"...because of your leadership, a failed system of long-term incarceration, of warehousing criminals — and really, frankly, creating even more crime — is being gradually replaced by a redemptive model of repentance and reconciliation, and restitution, and personal and societal restoration.."

[22:55 minutes into video [1]]

President Trump: ..Topeka, please.

MS. SAM:  Yes.  Well, thank you, first, Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, Jared, Ivanka for this moment.  It's very emotional for me.  I want to give all glory to God because God is why we are standing here together right now.

When I was in federal prison for three years, there was no hope.  There was no program.  There was nothing for anyone.  We didn't have — as a woman who was incarcerated, we fought to make sure we had sanitary napkins and hygiene products to us.  There are sisters, like Pamela Winn, who lost her baby because she was shackled during child labor.  And now, this will all end.

And my sisters and brothers who are presently incarcerated and watching — because they have called me all morning  — we have been fighting and we will continue to fight, and this is just a first step.

We are looking forward to continuing to work with you, President —

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.

********************

[42:20 minutes into video [1]]

THE PRESIDENT:  [To Topeka Sam] I'd like to hear from your two girlfriends, or your two friends that are here.  You were so good.  (Laughter.)  You were better than all of the politicians.  (Laughter.)  So maybe your friends could just say a couple of words.

MS. JACKSON SLOAN:  Thank you, Mr. President.  I just want to say thank you so much.  This is about more than just a bill signing.  When I was 22 years old, I stood in a courtroom holding my two-month-old daughter and watching my husband go to prison.  I felt so alone, and so ashamed, and so scared.  And there are millions of Americans who have that feeling right now.

And right now, all that goes away.  Because if you look around this room, we have not only Hakeem Jeffries and Doug Collins, who got this started in the House.  We have the American Conservative Union.  We have Jared Kushner.  We've got senators, politicians — you know, lawmakers.  We've got the President of the United States standing with those people.  We're not alone anymore.  We're not alone.  (Applause.)

MR. HOPWOOD:  Hi, Mr. President.  We met once before.  I am a lawyer and a law professor at Georgetown, but I spent 11 years in federal prison before that.

THE PRESIDENT:  Yes, I remember.

MR. HOPWOOD:  And I've been given a lot of second chances.  And what this bill does is give second chances to hundreds of thousands of people in federal prison.  And I think you're going to be very surprised at what they do with that second chance.

What I saw in prison was not evil people; it was people that, for whatever reason, made really bad choices and deserve to be punished, but who have the potential to turn it around.

And this bill actually gives them the opportunity to do that, and I thank you for that.

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  (Applause.)

********************

[At 50:08 in video]

[And yes this is an African American who ended his comments below  with the phrase "Make America Great Again" so if the Dems think they can get away with offering us another pro-war neoliberal Dem candidate and rely on nothing but using the "Fear Trump" card, they may wish to reconsider]

MR. SMITH:  Mr. President, it's been an honor to serve you in this White House.  And, you know, it's just — it's very humbling, you know, to see the courage that you really put in your team, in your staff, and let us be able to go and negotiate this on your behalf.  Coming from a single-parent household in Cleveland, Ohio, I never imagined being able to serve my country in the White House.

And more importantly, I've been able to tell the story of a lot of people I grew up with without parents who were caught up in the system.  And the work we're doing here gives those individuals hope.  And in concert with some of the other work that we're doing on Opportunity Zones and workforce, we have a real opportunity to do some real revitalization in parts of America that haven't been touched in 40 years.

And so, thank you for allowing me to be a part of that and to work with this wonderful coalition.  This is the first step, and I hope we can continue to move the football down the field and help make America great again.

THE PRESIDENT:  We will.  (Applause.)

********************

THE PRESIDENT:  And I see Kevin back there.  Kevin, please.  Congratulations, by the way.

HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER MCCARTHY:  Well, I want you to sign the bill, so I don't want to (inaudible).  (Laughter.)  I think the season that we are, this bill embodies why this country was created.  Yes, we believe in law, but we also believe in second chances.  We also believe in the individual.  And we believe it doesn't matter where you're born or where you come from, you have hope in this country and you have an opportunity.  And I do want to give you credit because a lot of administrations have tried.

