President Trump backs historic prison reform

Shortly after 4:30 p.m. today, President Donald J. Trump called on Congress to take action and support the FIRST STEP Act, a bipartisan bill that will reform America’s prisons and improve our Nation’s criminal justice system.

“Our whole Nation benefits if former inmates are able to reenter society as productive, law-abiding citizens,” the President says.

One-in-three American adults today has some type of criminal record, and more than 2 million Americans are in prison—including 181,000 in Federal penitentiaries. More than 95 percent of these inmates will eventually leave prison and face the challenge of restarting their lives. Among Federal inmates today, nearly 40 percent will be rearrested within five years of release.

That outcome helps no one. The FIRST STEP Act will make our communities safer by making our justice system work better in three key ways:

Provide incentives for low-risk inmates to receive crucial support services, including vocational training and faith-based programs to ease reentry
House more prisoners in facilities closer to their own communities, allowing for family visitation and greater local support
Roll back certain provisions of former President Clinton’s infamous crime law, reforming mandatory minimums that have led to racially discriminatory outcomes and increased prison overcrowding

Get the facts: President Trump backs historic prison reform

Watch: President Trump’s announcement from the White House

Vice President Pence’s trip to Asia

Vice President Mike Pence is in Asia this week, representing the United States in a series of key summits throughout the region. His mission is simple: advance President Trump’s vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific.

“The United States seeks collaboration, not control,” the Vice President wrote in The Washington Post before departing. “We seek an Indo-Pacific — from the United States to India, from Japan to Australia, and everywhere in between — where sovereignty is respected, where commerce flows unhindered and where independent nations are masters of their own destinies.”

On North Korea, the Vice President was clear. “The pressure campaign will continue, and the sanctions will remain in full force, until we achieve the final, fully verified denuclearization,” he said in a joint press statement alongside Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. “The United States, Japan, and the world will accept nothing less.”

1 minute highlight: Vice President Pence’s joint statement with Prime Minister Abe

Photo of the Day

Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian

President Donald J. Trump speaks on the phone with FEMA Administrator Brock Long to receive the latest update on the devastating wildfires in California | November 14, 2018