Presidential Document2023-07314
Second Chance Month, 2023
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
April 5, 2023
Signed
March 31, 2023
Issuing agencies
Executive Office of the President
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 65 (Wednesday, April 5, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 65 (Wednesday, April 5, 2023)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 20373-20374]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-07314]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 88 , No. 65 / Wednesday, April 5, 2023 /
Presidential Documents
[[Page 20373]]
Proclamation 10546 of March 31, 2023
Second Chance Month, 2023
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
America has always been a land of second chances,
founded on fresh starts, new possibilities, and the
belief that every person deserves to be treated with
dignity and respect. During Second Chance Month, we
recommit to helping people forge the new beginnings
they have earned and building a safer and more just
society.
I believe in redemption--but for hundreds of thousands
of Americans released from State and Federal prisons
each year, or the nearly 80 million who have an arrest
or conviction record, it is not always easy to come by.
A criminal record can prevent them from landing a
steady job, a safe place to live, quality health care,
or the chance to go to back school. It can keep them
from ever getting a loan to buy a home, start a
business, or build a future. It can bar them from
voting. As a result, three-quarters of formerly
incarcerated people remain unemployed a year after
their release--and joblessness is a top predictor of
recidivism. We are not giving people a real second
chance.
Our justice system should instead be based on the
simple premise that once someone completes their
sentence, they should have the chance to earn a living,
build a life, and participate in our democracy as
fellow citizens. Instead of giving people $25 and a bus
ticket when they are released, we have to help them
address their underlying needs as they re-enter
society. It will keep families whole, build stronger
and safer communities, grow our economy, and reduce
recidivism long-term.
To do that, we need education, job, and substance use
programs, during and after incarceration. My
Administration is, for example, investing nearly $1
billion in job training, recovery, and reentry
services. We are implementing changes to the Pell Grant
program so people can earn a college degree while still
in prison, jumpstarting new lives. Once they are
released, we are helping them to find jobs rebuilding
America through our historic infrastructure law; and we
have expanded access to small business loans, so no
one's past keeps them from building a better future.
There is much more to do. Last summer, I released my
Safer America Plan, which calls on the Congress to
invest $15 billion more in mental health and substance
use services, job training, affordable housing, and
other resources to help people rebuild their lives. It
also urges the Congress to end restrictions on people
with criminal records receiving disability insurance,
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program food
assistance, or other Federal benefits that would help
them get back on their feet.
At the same time, we have to invest in preventing crime
and breaking the cycle of recidivism. To that end, my
Administration has put $3 billion in American Rescue
Plan funds toward mental health and substance use
programs. We are allocating $400 million this year to
keep young people from becoming involved in the
juvenile justice system. And my Safer America Plan
would increase support for State and local crime
prevention, including community violence intervention,
which has been shown to reduce gun violence by up to 60
percent. We have also taken historic steps to end our
Nation's failed approach to marijuana. Sending people
to prison for
[[Page 20374]]
possession has upended too many lives for conduct that
many States no longer prohibit. It has seen Black and
Brown Americans disproportionately arrested,
prosecuted, and convicted; and imposed unfair barriers
to housing, employment, and education. Last fall, I
announced a full pardon for Federal and DC simple
possession offenses, while calling on other elected
officials to do the same at the State and local levels
where most marijuana prosecutions take place.
Meanwhile, we are working to reverse generations of
disinvestment, rebuilding America's economy from the
bottom up and middle out to leave no one behind. We
have created a record 12 million jobs in the last 2
years and now have the near lowest unemployment rate in
a half-century, putting good-paying work within
everyone's reach, including people with past arrests or
convictions. Our historic investments in
infrastructure, manufacturing, and clean energy will
help to close the racial wealth gap, investing in
people and communities that have been overlooked for
too long. That is what second chances look like, and
every American should have an equal shot at one.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of
the United States of America, by virtue of the
authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws
of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 2023 as
Second Chance Month. I call upon all government
officials, educators, volunteers, and all the people of
the United States to observe the month with appropriate
programs, ceremonies, and activities.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
thirty-first day of March, in the year of our Lord two
thousand twenty-three, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and forty-
seventh.
<GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT>
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 2023-07314
Filed 4-4-23; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3395-F3-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on April 5, 2023.
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