[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 177 (Thursday, November 20, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10756-S10757]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 106--COMMENDING THE GOVERNMENT OF 
  SWITZERLAND FOR ONGOING ASSISTANCE IN THE CASE OF ROBERT LEVINSON, 
   URING THE GOVERNMENT OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN TO INTENSIFY 
 COOPERATION WITH THE GOVERNMENT OF SWITZERLAND AND THE FEDERAL BUREAU 
    OF INVESTIGATION ON THE CASE OF ROBERT LEVINSON, AND EXPRESSING 
               SYMPATHY TO THE FAMILY OF ROBERT LEVINSON

  Mr. NELSON of Florida submitted the following concurrent resolution; 
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                            S. Con. Res. 106

       Whereas United States citizen Robert Levinson is a retired 
     agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a resident of 
     Florida, the husband of Christine Levinson, and father of 
     their 7 children;
       Whereas Robert Levinson traveled from Dubai to Kish Island, 
     Iran, on March 8, 2007;
       Whereas, after traveling to Kish Island and checking into 
     the Hotel Maryam, he disappeared on March 9, 2007;
       Whereas neither his family nor the United States Government 
     has received further information on his fate or whereabouts;
       Whereas March 9, 2009, marks the second anniversary of the 
     disappearance of Robert Levinson;
       Whereas the Government of Switzerland, which has served as 
     Protecting Power for the United States in the Islamic 
     Republic of Iran in the absence of diplomatic relations 
     between the United States Government and the Government of 
     Iran since 1980, has continuously pressed the Government of 
     Iran on the case of Robert Levinson and lent vital assistance 
     and support to the Levinson family during their December 2007 
     visit to Iran;
       Whereas officials of the Government of Iran promised their 
     continued assistance to the relatives of Robert Levinson 
     during the visit of the family to the Islamic Republic of 
     Iran in December 2007; and
       Whereas the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 
     Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, stated during an interview with NBC News 
     broadcast on July 28, 2008, that officials of the Government 
     of Iran were willing to cooperate with the Federal Bureau of 
     Investigation in the search for Robert Levinson: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That Congress--
       (1) commends the Embassy of Switzerland in Tehran and the 
     Government of Switzerland for the ongoing assistance to the 
     United States Government and to the family of Robert 
     Levinson, particularly during the visit by Christine Levinson 
     and other relatives to Iran in December 2007;
       (2) expresses appreciation for efforts by Iranian officials 
     to ensure the safety of the family of Robert Levinson during 
     their December 2007 visit to Iran, as well as for the promise 
     of continued assistance;
       (3) urges the Government of Iran, as a humanitarian 
     gesture, to intensify its cooperation on the case of Robert 
     Levinson with the Embassy of Switzerland in Tehran and to 
     share the results of its investigation into the disappearance 
     of Robert Levinson with the Federal Bureau of Investigation;
       (4) urges the President and the allies of the United States 
     to engage with officials of the Government of Iran to raise 
     the case of Robert Levinson at every opportunity, 
     notwithstanding other serious disagreements the United States 
     Government has had with the Government of Iran on a broad 
     array of issues, including human rights, the nuclear program 
     of Iran, the Middle East peace process, regional stability, 
     and international terrorism; and
       (5) expresses sympathy to the family of Robert Levinson 
     during this trying period.

  Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I am introducing a resolution 
in the Senate that touches on one of the tragic cases of a Floridian, 
Bob Levinson, who has been missing in Iran since he visited Kish Island 
off the coast of Iran in the Persian Gulf in early 2007. I have spoken 
on this issue ad infinitum before to call the attention of the Congress 
to the plight of Mr. Levinson as well as to the difficulties that are 
faced by his wife Christine and their seven children.
  Bob Levinson, a businessman and a former FBI agent, vanished after 
checking out of his hotel on the resort island of Kish on March 9, 
2007. It is no doubt the wish of everyone who knows this man that Bob 
Levinson be reunited with his loved ones. It has been very difficult to 
get information out of the Government of Iran. The State Department has 
delivered a number of requests for information and cooperation to the 
Iranian Government through our diplomatic intermediary, which is the 
Government of Switzerland. Unfortunately, Iran continues to claim it 
has no information on the fate of Bob Levinson.
  Mrs. Levinson and her eldest son, Daniel, and her sister, Ms. Halpin, 
traveled to Tehran and Kish Island in December of last year in the 
hopes of finding information about Bob Levinson's disappearance. The 
Iranian authorities, to their credit, extended courtesies to her and 
they promised her at the time they would help in the case, but those 
promises have not been fulfilled.
  This resolution I am introducing urges Iranian officials to fulfill 
their promises of assistance to the Levinsons. It calls for Iranian 
investigators to meet with the FBI to discuss the Levinson case. It 
calls for the U.S. Government and our allies to

