April 20, 2008: Danny Davis

Last week, President Bush signed into law the congressman's 'Second Chance Act,' which provides more drug and alcohol treatment, education, counseling, and job and housing aid, to former and soon-to-be-released prisoners. The idea is to reduce the rate of recidivism, of ex-convicts returning to prison. Among other benefits, that would be a big financial help to states and taxpayers because, according to the John Howard Association, it costs about $26,000 a year to keep a man or woman behind bars for one year.

Congressman Davis also spoke to ABC7 Chicago's Andy Shaw about the war and other national issues, including the presidential race. Davis is strong backer of his fellow Illinois member of congress, Sen. Barack Obama.

One interesting issue is that Obama is the only African-American U.S. Senator. If he holds on to his delegate lead and wins the nomination, and is elected in this Democratic year, there will be significant pressure on Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to name an African-American to replace Obama in the senate. Shaw asked Davis how interested he would be in the job, considering he is liked by both parties and has a variety of government experiences. He was a Chicago alderman, and Cook County commissioner.