[29:30 minutes in:]

And if I could yield any time, I would yield to Jared, because he did not have a — he did not have a vote in this but he had a voice in this.  And the tenacity you kept, and never getting down, I think — and the ability to bring people together — there's not very many times that we're all like this from different walks of the aisle.  But we're all excited because of the spirit of what this does.  And I would yield you as much time as you —

THE PRESIDENT:  Good.  I like that.  Jared has worked so hard on this.  I said, "You know, what's it all about?"  Many of us — when we just started, it's like, "What's going on here?"  And he would be working so hard for, really, a long period of time.  Longer than anybody would even understand.

And I would like to have you say a few words.

MR. KUSHNER:  Sure.  Thank you very much.  And I just have to say, seeing this coalition and all of you who are with us today — and there's a lot of people who aren't in the room today, and we'll try to bring them all in for a bigger celebration, because this really took an army of a lot of devoted people.  And each of you played a very important role towards helping us accomplish this very important objective that a lot of people thought could not be done.

And especially law enforcement, you guys have been absolutely amazing.  You gave us so much great feedback to make the bill better.  And I think that — the way that good legislation should be made in Washington is when everyone is at the table, everyone is arguing, everyone is fighting.  But, you know, we did it respectfully.  And we did it in a way that — people look at Washington these days and they see a lot of fighting, they see a lot of things that are very loud.

But I want the people to know, as they see this bill, that there's a lot of very respectful dialogue, a lot of constructive dialogue[if he's telling the truth which I suspect he is, then it's something MSM isn't too interested in covering...-H] a lot of people who are here to help people and to make a difference, who are working very hard every day and delivering results to it.

And I have to say that with this coalition in particular, some of you are brought here from pain of the past and that's very real, and it's made, I think, a lot of that pain worth it.  But a lot of you have nothing to gain from this personally.

And the fact that every time we needed somebody, they'd jump on a plane, they'd call — this is one of the issues that really has a constituency that doesn't have a lobbyist.  It doesn't have a lot of a lobby group.  And we were their lobbyists.  And we fought for these people.  And together, we were able to make something happen.  So I really want to thank everybody here because it really was a team effort.

And just most importantly, I really just have to thank the President.  Without your leadership — everyone kept asking me, "Will the President be on board?  Will the President be on board?"  And I said, "Look, I don't know."  I mean, this was not an issue that, you know, you'd spent time with.  It was not relevant to the real estate industry that you were in before.  (Laughter.)

But — you know, but getting to know it, it immediately was something that you responded to, and really because of a fairness issue.  And you said, "If we're not helping these people reenter society, then what do we expect them to do?"  And they're going to commit more crimes and that's not going to make our community safer.

And then he kept asking questions, and he kept pushing me, and he kept asking a lot of people's opinions.  And he kept saying, "Is this tough?  Is this something that's going to keep our communities safer?  Because we have to be strong.  Are we working with law enforcement?  And are we doing it right?"  And it really was your leadership that pushed us to make this bill better.  And I don't think under any other President this could have happened.

I also want to thank the Vice President as well, because your experience being a governor, and reforms that you enacted, were very helpful towards, you know, giving us — the fact that what we're doing here is really based on models that work and will help people keep communities safer, help save money, and really help a lot of people.

So I just want to personally say it's been a real honor for me to work with each and every one of you to do this.  And I've been thinking a lot about the people this is going to help.  And no matter what we all put up with to do what we do, this makes a lot of things in life worth it.  So, thank you.

THE PRESIDENT:  Great job.  (Applause.)

Yeah, do that, please.

MR. KUSHNER:  Can I ask Pat Nolan?  My friend, Pat Nolan.  (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT:  Hi, Pat.

MR. NOLAN:  Hello, Mr. President.  There's somebody here overlooking all of this, and that's Chuck Colson.  He was a lonely voice among conservatives, saying we had to reform the criminal justice system.

THE PRESIDENT:  That's great.  That's great.

MR. NOLAN:  And so I'm sure he's smiling down from heaven.  I talked to his widow, Patty, two nights ago, and she said to give you her best and her thanks for it.

