[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 336 Engrossed in House (EH)]

<DOC>
H. Res. 336

                In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

                                                        April 27, 2022.
Whereas United States citizen Paul Whelan is a resident of Novi, Michigan, and a 
        United States Marine Corps veteran;
Whereas Paul Whelan traveled to Moscow for the wedding of a personal friend on 
        December 22, 2018;
Whereas Russia's Federal Security Service arrested Paul Whelan at the Metropol 
        Hotel in Moscow on December 28, 2018, and charged him with espionage;
Whereas the Federal Security Service has never provided any evidence of supposed 
        wrongdoing;
Whereas Paul Whelan was imprisoned in Lefortovo Prison and was held there for 
        more than 19 months after his arrest in pretrial detention;
Whereas a Moscow court extended Paul Whelan's pretrial detention multiple times 
        without publicly presenting justification or evidence of wrongdoing;
Whereas even Paul Whelan's Federal Security Service-appointed lawyer, Vladimir 
        Zherebenkov, said on May 24, 2019, ``[The Federal Security Service] 
        always roll[s] out what they have, but in this case, we've seen nothing 
        concrete against Whelan in five months. That means there is nothing.'';
Whereas the then United States Ambassador to the Russian Federation, Jon 
        Huntsman, responded on April 12, 2019, to a question about the detention 
        of Paul Whelan, ``If the Russians have evidence, they should bring it 
        forward. We have seen nothing. If there was a case, I think the evidence 
        would have been brought forward by now.'';
Whereas then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Russian Foreign Minister 
        Sergey Lavrov on May 14, 2019, and urged him to ensure United States 
        citizens are not unjustly held abroad;
Whereas the Kremlin has refused Paul Whelan full access to his lawyer and the 
        so-called evidence against him;
Whereas any evidence he has seen is in Russian, a language Paul does not read or 
        speak;
Whereas Lefortovo pretrial detention facility and the Ministry of Foreign 
        Affairs refused to provide medical treatment for Paul Whelan's medical 
        condition, despite being aware of its worsening state, resulting in 
        emergency surgery on May 29, 2020;
Whereas Paul Whelan was wrongfully convicted on June 15, 2020, and sentenced to 
        16 years in a Russian labor camp by a 3-judge panel, in a trial 
        witnessed by then United States Ambassador John Sullivan, who referred 
        to it as ``a mockery of justice'' due to the denial of a fair trial and 
        the exclusion of defense witnesses;
Whereas in August 2020, on an unknown day because he was moved secretly, Paul 
        Whelan was transferred to camp IK-17, a penal labor camp in Mordovia, 
        where he is forced to work 6 days a week in a garment factory;
Whereas Ambassador John Sullivan, while visiting Paul Whelan at the labor camp 
        in Mordovia, stated that ``Russian authorities . . . have never shown 
        the world evidence of his guilt,'' and reiterated his call that the 
        Russian authorities correct this injustice and release Mr. Whelan; and
Whereas Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Russian Foreign Minister 
        Sergei Lavrov on February 4, 2021, and urged him to release Americans 
        detained in Russia, including Paul Whelan and Trevor Reed, so that they 
        are able to return home to their families in the United States: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) demands the Government of the Russian Federation present 
        credible evidence on the allegations against Paul Whelan or immediately 
        release him from imprisonment;
            (2) demands the Government of the Russian Federation comply with its 
        international treaty obligations and provide unrestricted consular 
        access to Paul Whelan while he remains imprisoned in Russia;
            (3) calls on the Government of the Russian Federation to provide 
        Paul Whelan, Trevor Reed, and all others imprisoned for political 
        motivations or otherwise unjustly imprisoned their constitutionally 
        afforded due process rights and universally recognized human rights; and
            (4) expresses sympathy to the family of Paul Whelan for this 
        travesty to justice and personal hardship, and expresses hope that their 
        ordeal can soon be brought to a just end.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.