of this process, if they test hot for drugs, or if they violate anything - a provision of drug court - they go to prison right then. Am I correct on that?

    Unless it's changed, the original law that I helped to pass as a state senator - there is no motion. The rest of the drug court participants, they see them put in an orange jumpsuit, they see them shackled. And they go out the door, and the next stop is prison.

    So you've got their attention. But it's people you just have to hold their hand every step of the way. So drug courts are phenomenal in Mississippi.

    THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you, Cindy, very much. Appreciate it. And good luck tomorrow.

    SENATOR HYDE-SMITH: Thank you.

    THE PRESIDENT: A big day.

    SENATOR HYDE-SMITH: I'm passionate about this. (Laughter.)

    THE PRESIDENT: Jared, how about saying a few words? You've worked so hard on this.

    MR. KUSHNER: Sure. First of all, thank you for your leadership on bringing everybody together. I know we've been negotiating hard with the Democrats in Congress and with the Republicans for the last year and a half to try and get to this compromise. Because these are very tricky issues, and you have to make sure all of the different voices are heard, especially the law enforcement community, which we've spent a lot of time engaging with. And they've made a lot of changes to the bill along the way that have made it much better of a bill.

    One of the law enforcement officials we were talking with said, "I'm sorry we've been such a pain." I said, "No, that's how this process is supposed to go. If there are things that are bothering you, you're supposed to be asking for them." We're supposed to be making modifications wherever we can, and keeping the balance to get it done.

    When you put something into law, you never really know how it's going to turn out, but one of the great advantages of a law like this is we've based it on a lot of what's been done in a lot of the states like Mississippi.

    So I'm very confident that hopefully we'll get this passed. And I'm very confident that it will be very successful in accomplishing the objectives of lowering crime in communities, helping people who have made mistakes in their life have a second chance or a third chance. But I think these programs will really make a difference for those people.

    And then also, hoping to help us at the federal level, reduce some of the money we're spending on housing people, and putting that into the front end to make sure that we're preventing crime on the streets in the first place, and putting the money with law enforcement and in a lot of the areas that make a difference.

    So I think we all want the same thing. We want safer communities. We want people to have better opportunities and a better life. And also the point you made before is very true too: In a very tough employment market - we have record-low unemployment now because the economy is doing well - we need workers. And so we've got a lot of people who are dying to be given a chance.

    And I know personally, from my experience dealing with people who have been given that second chance, they don't take that for granted because they know that that comes with a lot of responsibility to the other people who they were imprisoned with - knowing that if they do well, it will make their employer more likely to potentially hire somebody and give a second chance to that person. If they screw it up, they know that it means that their friends and the people who they went through the system with will have a lower probability of getting a chance like they got.

    So I think this is really great legislation. I think it shows that people in Washington are working hard to really do good for the American people. And again, I don't think this could have gotten to where it is under any other President other than you.

    So, really, thank you. And thank you to the Vice President for your leadership on this. And thank you to Governor Bryant and all of you for the great work you've done in Mississippi to really make this happen.

    THE PRESIDENT: That's very good.

    Lindsey.

    SENATOR GRAHAM: Well, it would be a great way to end 2018. I hope we can bring it to the floor. We'll get 80 votes if we do. There's always a reason to vote no, but this is a - to the people of Mississippi, you should be proud of the folks at this table. This has been an amazing turnaround of how you approach incarcerating people. And 10 percent of the people in jail are at the federal level.

    And, Jared, if this ever happens, it'd be because of your dogged determination. And when you jumped onboard a couple weeks ago, Mr. President, everything fell in place.

    So I'm hoping, if Chuck and Mitch are listening, let's vote in the next couple of weeks. Let's end 2018 on a good note.

    I've been a prosecutor. I've been a defense attorney. I've been a judge. And now is the time to look at what's not working. And I promise you, if you keep doing the same old thing, you're going to get the same old outcome. And the people of Mississippi showed us, if you do something different, you'll probably get a better outcome.

    THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, Lindsey, and thank you for working on it. All of you - everybody in the room has been incredible.

    And I think what I'll do is I'll finish up with our great Vice President who has worked as hard or harder than anybody, other than maybe Jared, right? I think we have to say, Jared, you really have been - you really pulled it together. And it's been very popular. Some very strong law enforcement people have called me. They said, "We love this. This has been..."

    And you go to the state of Texas - you know, you think of Texas as a tough law-and-order state, and they've done it. And Kentucky and Georgia and a lot of great places. And the job you've done, Phil. So it's become, really, very popular. I hope they get a vote, and I think it's going to be bipartisan.

    And, Mike, what do you have to say?

    THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you, Mr. President. And I think it's very clear, especially with the law enforcement and corrections leaders here, that this is a law and order administration. This President has supported law enforcement with resources and respect, and will continue to. I can promise you that.

    I checked the statistics today - FBI's Unified Crime Reporting. Violent crime is down; murder is down. We've set a record for prosecuting violent criminals last year.

    But from very early on in this administration, this President recognized that the cycle of recidivism, where within the first 18 months - 30, in some cases - 40 percent of inmates are back in prison is a challenge in our communities, and a challenge that we need to confront with creative approaches.

    And I think one of our very early conversations, Mr. President, was about our efforts in the state of Indiana at criminal justice reform. And I want to thank Governor Phil Bryant for being such a great example of this on the national level, and working so closely with you and with the administration, and you sharing what Mississippi has done here.

    But what I would say to each and every one here is that this is a President who believes that breaking the cycle of recidivism for certain inmates that are qualified - with job training, with transitional housing, with access to faith-based and character-based programs that give them a way to take that first step to living as law-abiding citizens - is a pathway towards safer communities and more secure communities. And it's consistent with this President's commitment to law and order.

    So I'm grateful to Senator Wicker and Senator Hyde-Smith and to Senator Graham for their expressions of support for this legislation. We'll be back on Capitol Hill tomorrow. And, Mr. President, we'll be carrying your strong support for this legislation and your desire to see the Senate act, and act before the end of this year in getting this bill to your desk, and really taking a first step toward a fresh start and a second chance for Americans who are currently in our corrections system, but given the right tools, given the right transition, given the right educational opportunities, will be able to choose a better path and a better life for their lives and for the safety and security and betterment of our communities.

    So thank you for your leadership, Mr. President. It's an honor to be here with you.

    THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much, Mike. Such great progress has been made. And a lot of people are shocked, because when this began - a long time ago, really; they've been trying to get it for years. But we're at a point now where we have a chance to take a vote.

    And I think you're going to get, as Lindsey would say, 80. I don't know if it's 80, but maybe if it's 60, that would be okay, too. But actually, we'd be disappointed, if you want to know the truth.

    SENATOR GRAHAM: We'll take 80.

    THE PRESIDENT: I think we want to see that support, because really, it's going to be tremendous support. I really think it's going to be -

    GOVERNOR BRYANT: (Inaudible) great Christmas present, Mr. President, for a lot of families.

    THE PRESIDENT: It'll be a tremendous thing for our country.

    So I want thank you all. Fantastic job, everybody. Appreciate it very much. And we will see you. And hopefully, we'll have a little celebration in Washington fairly soon. This will be terrific. And good luck to everybody, and good luck to you tomorrow.