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.

MR. NOLAN:  And Jared is just a superstar.  I'm impressed with him so much.

God bless you, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.  I appreciate it.  (Applause.)

That was incredible, by the way.  I think what I'll do is ask a very special person to speak.  Because whenever Jared had any difficulty with me on a couple of points, he'd send in a real power named Ivanka.  (Laughter.)  And she would call me and she would say, "Daddy, you don't understand.  You must do this.  You must."  (Laughter.)  And I'd say, "Oh.  All right."  (Laughter.)

Ivanka, would you say a few words, please?  Honey, come on over.

MS. [Ivanka] TRUMP:  Well, first of all, this is just so incredible and it is the culmination of so much blood, sweat, tears of every single person in this room and well beyond this room.

So, we are so grateful for your leadership and realizing historic criminal justice reform that people have talked about it in theory for decades, that this administration has made possible.

To my husband, maybe I'll get a little bit more time with him now.  (Laughter.)  But I doubt it.  Thank you for all that you've done.

And then really to the people who join us here today, whose stories crystalized why this is so important, we are grateful to you and for putting a face on this challenge, and for being so candid and so real.  And that's what it's all about.  That's it.  It's about helping people.

You campaigned for the forgotten men and women of this country.  And there's nobody more forgotten than those who are in our system, had done their time, and left the system.  And giving them pathways to be able to provide for their families and thrive is what this is all about.

So thank you for the honor of working on that.

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  Great job.  Thank you.

MS. TRUMP:  Thank you.  (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT:  I think we owe a lot, because law enforcement was incredible and so strongly behind us.  And I'd like to ask you to say a few words.  You represented so many people so well.

MR. TALUCCI:  Well, thank you, Mr. President.  First, I want to say thank you very much to you, Mr. President, Jared, and Ivanka, and the entire administration for what you've done.

This is a great day for America.  It's a great day for America.  Criminal justice reform is long overdue.  I do believe you're the only President who was able to pull it off, or would be able to pull it off — and you have.

To be able to bring together all of the organizations and groups that are represented by the people in this room in order to effect positive change for our citizens of this country truly defines the spirit of who we are and what we do.

So as President of the IACP that represents the head of law enforcement throughout this country, as well as the FOP who represent the officers throughout this country, we want to say we are proud to have been with you from the beginning.  We are honored to be here today.  And please know, as we move forward, we will be with you, side by side, each and every one of you.  Thank you very much.

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  (Applause.)

CHIEF CELL:  Mr. President, on behalf of the 800,000 uniformed police officers in the country,[he's about to make comment about ROOT CAUSES of crime you don't hear police/police reps say often..] we're glad that people are starting to listen to our voice and listen to what we face every day on the streets.

We as an organization, and the Chief, know that our ability to work with the community is based on fairness and justice.  And we have not had a fair and just system.

And law enforcement is just one small part of the criminal justice system.  And if we're able to start breaking the cycles of violence, the cycle of recidivism, and continue to work on the systemic poverty in our country that causes a lot of the crime, we see good things to happen.

And we want to thank you for your leadership.  We also want to thank you for sitting behind that desk and listening to the people on the street that are doing this job every day.  It's refreshing.

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.

CHIEF CELL:  Thank you, sir.  (Applause.)

********************

MR. REED:  Mr. President, on behalf of the 2 million members of Faith and Freedom, and tens of millions of people of faith around the country, I want to thank you for your leadership, for your heart on this issue; and, Jared, for the historic role that you've played in this; Mr. Vice President, for all you've done.

You know, throughout this country, there are armies of faith-based compassion that go into our jails and our prisons unheralded every single day to minister to those who are without hope and who are forgotten and who are marginalized.

We often wonder whether or not politics can really make any kind of difference in a world that seems so dark and divided.  But today, Mr. President, because of your leadership, a failed system of long-term incarceration, of warehousing criminals — and really, frankly, creating even more crime — is being gradually replaced by a redemptive model of repentance and reconciliation, and restitution, and personal and societal restoration.

