Bi-Partisan Group of Lawmakers Urge Continued Focus on Weisfeiler Case

Bi-Partisan Group of Lawmakers Urge Continued Focus on Weisfeiler Case

March 08, 2006

(A bi-partisan group of 14 U.S. Senators and Representatives today urged Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to raise with Michelle Bachelet, the new President of Chile, the case of Boris Weisfeiler, the American citizen who disappeared in Chile in 1985. Secretary Rice is traveling to Chile later this week for President Bachelet's inauguration.

Weisfeiler was a Pennsylvania State University professor at the time of his visit to Chile. His disappearance has never been fully explained, though there is evidence suggesting the involvement of members of Colonia Dignidad, a secretive, right-wing community led by a former German Nazi, who was recently arrested.

The letter was organized by Representative Barney Frank (D-MA), who represents Weisfeiler's surviving relatives, and was also signed by Senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA); John Kerry (D-MA); Arlen Specter (R-PA); Rick Santorum (R-PA); Christopher Dodd (D-CT), who is the senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere; Robert Menendez (D-NJ); House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA); Rep. John Peterson (R-PA); Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA); Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), who is the senior Democrat on the House International Relations Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere; Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-NV), who is also a member of the International Relations Committee; Rep. James Moran (D-VA); and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL).

To view a copy of the letter, click here. http://www.house.gov/frank/WeisfeilerRice.pdf

http://www.house.gov/frank/weisfeiler.html