Goodlatte and Collins Applaud House Passage of the First Step Act

Washington, D.C. – The House of Representatives today approved by a vote of 358-36 a bill that improves the federal prison system through the implementation of corrections policy reforms, the First Step Act. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet Vice Subcommittee Chairman Doug Collins (R-Va.) issued the following statements below.  Chairman Goodlatte: “We can all agree that America needs criminal justice reform. The First Step Act will help control corrections spending, manage the prison population, reduce recidivism, and ensure our system works more efficiently and justly, while also protecting our citizens from violent criminals. Passage of this legislation has truly been a bipartisan and bicameral process, of which I am proud to be a part. Thank you again to Doug Collins for introducing and shepherding this bill through Congress. I also want to thank our Senate counterparts; we are proud to deliver the First Step Act to the President’s desk.” Subcommittee Vice Chairman Collins: "The First Step Act invests in what Americans value most fiercely—people. We know that lives can be redirected and redeemed, and we're committing to doing that with tools that are proven to work. With the partnership of leaders like Chairman Grassley, Whip Cornyn, Whip Durbin and Senator Perdue across the Capitol and Chairman Goodlatte, Ranking Member Nadler, Congressman Sensenbrenner and Speaker Ryan in the House, we were able to look at the human faces woven into the lines of this bill and vote to help them rebuild their lives. Jared Kushner never lost sight of those faces. His courage to take the political path less traveled has been instrumental in delivering us here today. We have the opportunity to make communities safer and more whole through the First Step Act, and we wouldn't have that without the courage of my friend and valuable partner, Hakeem Jeffries. For 31 years, my father served his neighbors as a Georgia state trooper. Like him, this bill shows us that reverence for human life is fundamental to justice, and I'm thankful that so many of my colleagues stand here united in that same confidence today."

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