[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 156 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

<DOC>






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 156

 Calling on the Government of the Russian Federation to release United 
                      States citizen Paul Whelan.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 30, 2023

 Mr. Peters (for himself, Ms. Stabenow, and Mr. Cornyn) submitted the 
 following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
                               Relations

                             June 13, 2023

  Reported by Mr. Menendez, with an amendment and an amendment to the 
                                preamble

                            October 3, 2023

      Considered, amended, and agreed to with an amended preamble

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Calling on the Government of the Russian Federation to release United 
                      States citizen Paul Whelan.

Whereas United States citizen Paul Whelan is a resident of Novi, Michigan, and a 
        veteran of the Marine Corps;
Whereas, on December 22, 2018, Paul Whelan traveled to Moscow, Russia, for the 
        wedding of a personal friend;
Whereas, on December 28, 2018, the Federal Security Service of the Russian 
        Federation arrested Paul Whelan at the Metropol Hotel in Moscow and 
        charged him with espionage;
Whereas the Federal Security Service has never provided any evidence of supposed 
        wrongdoing with respect to Paul Whelan;
Whereas Paul Whelan was imprisoned in Lefortovo Prison and was held in pretrial 
        detention at the prison for more than 19 months after his arrest;
Whereas a Moscow court extended Paul Whelan's pretrial detention multiple times 
        without publicly presenting justification or evidence of wrongdoing;
Whereas even Vladimir Zherebenkov, the lawyer appointed by the Federal Security 
        Service to represent Paul Whelan, 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 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 to provide Paul Whelan with full access to his 
        lawyer, and the so-called evidence against Paul Whelan and any evidence 
        he has seen is in Russian, a language Whelan does not read or speak;
Whereas the 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 three-judge panel, in a trial 
        witnessed by then-United States Ambassador John Sullivan, who referred 
        to the trial 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, Paul Whelan was secretly transferred 
        to camp IK-17, a penal labor camp in Mordovia, Russia, where he is 
        forced to work 6 days a week in a garment factory;
Whereas then-Ambassador John Sullivan, while visiting Paul Whelan in September 
        2020 at the labor camp in Mordovia, stated that ``Russian authorities 
        ... have never shown the world evidence of his guilt,'' and reiterated 
        his call for the Russian authorities to correct this injustice and 
        release Paul Whelan;
Whereas Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Russian Foreign Minister 
        Sergei Lavrov on February 4, 2021, and urged him to release United 
        States citizens detained in the Russian Federation, including Paul 
        Whelan and Trevor Reed, so that they are able to return home to their 
        families in the United States;
Whereas, on July 23, 2021, the Senate unanimously passed a bipartisan resolution 
        calling for Whelan's release;
Whereas, in August 2021, Whelan was released from a month-long stay in a 
        solitary confinement at the IK-17 penal colony in the region of 
        Mordovia;
Whereas Secretary Blinken pressed the Kremlin to accept an offer by the United 
        States that would bring Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner home in July 
        2022;
Whereas, in November 2022, Paul Whelan was unable to contact his family for more 
        than a week, during which time Russian authorities claimed Whelan had 
        been sent to the hospital;
Whereas Russian authorities refused to release Paul Whelan as part of prisoner 
        exchanges for Trevor Reed and Brittney Griner;
Whereas Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that Whelan's ``detention 
        remains unacceptable, and we continue to press for his immediate release 
        at every opportunity''; and
Whereas President Biden stated that his administration had ``not forgotten about 
        Paul Whelan,'' and promised to ``keep negotiating in good faith for his 
        release'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) implores the Government of the Russian Federation to 
        immediately release Paul Whelan from imprisonment;
            (2) implores the Government of the Russian Federation to 
        comply with international treaty obligations and provide 
        unrestricted consular access to Paul Whelan while he remains 
        imprisoned in the Russian Federation;
            (3) calls on the Government of the Russian Federation to 
        provide Paul Whelan and all other political prisoners their 
        constitutionally afforded due process rights; and
            (4) expresses sympathy to the family of Paul Whelan for 
        this travesty of justice and personal hardship and expresses 
        hope that Whelan will soon be returned home.
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