FORMER GOP CONGRESSMAN COLLINS CORRECTS THE RECORD ON CLAIMS BY CANDIDATE RON DESANTIS ON PUBLIC SAFETY

(Gainesville, Georgia) – Former Congressman Doug Collins responded to the inaccurate portrayal today of the 2018 First Step Act made by Republican presidential candidate Gov. Ron DeSantis who called President Trump’s signatory criminal justice reform a “jail break bill” and claimed he would “seek to repeal” it.  

“No one wants to see Republicans be successful in 2024 more than I do,” said former Congressman Doug Collins, author of the First Step Act. “Voters have made it clear: Americans want stronger economies and safer communities, and the First Step Act has been delivering on both those priorities.

“Case and point: the program is reducing recidivism rates across the countries, which is making our communities safer and bolstering our economy with more people in the workforce,” continued former Congressman Collins. “I’m proud to have been part of its design and passage, alongside the vast majority of Republicans in both chambers that included then-Congressman Ron DeSantis, and conservatives remain committed to work towards a more effective justice system across the country.”

The bipartisan reform was supported by the vast majority of Republicans in both chambers, including many of its most conservative members, and signed by then-President Trump. Then a Republican congressman from Florida, Mr. DeSantis himself supported the legislation.