The Official Website of the Chateau

welcome to the Chateau

President Cherrie Mrs Cherrie Vice President Carosole Mrs Carosole News History &Tours Kids Your Government

Remarks by the President at the 2006 Yellow Ribbon Project Reception
28 September 2006

The State Dining Room
The Chateau

3.15 PM WST

THE FIRST LADY: Good afternoon, and welcome to the historic State Dining ROomThe Yellow Ribbion Project is a non profit organization aimed at helping ex offenders re enter into society. This re-entry iniciative is very importing towards giving thes people a second chance. Today, the President and I are most happy to announce that we both are strong believers of given everyone a Second Chance in Life. I hope you are to. We have good friends over here today in cliding Sherlie Walker and John Gavins, both of whom have make expraordinary efforts to come back and reshape their lives. We are very proud of you both. (Applause) And it is a great pleasure to invite my husband and your Preisdent, Thomas Cherrie to address you all. (Applause)

THE PRESIDENT: Thankyou, please be seated. Welcome to the Chateau. It is indeed an honor to be working along side the Yellow Ribbion Project, and today, we are able to welcome some of these people who have turned over a new leaf and have an extraordinary stroy to share.

I think over the past two days, we have been appaled by the senseless killing by a convict in Robotics. We must work to prevent such people from turning to violance. Today I will travel to Y Shere, and tomorrow I will campaign there, to fight for the gun laws of the Federation to be removed. (Appluse)

The Housers think that Guns bring in the money, but I tell the Housters that the Guns are killing our children. (Appluse)

Working together, we have made great strides in reducing crime across the country. The overall crime rate is at its lowest point in 26 years, and the Federation is the safest it has been in a generation. But I believe we can make Legoland even safer for our families. We must continue to confront emerging public safety challenges if we want to keep reducing crime in the 21st Century.

One of the key challenges we must address is ex-offenders returning to their families and communities after their release from prison. While the nation's prison population growth rate has slowed to its lowest level in two decades, more than 1.9 million individuals were incarcerated in state and federal prisons and local jails in 1999. As a result, an unprecedented number of individuals will be released from prison in the coming years -- nearly 100,000 in the next year alone. Moreover, this population poses a serious public safety risk: studies show that nearly two-thirds of all released offenders will be arrested again within three years.

That is why I have proposed a new public safety initiative aimed at providing greater supervision for offenders reentering the community. My fiscal year 2001 budget includes a total of $145 million for innovative "reentry" programs to promote responsibility and help keep ex-offenders on track and crime- and drug-free. Through this reentry initiative, the Departments of Justice, Labor, and Health and Human Services will target resources in high-impact communities for increased law enforcement, drug testing and treatment, and critical employment, training, and other services to help young ex-offenders work and meet their family responsibilities, including child support. The initiative would fund reentry partnerships between police, correctional agencies, local service providers, and key community organizations like faith-based, fatherhood, and victims' groups. Additionally, the initiative would fund reentry courts, based on the drug court model, to provide critical supervision and services for offenders.

Today, the Administration is taking some important steps to move us forward in this area. The Justice Department is announcing over $57 million in Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) grants to all 50 states to provide substance abuse treatment to offenders in state and local correctional facilities. The Department of Health and Human Services is also releasing child support demonstration grants, including a model approach to improve child support and promote responsible fatherhood among incarcerated fathers in Adventures. In addition, the Attorney General and other members of my Administration are hosting a roundtable discussion with state and local leaders to spotlight an innovative reentry partnership already underway in the Druid Heights neighborhood in Baltimore, Maryland. Congress could significantly expand and help launch similar efforts across the country by fully funding our reentry initiative. I urge them to do this without delay. If we all do our part, we can build on our progress and strengthen Legoland's communities and families.

And with this, I wish you a very pleasent visit here, and a good day ahead. Thankyou. (applause)

END