This is a historic day.  We've been working on this since 2014 in my organization.  But I truly believe that were you not sitting behind this desk today, this would not be being signed into law.  And I thank you.  (Applause.)

********************

[Like everyone else at the signing, there wasn't time to really introduce her but wikipedia summary -- "Alveda Celeste King is an American activist, author, and former state representative for the 28th District in the Georgia House of Representatives. She is a niece of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and daughter of civil rights activist the Rev. A.D. King [MLK, Jr.'s brother] and his wife, Naomi Barber King."]

MS. KING:  I want to kind of be fast, but do you all remember when this gentleman said we will say "Merry Christmas" again?  (Laughter.)  And so what a Christmas present.

But first I have to say this: A long time ago, there were two leaders, Ezra and Nehemiah.  And they had to build a wall.  And were some guys named Sanballat and Tobias who were just all, kind of, talking trash, is what we call it. (Laughter.)  And so the leaders said, "We're not coming down off this wall."  So [looks Trump in the eye before she continues] please, do not come down off the wall.  (Laughter and applause.)

[For the record I think both sides are off; I don't see a wall as super critical for safety like many MAGA voters do....but it's not an "oppression" (let alone is illegal/legal status a race. Lots of MAGA voters not only l ike but more than a few are THEMSELVES Latinos, and like immigrants, but know the economic dangers of unlimited illegal immigration (as LEFTIST CARTOONIST TED RALL WROTE ABOUT IN HIS PIECE "REMEMBER WHEN" [3] AT BOTTOM) adding more fencing etc is not an "oppression" against Mexicans and others; NAFTA is us oppressing them; our War on Drugs and guns from the U.S. are an oppression by the U.S. against Mexicans and Central Americans; BLOODY HILLARY-BACKED COUPS are an oppression against Central Americans....DEMOCRATS EVEN ADMIT THAT IT'S NOT OPPRESSING ANYONE in today's email I got from Senator Chris van Hollen(whose mother worked for the CIA as well as State Dept) emails me to complain "this is about wasting $5 billion on an ineffective...wall" OOPS YOU JUST LET THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG if it's "ineffective" it's not going to oppress anyone. END corporate trade. END the War on Drugs. END other neoliberal pirating of developing countries. END coups and other SUBVERSION by CIA etc against Central America (and likely as much as they can, in Mexico too). But don't go spending 1,000,000,000,000 -- 1 Trillion on militarism including over 700 Billion in the official Pentagon part of militarism, and BILLIONS MORE THAN MILITARY ASKED FOR and then complain to me about the 5 billion cost of the wall (15 bucks per American, would be 1.25 per month, but it's over more than one year, so some fraction of that...maybe 40 cents per month per American...meanwhile you can save 1,000 to 2,000 bucks [not a typo] per year per American [rather than 15 bucks non-annual, one-time] by cutting militarism)

(Inaudible.)  Prison reform — and it's been said so well by everyone in here.  But I remember, it was a long, hot summer, it was August, we were in your office, and some bad words were said about you.  But you were focused.  And he said, "I want to help people."  And everybody has said that wonderfully — his children, all of us.  So we thank you.

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.

MS. KING:  And the women have talked about even the little babies and all of that — all the way to those who were in jail too long.

So we want to say thank you for caring about all Americans.  And one more point:  They asked this man when he was candidate, "What are you going to about race and racism?"  He said, "We're Americans.  We all believe the same.  We need for people to be safe, secure, blessed — working if they need to."  And so I just want to say thank you.  You keep your promises.  (Applause.)  So keep going, sir.  Whoa!

[NOTE: I think the person transcribing or creating this Transcript might have mis-quoted her ...I heard her quoting Trump as saying "We all bleed the same" -- not "believe" --makes sense in context of her brining up people asking Trump about race. And I found online the Inauguration where Trump said at the inauguration, "t's time to remember that old wisdom our soldiers will never forget: Whether we are black or brown or white, we all bleed the same red of patriots" So my ears might still be wrong but I think typo. Fanatic that I am, I just emailed MLK, Jr's niece, Ms. King, to ask her if that's indeed a misquote of what she said -H]

THE PRESIDENT:  I will.  (Applause.)

