“Our ecnomy has for the first time ever given many former prisoners the ability to get a great job and a fresh start. This second chance at life is made possible because we passed landmark criminal justice reform into law. Everybody said that criminal justice reform couldn’t be done, but I got it done and the people in this room got it done.”

"The conservative movement is now the leader on criminal justice reform”.

“Today the Senate took a great step forward in building safer communities and a brighter future for those who have served their time and are re-entering society,” Scott said. “By cutting recidivism, encouraging job training, education and mental health and substance abuse treatments for incarcerated individuals, and making our criminal justice system both smarter and tougher, we have taken a positive step forward tonight. I want to thank all of my colleagues for their hard work on this bill, and I look forward to House passage and the President enthusiastically signing the First Step Act into law.”

"Let’s start 2019 on a positive note. I’m urging Sen. McConnell to bring the bill (criminal justice reform bill) to the floor of the Senate. It would get 80 votes. Mr. President, pick up the phone and push the Republican leadership. The Republicans are the problem here, not the Democrats.”

"If we can get a vote on it, I feel very confident we can get it passed.”