Congress should take the next step in Trump’s First Step Act

OPINION:

President Trump championed — and then signed into law — the First Step Act, a groundbreaking reform of the criminal justice system. The new Congress should take the next step.

The First Step Act was a dream of previous presidents, but President Trump finally made it happen in 2018 with the help of his son-in-law and White House adviser, Jared Kushner. The law was designed to reduce recidivism and decrease the federal inmate population, which had ballooned in recent years. It did this by lowering mandatory-minimum sentences for a variety of crimes and encouraging home confinement and early release for low-risk prisoners, including the elderly.

I know firsthand how well the law works. I was released from jail in 2019 thanks to the law’s early-release provisions for older prisoners. I had served the bulk of my 12-year sentence for bank fraud and was released to home confinement where I was no longer a drain on the U.S. Treasury. I had long ago admitted my wrongdoing and paid my debt to society. I am still repaying the banks as I had promised the court I would do.

But having seen the prison system from the inside, I know that more work needs to be done. Mr. Trump has started that process by calling for a Second Step Act. I thank him deeply for that and urge lawmakers to follow through. I continue to work with prison officials and others to refine that proposal and to do what I can to urge lawmakers to pass the legislation.

I am not a typical cheerleader for Mr. Trump and his policies. In 2008, I was the national finance chairman for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. I also was the finance chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee for four years under Charles Schumer of New York, who is now the Democratic leader of the Senate. But my partisan ties have not diminished my gratitude to Mr. Trump. I continue to work with his allies as well as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to complete judicial reform.

The Second Step Act would reduce the age at which inmates can be released to home confinement to 50 from 60 — after they served half of their sentences. It also would encourage employers to hire more released felons. Too many inmates try to find work but fail because they lack skills or because the federal government doesn’t do enough to incentivize employers to hire them. Another benefit on the table is to make it easier for formerly incarcerated people to open bank accounts when they get out of prison, a necessary step in re-integrating into society.

My years in prison have convinced me to redouble my efforts to help others, something my family has done for generations. My father, an Iranian businessman, government official and philanthropist, started one of the Middle East’s most important hospital systems, the Nemazee Hospital in Shiraz, Iran. He also established Iran’s first piped-water system. My own history begins here in the U.S. I was born in Washington, D.C., where my father was stationed as a diplomat for the pre-revolutionary Iran.

I continued the family’s public service in the U.S. by serving on the boards of the RAND Center for Middle East Public Policy, the Asia Society and the Brain Trauma Foundation. I also founded the Iranian American Political Action Committee, which gave equally to Republican and Democratic candidates in the U.S. I established the Nemazee Fellowship to support Iranian-American scholars at Harvard University, my alma mater.

These days, I co-chair the Foundation for the Children of Iran, which helps bring needy youngsters from Iran to the U.S. for lifesaving surgeries. My heart is filled with joy when, with the help of fellow foundation supporters, I’m able to help children like a 2-year-old girl who needed heart surgery to repair a congenital condition. Thanks to support from friends in government, the little girl traveled to Minnesota, had open heart surgery, celebrated her third birthday and returned safely home. She is now a delightful teenager with a long life ahead of her.

My primary focus, though, is people who are incarcerated as I was for so long. They need new federal laws that smooth their re-entry into society and encourage them to become employed, productive citizens. Thanks to President Trump, I was able to step back into the outside world. I look forward to working with him and others to extend that good work with a Second Step Act, which I pledge to do everything in my power to move through Congress.

• Hassan Nemazee is a former investor and real estate developer.