Chuck Grassley just said, "Sir, there's a vote going on in the Senate, and I haven't missed a vote since 1993."  Is that true?  Get out of here, Chuck.  (Laughter.)  Go ahead.  Go.

PARTICIPANT:  Sign it!  Sign it!

THE PRESIDENT:  1993?  (Laughter and applause.)

SENATOR GRASSLEY:  Yes.  I've been here three hours waiting for this.  (Laughter and applause.)

(The bill is signed.)

THE PRESIDENT:  That's great, Chuck.  (Applause.)

Here you go, Chuck.  Chuck, you go to the vote.  (Laughter.)  Great guy.

PARTICIPANT:  Worth the wait.  Worth the wait.

(The bill is signed.)

THE PRESIDENT:  There we go.  (Applause.)

Thank you, everybody.  That's great.

Q    Mr. President, how long are you willing to let the government be shut down?

THE PRESIDENT:  Excuse me?  (Laughter.)

PARTICIPANT:  Celebrate the moment.

THE PRESIDENT:  I'll be honest: This is such an incredible moment, what we've just done — criminal justice reform — that I just don't think it's appropriate to be talking about anything else.  (Applause [VERY WIDESPREAD HEARVY APPLAUSE I MIGHT ADD BY THE ENTIRE MANY DOZENS STRONG GROUP. WHAT KIND OF WARMONGER CORPORATIST NEOLIBERAL NEOCON TRUMP-DERANGEMENT SYNDROME MAINSTREAM MEDIA DO WE HAVE THAT THEY WON'T ASK ONE FREAKING QUESTION ABOUT THE FLIPPING BILL ITSELF WHICH IS HISTORICAL DECADES LONG OF WAITING TO FINALLY START MAKING SIGNIFICANT SHIFTS AWAY FROM MASS INCARCERATION AND ALL THE REST..AND THEY ASK NOTHING ABOUT THAT, JUMP IMMEDIATELY IN QUESTION #1 TO THE POSSIBLE SHUT DOWN-- CAN'T MAKE TRUMP LOOK GOOD EVER, AND WHO CARES IF WE THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA BETRAY THOSE IN PRISON AND THEIR FAMILIES AND THE UNDERCLASS AND WORKING PEOPLE? WHO CARES? SHAMEFUL.-H])

Thank you.  But in five minutes we'll be talking about other things.  (Laughter.)

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx_Jg0ZD4VU

[2]https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-signing-ceremony-s-756-first-step-act-2018-h-r-6964-juvenile-justice-reform-act-2018/

[3] https://www.creators.com/read/ted-rall/05/18/remember-when

Leftist Cartoonist Ted Rall key excerpt from [3] url:

It seems strange to recall, but support for stronger border controls was a common thread among both the populists of the America-first Pat Buchanan right and the labor-protectionist left that backed Bernie Sanders. ...For their part, Democrats have adopted a policy stance that thoughtful leftists recognize as nonsensical and ideologically incoherent.

First, mainline Dems have been arguing, we should look the other way as foreigners enter the country unchecked, because we need undocumented workers to take low-wage occupations — picking fruit, plucking chickens, making our hotel beds — that Americans don't want. But that not only isn't true but cannot be true. Without undocumented workers, employers would be forced to offer higher wages for those tasks they couldn't automate. Inflationary risks and agriculture-sector disruption notwithstanding, raising wages for unskilled labor would create upward pressure on wages up the salary chain. Simple supply and demand. The removal of 11 million consumers, however, would depress spending on goods and services, as well as revenue from sales taxes.

The other pillar of Democratic immigration policy is so absurd that the party rightly refuses to articulate it: Border controls are inherently racist and xenophobic. No other country thinks so. You can't sneak in to Uruguay or Tanzania or the Seychelles without a visa (much less look for work) and hope for anything other than arrest and deportation. Controlling the flow of human beings into one's country isn't bigotry. It's one of the fundamental characteristics of a modern nation-state. One could sooner do without minting one's own currency or issuing postage stamps. Yet the status quo, a tacit open door at various crossing points, is all Democrats have to offer — more of the same lunacy."