Political Quotes

On the recordJune 20, 2017
last year, a woman named Carol Denise Richardson was released from Federal prison after President Obama granted her clemency. She had been serving a life sentence for possessing and intending to distribute 50 or more grams of cocaine, on top of having an already lengthy criminal record. She had not done anything specifically violent, so, theoretically, we should have been able to release her early and see good results, at least according to the advocates of criminal leniency. Unfortunately, nothing good has come from this decision. Now, less than a year later, Carol Richardson is going back to prison. As part of her release, she was put on a 10-year probation, which meant she had to check in regularly with her probation officers, but she did not. She did not tell them she had left her job. She did not tell them she had moved. She did not even tell them she had been arrested. Her latest offense, I should say, falls somewhere short of heinous. She was arrested in Pasadena, TX, for stealing $60 worth of laundry detergent so she could buy drugs. From everything I have read in the news, it seems clear that Carol Richardson is not a serious, violent menace to society, but it is also clear she was not prepared to reenter society. She still had not kicked her drug habit. She still could not keep and hold a steady job. She still could not meet the most basic requirements of citizenship and basic adulthood. But the real question is, Why would she be ready?…
Said by
Tom Cotton
Republican · Arkansas

Share

More from Tom Cotton

Jun 13, 2026

If we don't extend it for at least a few weeks while we continue to try to work on our differences, the consequences could be severe.

foxnews.com
Jun 11, 2026

But we can’t allow any effort by foreign adversaries to extort these fears and undermine our technological development.

cotton.senate.gov
Jun 24, 2026

This mission can’t be achieved when it’s undermined by thousands of Chinese nationals infiltrating the National Labs each year.

cotton.senate.gov
Jul 22, 2026

China’s growing footprint in global agriculture is a deliberate, strategic effort to dominate food production and supply chains in ways that threatens American farmers and food security.

cotton.senate.gov

Other voices in this conversation