Trump gives Kelley Paul’s push for criminal justice reform a major boost

on Fox & Friends Wednesday morning @17:00



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUsHDKv_jQo

on Christian Broadcasting Network 11/15



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T543wPNIYGw

In an interview earlier this fall, Paul said her husband and father-in-law’s advocacy “opened my eyes to the extent of how bad our system is broken and how people are suffering through that.”

I'm glad that she got involved with this.
So many lives are destroyed through our prison system.
It's just a revolving door of hopelessness.

“I’ll be waiting with a pen,” Trump told the group, which included Sens. Paul and South Carolina Republicans, Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott.

Advocates and lawmakers said Trump’s approval helps the push for the most significant criminal justice overhaul in decades., perhaps during Congress’ current lame duck session.

Credit where credit is due.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, though, cautioned that the chamber is running out of days to accomplish its goals.

Well, $#@!.

Originally Posted by Origanalist

Credit where credit is due.

Every black Democrat in the house voted against it.

Originally Posted by specsaregood

Every black Democrat in the house voted against it.

On what grounds?

Originally Posted by Origanalist

On what grounds?

Couldn't tell ya, but its true.
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2018/roll215.xml

Originally Posted by specsaregood

Couldn't tell ya, but its true.
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2018/roll215.xml

Wait, did they have the vote on it? Or is this from a past vote?

Originally Posted by phill4paul

Wait, did they have the vote on it? Or is this from a past vote?

This was the initial bill's vote in the house. The Senate just amended it and is looking for a vote on it, then it will go back to the house to vote on the amended form.

That's one of the reasons why Black's need to walk away. These people do not give a rats ass about their constituents.

Candace Owens: ‘Liberals Believe’ that Blacks ‘Are Their Slaves’
https://www.breitbart.com/radio/2018...-their-slaves/

Originally Posted by specsaregood

This was the initial bill's vote in the house. The Senate just amended it and is looking for a vote on it, then it will go back to the house to vote on the amended form.

Ah, thanks. I didn't think it had been brought up again for vote yet.

Trump's support of prison reforms is encouraging. Let's hope the bill passes.

Go Kelley Paul!

Originally Posted by specsaregood

Every black Democrat in the house voted against it.

They don't want to lose part of their victim status.

They may also be playing the drug war game and blaming drugs for the disproportionate criminality and poverty of their constituents.

Originally Posted by r3volution 3.0

Kelly's very impressive.

To tell you the truth, she's a better public speaker than Rand.

Maybe she should run for President next time.

Watch – Kelley Paul on Criminal Justice Reform: ‘Just Locking People Up Is Not Solving the Problem’

by Kyle Morris
19 Nov 20187




Kelley Paul, the wife of Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), sat down with Breitbart News Deputy Political Editor Amanda House last week to offer her thoughts on why criminal justice reform is needed in America.
Paul says she is very enthusiastic about the FIRST STEP Act, a bill that would ease federal sentencing laws and that President Trump put his weight behind last Wednesday.

“I think it’s really exciting and incredible. This is an incredible day for bipartisanship, for a great bill that hopefully we will get brought to the Senate floor,” Paul told House moments after President Trump’s endorsement. “I appreciate the leadership that Jared Kushner and Ivanka have shown on criminal justice reform.”

Paul claims this is an issue all Americans can support.

“If we were to be able to actually finally make some strides in this area, it will be the first strides that have been made,” Paul said. “President Obama wasn’t able to do this. This is something that, I think, right and left come together. People in the Christian communities and Jewish communities come together on. Progressives come together on it. So, it’s a great bill. It is very modest in scope, that’s why they call it the first step and I’m hopeful that we can get a vote on it.”

...

'
read more:
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2...second-chance/

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's reluctance to hold a vote on a popular criminal justice bill has angered top Republican senators and created an unusual rift with a longtime GOP ally, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa. And on Friday, it also brought on a tweet from President Donald Trump."Hopefully Mitch McConnell will ask for a VOTE on Criminal Justice Reform," Trump tweeted. "It is extremely popular and has strong bipartisan support. It will also help a lot of people, save taxpayer dollars, and keep our communities safe. Go for it Mitch!"
Minutes later Grassley tweeted that he and the president had spoken about "the growing support" for the legislation.
"Pres Trump told me he wants it done THIS CONGRESS," Grassley tweeted.
Grassley has spent years working to build a coalition around the bill and is pushing for a year-end vote. Grassley says more than two-thirds of the Senate supports it. But McConnell is refusing to bring the legislation forward in a standoff that's dividing the Republican majority and putting President Donald Trump on the spot.
"We've done what needs to be done," Grassley said about the overwhelming support for the bill. "So what's holding it up?"
For the 85-year-old chairman of the Judiciary Committee, this is not the way the Senate is supposed to operate. Grassley was expecting some deference from McConnell after delivering on Trump's judicial nominees — including two now on the Supreme Court. Despite Trump's support for the measure, McConnell says it's divisive. His reluctance to take up Grassley's priority shows the limits of the Senate's old-fashioned customs in an era of heightened partisan politics.
"What's so irritating about this is, first of all, he and I have been hand-in-glove working to get the judiciary vacancies filled," Grassley told Iowa reporters.
"I think I ought to have some consideration for delivering on tough Supreme Court nominees, and a lot of tough circuit court nominees and maybe even once in a while you get a tough district court nominee," Grassley went on.


Trump has called senators about the bill and spoke briefly about it Friday at an event on safe neighborhoods in Kansas City.