[[Page S10757]]

press Iran on this case at every opportunity and at every level--
something I think the U.S. Government is beginning to do. Also, this 
resolution thanks the Swiss for their continued assistance in the case. 
It furthermore expresses appreciation for the efforts of Iranian 
officials who have ensured the safety of the family during their visit 
of December of last year. This resolution also expresses sympathy to 
the Levinson family during this trying period. This is a wife and seven 
children of a missing former FBI agent in the country of Iran, missing 
now since the early part of 2007.
  In this year, on July 28, the President of Iran stated during an 
interview with NBC that Iranian officials were willing to cooperate 
with the FBI on this case. Why is the FBI involved? The FBI is involved 
because he is a former FBI agent. This resolution calls upon the Tehran 
government to make this meeting happen as soon as possible to discuss 
the evidence the Iranians have uncovered about Mr. Levinson's 
disappearance.
  Now, I wish to underscore that because on July 28 of this year the 
President of Iran stated in an NBC interview that Iranian officials 
were willing to cooperate with the FBI on this case. They have not.
  I wish to be blunt. We obviously have serious disagreements with Iran 
on its nuclear program and a whole range of other issues. I haven't 
hesitated over the years, as a member of the Senate Armed Services 
Committee, the Senate Intelligence Committee, and the Senate Foreign 
Relations Committee, to express my opposition to a number of Tehran's 
policies--and I will continue to press for change in Iran's positions 
and activities--but I am calling on the Government of Iran out of human 
compassion and humanitarian assistance to a family of a wife and seven 
children to come forth and cooperate in trying to find and get evidence 
of the whereabouts of Bob Levinson.
  We want to see an Iran where individuals are respected, not locked up 
in Evin Prison--we want to see an Iran that is respected--for signing a 
petition calling for women's rights. We want to see an Iran that 
champions the Middle East peace process rather than supporting 
terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah. We want to see an Iran 
whose leaders do not make despicable threats to ``wipe Israel off the 
map.''
  We clearly have our differences with Iran, and those differences, 
especially under a new administration, can start to be bridged with 
Iran stepping forth with discussions regarding the safe return of an 
American citizen whose family desperately wishes to be reunited with 
him, that American citizen being former FBI agent Bob Levinson.
  So this resolution calls upon the U.S. Government and our friends and 
allies to engage with Iranian officials to raise Mr. Levinson's case at 
every opportunity and at every level. I understand many of our allies 
already have raised Mr. Levinson's case on our behalf, and I wish to 
encourage them to continue to do so. This Senator has done it as well, 
both publicly and privately, and I will continue to do so.
  The resolution I have filed additionally commends the Swiss for their 
ongoing assistance to the U.S. Government and to the family of the 
Levinsons. The assistance of the Swiss Ambassador and his staff at the 
American Interests Section in Tehran was essential during Mrs. 
Levinson's visits in the past, and will be, I think, to her visits in 
the future.
  I wish to express--the word ``sympathy'' does not conjure up what I 
am trying to express to Christine Levinson and to her family. No one 
should have to experience what they have been through. I have met with 
her on a number of occasions. She is a loving mother. She is clearly an 
eloquent advocate. She is a tough fighter on behalf of her husband. She 
is relentless. She is not going to give up, nor should she. I deem it a 
great privilege that I may in some little way try to assist her and her 
family.
  I want to bring more of our colleagues into this issue of trying to 
find Bob Levinson in Iran and get the world's attention focused on this 
missing American. I am going to ask Mrs. Levinson to come back in 
January when we reconvene, and I want some of our colleagues to meet 
her.
  Remember, Senators, that as representatives of the American people, 
that means we have to help individual American citizens in distress. 
This is clearly a family who is in distress. We cannot--and I believe I 
can speak for the Senate--we are not going to forget Bob Levinson and 
his family.

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