customers a day. host: you will have to leave it there. we appreciate your time. we will now bring you to the senate homeland security and government affairs committee. they are looking at the bureau of oversight. and the challenges facing the federal prison system. you can see the chairman, ron johnson, who will be gathering there shortly. senator johnson: good morning. this hearing will come to order. i am looking forward to this. i was telling the witnesses, i have read all of the testimony, and i generally do that to the best of my ability, sometimes the testimony can be a little dry and will put me to sleep when i m reading later at night. in this case, not whatsoever. the testimony was fascinating partly because i am new to the issue. i will keep my opening statement brief. i know senator booker wants to make an opening statement and he is been involved longer than i have. being a business guy i am dated driven data driven. the data on this with a high level incarce
is the site where president lincoln was assassinated by john wilkes booth. as he sat in a theater with a play running. the play running at the time was our american cousin. president lincoln died the next day across the street at the peterson boardling house. ford s is now a working theater as well as a national historic site. he current play running is 110 in the shade. while we wait, let s take a ook at today s speakers. lincoln, african americans, and the emancipation struggle. and :35 the book lincoln the problem of reconstruction. there will be a midday break for lunch at approximately 1:55 p.m. we ll hear stacy mcdormant on mary lincoln s life and legacy. at 3:05 thomas carson on incoln s ethics. at 3:55 all of today s speakers will participate in a closing panel. what you re looking at there is the box where abraham lincoln was sitting the night that he was shot. the president apparently enjoyed theater and was attending a performance of our american cousin at the ti
receiving an award this afternoon and will be unable to participate in the panel discussion during the afternoon session. therefore, it is important to get your questions in early because she is going off to receive the women s history award from the northern virginia district of columbia maryland affiliate of the national association of negro business and professional women. [applause] i came to know dr. medford through a predecessor of hers at howard, lorraine williams, who wrote a book about wrote an article about intellectuals who campaigned for lincoln. among the people she mentioned was my great uncle, general thomas osborne. through searching that out, i got to know dr. mitford medford. and she has been a friend and admired person. she is the chair of the department of history at howard university. she teaches 19th century history. she has lectured widely and has been actively involved in many activities. i have read her book and i strongly urge that all of you d
discussion during the afternoon session. therefore, it is important to get your questions in early because she is going off to receive the women s history award from the northern virginia district of columbia maryland affiliate of the national association of negro business and professional women. [applause] i came to know dr. medford through a predecessor of hers at howard, lorraine williams, who wrote a book about wrote an article about intellectuals who campaigned for lincoln. among the people she mentioned was my great uncle, general thomas osborne. through searching that out, i got to know dr. mitford medford. and she has been a friend and admired person. she is the chair of the department of history at howard university. she teaches 19th century history. she has lectured widely and has been actively involved in many activities. i have read her book and i strongly urge that all of you do, too. she has brought to the fore the story of those who had the most pressing
for any particular policy or set of policies, but rather to provide the historical context that can help inform policymakers and the public as they deal with difficult issues. i want to acknowledge first off the financial support of the mellon foundation, which has made this program possible, and also the work of amanda mooney s, the assistant director, and frankie lyons for organizing today s event. the history of mass incarceration, the us you of ofs incarceration issue mass incarceration has reached a critical mass of attention in the last six months or so. there have been initiatives that have been launched obviously by the senate just this week. and in various other venues as well. all of them calling for reform of the system of incarceration, and what is interesting is that this has been a bipartisan initiative involving democrats and republicans. it is a response to what is clearly a serious problem. i just want to offer a few brief statistics to highlight this. the