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On the recordDecember 19, 2024
reserving the right to object, I would like to clarify the record on President Biden's use of the pardon power, which is established in the Constitution in article II, section 2. On December 12, President Biden commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 Americans who were placed in home confinement under a bipartisan--bipartisan--provision of the CARES Act. These individuals were all convicted of nonviolent offenses and have complied with the terms of home confinement for more than 1 year. This clemency is consistent with a long history of Presidents using a categorical approach to exercise the constitutional power of pardon. For example, President Kennedy pardoned all first-time offenders convicted of violating the Narcotics Control Act of 1956. President Truman granted pardons to more than 1,500 men convicted of violating the Selected Service Act during the draft in World War II. President Carter provided a categorical pardon for hundreds of thousands of men who evaded the draft during the Vietnam war. I understand that Senator Cotton is opposed to clemency in a particular individual's case, but if Senator Cotton is concerned about undermining the rule of law and robbing victims of justice, we should consider just a few of President Donald Trump's pardons. For example, take President Trump's decision to grant clemency to at least 10 healthcare executives and doctors convicted in large-scale Medicare fraud schemes.…
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Dick Durbin
Democratic · Illinois

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