A day before President Joe Biden announced the largest act of clemency in one day in modern presidential history, Sens. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., Cory Booker, D-N.J., John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., celebrated the earlier passage of their Second Chance Reauthorization Act of 2024.

Both events are important acknowledgements of the need to support those who are paying the consequences for having made mistakes, but are ready to seize new opportunities to succeed.

“The vast majority of people incarcerated today will come home to our communities at some point,” Capito said. “The Second Chance Reauthorization Act invests in public safety by implementing evidence-based programs and services to improve reentry, reduce recidivism, and make our communities safer. I am proud to work with my colleagues on this legislation that will provide the proper tools to help individuals successfully reintegrate into life outside of prison walls.”

Those who are imprisoned for crimes are likely to one day make their way back into society — 95% of those incarcerated are eventually released. That is why President George W. Bush signed the Second Chance Act in 2008 (and President Donald Trump reauthorized it in 2018) to improve reentry services and reduce recidivism.

This time around, the U.S. Senate has done its part to, as Cornyn put it, give “incarcerated individuals the resources to build better lives and contribute to their communities.” But the bill must still be passed by the U.S. House and signed by Biden.

They must not hesitate. Giving those who have paid their dues a second chance is too important a responsibility to delay.