Portman at White House today

Terrace Park's Rob Portman, a former Ohio congressman and Bush administration official, is back in Washington today.

Portman joined President Bush this morning for the signing of the Second Chance Act, a bill that Portman worked on while he was in Congress.

Portman was, in fact, the original author of the bill, which he named "Second Chance Act" after Bush's 2004 State of the Union address called for such a focus.

The legislation passed the House last November and cleared the Senate last month, both times with overwhelming bipartisan support. It will allow state and local entities to work together to help keep prisoners from returning to prison by providing funding for drug and alcohol treatment programs, job training, mentoring and job placement services.

"The work of redemption reflects our values. It also reflects our national interests. Each year, approximately 650,000 prisoners are released from jail. Unfortunately, an estimated two-thirds of them are rearrested within three years," Bush said as he signed the bill.

He added: "The high recidivism rate places a huge financial burden on taxpayers, it deprives our labor force of productive workers, and it deprives families of their daughters and sons, and husbands and wives, and moms and dads."

CLICK HERE to read the entire transcript of the president's remarks and watch a video of the bill signing ceremony.