Calling on the Government of the Russian Federation to Immediately Release United States Citizen Paul Whelan

Floor Speech

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Mrs. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, I thank my dear friend and the chairman and the entire House Foreign Affairs Committee for knowing the importance of this.

I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 272. With this resolution, we are reaffirming, as a House, as an institution of the U.S. Government, our unwavering commitment to bring Paul Whelan home.

Paul has been wrongfully imprisoned in Russia for more than 4 years. He is a native Michigander. Representative Stevens and I now share him. He is my constituent, but he has got two women you don't want to tick off and are not going to stop until we bring him home.

His parents are my constituents and our entire Michigan delegation-- we don't put a party in front of it--stands united in this effort. His imprisonment continues to be an affront to due process, international law, and human rights.

We have witnessed increasingly bold and reckless action by Russia in wrongfully detaining American citizens. This is unjust, it is unconscionable, and it is unacceptable. Our people are not political pawns.

We must pursue every avenue to secure his immediate release, and I will work with everyone here and throughout our government to make that happen.

Paul needs hope. I hope he sees all of us today. His family desperately needs hope. This House of Representatives needs to send a strong message to the Russians that Paul is not a pawn in international relations, and we all want him home. The House needs to tell Paul and his family today, we need to send a message that we aren't forgetting you, we are fighting hard, and we will never give up.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge all of my colleagues to support this important resolution. This is an opportunity for this body to once again demand, with one unified voice, the immediate release of Paul Whelan. It is far beyond time we bring him home.

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