One of the highlights of my career in Congress was standing in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump as he signed the First Step Act into law. I was the primary Republican co-sponsor of this bipartisan legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives, and not only do I remain incredibly proud of the landmark prison and sentencing reforms we passed, I am also heartened to see my colleagues on both sides of the aisle poised to go a step further with the imminent passage of the EQUAL Act.
First Step was a modest, targeted reform (hence the name) that addressed unfairly long prison sentences for a very narrow category of low-level, nonviolent offenders. Violent offenders are not eligible for sentencing relief under First Step. Only nonviolent offenders can accrue earned time credits for participation in recidivism-reduction programming.
