into ending it and so in january one thousand nine hundred eighty nine i started the criminal justice policy foundation. and that is been the opportunity for me for the last twenty five years to. mobilize different kinds of strategies to end drug prohibition a lot of it has been through other organizations i helped start families against mandatory minimums in my office i'm still very active with students for sensible drug policy. and with law enforcement against prohibition. and so a lot of my work is advocacy. strategizing you know what are the ways to change drug policy to reform from the justice system. there are. countless numbers of people who are in prison for inconceivably long sentences for being minor minor offenders in the drug trade these are just a handful of you know files from families against mandatory minimums. these people you know life sentence. clark thirty five years timothy tyler life sentence. sure on the jones life sentence. this is not an aberration this is the life blood this is the typical case this is the typical pattern. numerous cases i mean these are all excessively long c

justice action network, americans for tax reform, heritage action, the due process institute, faith and freedom coalition, r street it right on crime, texas public policy foundation, prison fellowship, and members of an interfaith criminal justice coalition, and to treat everybody fairly, i'm going to submit a complete list of support for the record. so this was a combined effort, one on a scale not often seen in washington these days. i'm grateful for everyone's work to bring about these historic reforms. together, we've taken steps to reduce crime and recidivism, to strengthen faith and fairness in the criminal justice system, and to signal to those willing to make amends that redemption is within their reach. together we've taken an important step to live up to the commitment we make every time we pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states -- to provide liberty and justice for all. i yield the floor. mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the assistant democratic leader. mr. durbin: madam president, let me first say how grateful i am to senator grassley for his friendship, number one, and his leadership, number two. it has just been one of the highlights of my senate experience to work with him on