Marc Fogel

Floor Speech

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Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart on Marc Fogel's 62nd birthday. Marc, a native of Butler County, Pennsylvania, isn't celebrating with his family today because he's wrongfully detained in Russia.

On August 14, 2021, Marc was returning to Russia for the start of the school year at the Anglo-American School in Moscow, where he teaches. But instead, he was arrested at the airport.

Since his arrest, Marc was sentenced and is currently serving an exorbitant 14-year hard labor sentence. His situation qualifies for a ``wrongly detained'' status from the U.S. Department of State, yet this determination has not been made despite repeated requests from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, including me.

Mr. Speaker, I proudly support a resolution calling for Marc's immediate release and I urge my colleagues to do the same, today, on his birthday.

I also encourage my colleagues to support H.R. 4388, the Marc Fogel Act, to ensure transparency and accountability at the State Department when wrongful determinations are considered.

Mr. Speaker, we have not forgotten Marc. It is time to bring him home and I implore the President and Secretary of State to do everything they can so he may rejoin his family--his wife, Jane, and sons Sam and Ethan--as soon as possible.

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