Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise on behalf of S. 756, the FIRST STEP Act. It is a first step, and it is a mighty important first step. Hopefully, this bill is going to pass later today. This revised FIRST STEP Act is long overdue. I am proud to see that the House, the Senate, and the President are all working together, as they should, to pass this important bill. This country of ours incarcerates more people than any other country in the world. The Federal prison population has grown by over 700 percent since 1980, and it consumes one quarter of the Department of Justice's budget. No one questions that some people deserve to go to prison for the crimes they commit--sometimes for a long time. Yet it is time to bring some common sense back into our criminal justice system. This legislation will allow judges to do the job that they were appointed to do--to use their discretion to craft an appropriate sentence to fit the crime. There are numerous stories of judges who are forced, by strict mandatory minimums, to sentence people to decades in prison for low-level drug offenses. How many times have we heard of a judge who says, ``I don't think that this sentence ought to be imposed, but I have no other choice for this is what the sentencing guidelines say''? We have seen examples of people who have been sent to prison for more than 50 years for selling $350 worth of marijuana--a drug that is now legal in some States. In my State of Florida, the use of marijuana for medical purposes is legal.…”