IV 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 680 

Calling upon President Obama to retract his initial public remarks and 

apologize to Cambridge, Massachusetts, Police Sergeant James M. Crowley for having unfairly impugned and prejudged his professional conduct 

in this local police response incident. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 27, 2009 

Mr. MCCOTTER (for himself, Mr. KING of New York, and Mr. KING of Iowa) 

submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Calling upon President Obama to retract his initial public 

remarks and apologize to Cambridge, Massachusetts, Police Sergeant James M. Crowley for having unfairly impugned and prejudged his professional conduct in this 

local police response incident. 

Whereas, on July 16, 2009, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Police Sergeant James M. Crowley responded to a 911 call 

from a neighbor of Harvard University Professor Henry 

Louis (‘‘Skip’’) Gates, Jr. about a suspected break-in in 

progress at his residence, which had been broken into on 

a prior occasion; 

Whereas, on July 22, 2009, in responding to a question during a White House press conference President Barack 


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•HRES 680 IH 

Obama stated ‘‘Skip Gates is a friend, so I may be a little biased here. I don’t know all of the facts’’ involved in 

this local police response incident; 

Whereas President Obama proceeded to state Sergeant Crowley ‘‘acted stupidly’’ for arresting Professor Gates on 

charges of disorderly conduct; 

Whereas, as a former Constitutional Law Professor, President Obama well understands that all Americans are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, and their actions should not be prejudged prior to being fully and 

fairly judged by an appropriate and objective authority 

after due process; 

Whereas President Obama’s nationally televised remarks may 

likely detrimentally influence the full and fair judgment 

by an appropriate and objective authority after due process regarding this local police response incident and, 

thereby, impair Sergeant Crowley’s legal and professional 

standing in relation to said incident; 

Whereas President Obama appeared at a daily White House 

Press briefing on July 24, 2009, to address his denouncement of Sergeant Crowley and stated ‘‘I could have calibrated those words differently’’ but ‘‘I continue to believe, based on what I have heard, that there was an 

overreaction in pulling Professor Gates out of his home 

to the station.’’; and 

Whereas President Obama refused to retract his initial public 

remarks and apologize to Sergeant Crowley and, instead, 

reiterated his accusation impugning Sergeant Crowley’s 

professional conduct in the performance of his duties: 

Now, therefore, be it 


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•HRES 680 IH 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives calls 

2 upon President Obama to retract his initial public remarks 

3 and apologize to Cambridge, Massachusetts, Police Ser4 geant James M. Crowley for having unfairly impugned 

5 and prejudged his professional conduct in this local police 

6 response incident. 

Æ 


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