January 14, 2025
Mr. Cotton submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
Condemning the commutation of the death sentence of Marvin Charles Gabrion II granted by President Biden on December 23, 2024.
Section 1. Sense of the Senate regarding the commutation of the death sentence of Marvin Charles Gabrion II granted by President Biden on December 23, 2024
It is the sense of the Senate that—
(1)
President Joseph R. Biden undermined the rule of law and robbed victims of justice when he commuted the death sentence of Marvin Charles Gabrion II on December 23, 2024;
(2)
Marvin Gabrion was sentenced to death for murdering 19-year-old Rachel Timmerman just 2 days before she was scheduled to testify that Gabrion had abducted and raped her;
(3)
Marvin Gabrion was also the prime suspect in the disappearance and murder of several other individuals, including Rachel Timmerman’s 11-month-old daughter and 2 potential witnesses at his rape trial;
(4)
this commutation is a reprehensible insult to the victims of Marvin Gabrion;
(5)
President Biden claimed that he commuted the death sentences of Marvin Gabrion and 36 other murderers out of a principled opposition to the death penalty but refused to commute the death sentences of the 3 most controversial death row inmates, demonstrating that President Biden was motivated by politics, not principles; and
(6)
the Senate unequivocally condemns this commutation.