The bill is a project of Trump's son-in-law, White House adviser Jared Kushner, and would be the biggest sentencing overhaul in decades. It would reduce mandatory prison terms for certain drug crimes and give judges in some cases more discretion on punishments. It would allow about 2,600 federal prisoners sentenced for crack cocaine offenses before August 2010 the opportunity to petition for a reduced penalty. It also includes provisions to encourage education and workforce training in prisons.

Roughly 90 percent of prison inmates are held in state facilities and would not be affected by the legislation.


Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said Thursday that bill backers are making a last-push to attach it to the spending measure and picking up new supporters. But he acknowledged the package's chances are slipping with each passing day. "We're still lobbying Sen. McConnell — he has all the power to allow it or not allow it," said Paul.
McConnell and Grassley have worked side by side for decades. When then-President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court in early 2016, Grassley stood by McConnell's decision to keep the seat open during the election year for the new president to decide. He's ushered in 84 Trump judicial nominees, including a record number of circuit court judges.
But their split over criminal justice reform is testing not just their partnership but also the longstanding norms of the Senate.

"What's holding it up is our leader, the majority leader," Grassley said. "There's no reason it shouldn't come up."

More at: https://www.yahoo.com/news/mcconnell...-politics.html

President Trump said Tuesday he believes the criminal justice reform bill will pass, after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, under pressure, vowed to bring the legislation to the Senate floor for a vote as early as this week.

McConnell, R-Ky., made the decision after more than three years of bipartisan congressional support for the policy that would overhaul the nation’s sentencing laws. The bill has been supported by a large group of lawmakers, including Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and outgoing House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis.
McConnell announced Tuesday that "at the request of the President and following improvements to the legislation that have been secured by several members, the Senate will take up the recently revised Criminal Justice bill" this work period. McConnell's office noted that the bill could be taken up "as early as the end of this week."
"Members should now be prepared to work between Christmas and New Year's if necessary in order to complete our work," McConnell announced. Because the bill has been revised, the Senate would need to bounce it back to the House. In January, Democrats take back the majority in that chamber of Congress, while the Senate maintains a GOP hold.
The president applauded McConnell's decision to move the bill to the floor. Trump first announced his support for the legislation last month.

“We got word that Mitch McConnell, we’re putting up for a vote,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Tuesday. “Criminal Justice Reform is something people have been working on for many years. It looks like it is going to be passing in a bipartisan way.”

More at: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/tru...o-senate-floor

The Senate advanced a White House-backed criminal justice reform bill on Monday, paving the way for senators to try to pass the bill as early as Tuesday.

Senators voted 82-12 to end debate on the legislation, which merges a House-passed prison reform bill with a handful of changes to sentencing laws.
Twelve Republicans voted against advancing the legislation despite President Trump endorsing the measure in November: GOP Sens. John Barrasso (Wyo.), Richard Burr (N.C.), Tom Cotton (Ark.), Mike Enzi (Wyo.), John Kennedy (La.), Jon Kyl (Ariz.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Jim Risch (Idaho), Ben Sasse (Neb.), Dan Sullivan (Alaska), Mike Rounds (S.D.) and Pat Toomey (Pa.).


The Senate is expected to vote on potential changes to the legislation as soon as Tuesday before taking a final vote on the bill.
“There are a number of members with outstanding concerns that they feel are still unresolved. ... The Senate will be considering amendments before we vote on final passage later this week,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said ahead of the vote.
Though supporters rolled out a final version of the bill last week to try to win over more GOP senators, conservatives, led by Cotton and Kennedy, are expected to get votes on three amendments.
Cotton, in a National Review op-ed published Monday, said his potential changes would help "limit the damage" and conservatives who had already said they would support the bill "have jumped on the bandwagon too soon."
"A number of serious felonies, including violent crimes, are still eligible for early release in the version of the bill the Senate will vote on in a matter of days. In short, the First Step Act flunks their basic test to protect public safety," Cotton wrote.
He added in a separate tweet that opponents to his amendments were circulating false claims about his proposed changes.
Cotton and Kennedy’s changes would including requiring that the victims or families of victims are notified when an individual is released. Another change would be to make publicly available rearrest data for those released, as well as information on prior offenses by those released and the crimes for which they were imprisoned.
The Kennedy-Cotton amendments would also add approximately 10 offenses to a list that excludes someone from being eligible for the bill’s earned -time credits, which could be used to shorten sentences.
Toomey said in a statement that he was still weighing supporting the bill but voted no on Monday because it will block senators from voting on an amendment that he wanted to offer.
“The First Step Act contains worthwhile provisions that seek to improve the criminal justice system and reduce offender recidivism, which is why I am seriously considering supporting it. However, today’s procedural vote was designed to preclude amendments, including one I intended to offer to support victims of crime," Toomey said.
The amendment votes are expected to be held with a simple majority threshold, meaning at least a few GOP senators would need to join with all Democrats to block them from getting added to the bill.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who helped craft the deal along with Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Mike Lee (R-Utah), warned that as currently drafted that he believes Cotton's amendments are "poison pills" meant to undercut the legislation as a whole.
"The amendments that he will propose tomorrow, the senator from Arkansas, have been opposed by groups across the board, left and right, conservative, progressive, Republican, Democrat, they all oppose his amendments. ...If he goes with the amendments we've seen, we're going to have to do our best to oppose him," Durbin said.

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/...ce-reform-bill