First of all, let me say how pleased we are to be in the state of Florida and the Tampa Bay Area. The Commission has been warmly welcomed by state and local officials, community organizations, networks of concerned citizens, the media, and by all of you, and that is very encouraging. It's encouraging because the problems we're here to explore — dangerous or even deadly conditions in correctional facilities — are not someone else's problems, they are our problems. They are Florida's problems. They are this nation's problems. When a prison environment becomes dangerous or abusive, everyone in society suffers: those who are incarcerated, the men and women who work there, their families and the neighborhoods, towns and cities that prisoners and officers return to — whether at the end of a sentence or at the end of a shift.

There are serious problems in at least some of our prisons and jails, but right now our knowledge of those problems is based on impressions, anecdotes, and the relatively few high profile incidents and court cases that make the news. These individual stories are important — and you will hear moving personal accounts of violence and abuse later this morning — but stories in isolation can not tell us whether such problems are widespread or highly prevalent in any single place or nationwide. Over the coming year, this Commission will continue to bring individual stories to light. We will also work to build on those anecdotes, gathering whatever evidence we can find and, I expect, make a strong case for better record-keeping and transparency as part of solving the problems. And we aim to work closely with corrections professionals every step of the way.

We have to remember that the majority of corrections officers and administrators are dedicated, well intentioned professionals whose performance — often under extremely difficult circumstances – usually equals their high intentions. But the admirable performance of the many cannot be an excuse for ignoring the troubling or, in some cases criminal, actions of a minority of officers and administrators. We do not know the size of that minority. We do not know which problems are most common, where they are likely to occur, and when. We do not know why well meaning individuals sometimes do awful things or fail utterly to uphold their duty. In short, we — and I mean the American public — do not know enough about what happens behind bars to the estimated 13.5 million people who are detained annually in the United States. Nor do we know enough about pressures on the 750,000 Americans who spend their days and nights working in our nation's prisons and jails and the dangers they face from inmates.

I've said that this Commission will work with corrections professionals at all levels, and we already have some enthusiastic partners. Three of them were so convinced of the merits of this inquiry that they joined the Commission. We have Gary Maynard, a 34-year corrections veteran, now Director of Corrections in Iowa and President-Elect of the American Correctional Association; Timothy Ryan, Chief of Corrections in Orange County Florida, not far from here, and a Past President of the American Jail Association; and we have Mark Luttrell, Sheriff of Shelby County Tennessee and formerly a warden at three federal prisons.

Other experienced corrections professionals are with us in Tampa as witnesses, and they will testify later today and tomorrow. On of them is Ron McAndrew, former warden of a maximum security prison in Florida. You'll hear Ron describe some frightening, violent encounters and also patterns of degradation and physical abuse – what he calls the "valleys" of his career and profession. But you'll also hear him define the "peaks" of that same career — friendships, loyalty, honor — and you'll hear him recommend the corrections profession — and let me quote him here — "to anyone at any employable age seeking a challenging and rewarding career path."

It's very difficult, but also sign of wisdom and maturity (and I think I can say that at my age) to embrace and learn from life's contradictions. It is my personal ambition that this year-long inquiry and national discussion will be marked by that kind of wisdom, so that we can reach a common understanding of the most serious problems in our nation's prisons and jails and be of real service to the men and women employed there and those who are incarcerated.