[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 38 (Wednesday, March 9, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1356-S1357]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        FREEDOM FOR BOB LEVINSON

  Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, I wish to speak about Bob Levinson, a 
retired FBI agent who 9 years ago today disappeared in Iran. He was on 
the tourist island of Kish. It is a little island off the coast of 
Iran, and it is Iranian territory. It is in the Persian Gulf. It is 
just a few minutes' flight from Dubai. Bob Levinson was there. There is 
conflicting information, but in the process of checking out from his 
hotel and getting into a cab and going to the airport to return--I 
think to Dubai--he disappeared 9 years ago today.
  There is a lot of mystery surrounding the disappearance, and there is 
a lot of mystery surrounding what has happened ever since. There is a 
mystery as to why the FBI, shortly after his disappearance, was 
somewhat lackadaisical about pursuing it. It is a mystery as to why the 
CIA was not coordinating with the FBI in pursuing vigorously the 
disappearance of Bob. There is no mystery surrounding the fact that, 
finally, the two agencies got their act together and started to 
vigorously pursue the disappearance of Bob Levinson. I wish to give 
great credit to the agency, since they tried to get to the bottom of 
it, but that has led us nowhere, and here we are 9 years later.
  It is particularly troubling to all of us, including all of our 
negotiating team for the Iranian nuclear agreement, because at every 
meeting, both high level and low level, at the direction of our 
Secretary of State, first Hillary Clinton and then John Kerry, over and 
over it was brought up to the Iranian Government. It is frustrating for 
this Senator, being the Senator from Florida where a wife and seven 
children are left behind, and for Christine Levinson, whom I have met 
with many times, as well as her sons and daughters and most recently 
both Christine and her son, as they plead for help, for just any 
information.
  About 5 years ago there was proof of life, and it was a video, and 
Bob was looking very gaunt. He had been gone several years at this 
point. He was pleading: Don't forget him. Sometime after that, but 
within a year, the last proof of life was a photograph showing an even 
more emaciated Bob with a huge beard and unkempt hair. Again, the 
picture says all we need to know. Why is he being left behind? Here, 9 
years later, supposedly we don't know anything.
  This Senator, on behalf of Christine and her family, went years ago 
to the Iranian mission at the United Nations--the only place that Iran 
had an ambassador here in the United States, since we do not have 
diplomatic relations--and made the case on humanitarian grounds. That 
case has been made over and over and over again, including directly 
with Foreign Minister Zarif and the new Iranian Ambassador last 
September, in a meeting of a handful of Senators on behalf of all of 
those who have been kept by Iran. Subsequently, some have been 
released, including the fellow from Michigan, the former marine, and so 
forth, whom we know about--but nothing about Bob Levinson.

  Of course, the Government of Iran always says: We don't know anything 
about it. Oh, we thought he was in Pakistan.
  Those are always the answers. But he disappeared in Iran, and with 
the very strict state-controlled Iranian security apparatus, obviously, 
they know what happened. Certainly, 9 years later, they should know 
what happened or at least have the capacity to be able to find out what 
happened to Bob Levinson. The rest of us keep searching in every 
possible way.
  A couple of years ago it became apparent to this Senator that the 
Associated Press was about to publish a story talking about Bob 
Levinson's clandestine activities. This Senator called the executive 
editor and pled that they not publish the story, that they do what the 
responsible New York Times had done. New York Times investigative 
reporter Barry Meier sat on the story for over 3 years, knowing that if 
the story about clandestine activities were published, it could 
jeopardize Bob's life. To no avail, the Associated Press executive 
editor said to this Senator: Well, they already know this. Despite my 
pleading to them, the answer was no, and they went ahead and published 
the article. I vigorously disagreed with the Associated Press's 
conclusions, and I think that jeopardized Bob's wherewithal as well as 
his safety.
  Here we are, several years later, 9 years after the apparent 
disappearance, and still there is nothing about Bob Levinson. So it is 
the conclusion of this Senator that if the Government of Iran--namely, 
President Ruhani, as told to us by his Foreign Minister Zarif--knows 
nothing about it, well, somebody in Iran does. Maybe that tells us 
something about Iranian society and the Iranian Government--that there 
are these different power centers, one being the Revolutionary Guard 
and another the exclusive Quds Force. But there is one person that is 
over all of this in Iran, and that is the Supreme Leader, and he should 
know. All the pleas that have been made on the basis of a humanitarian 
plea for a family--a wife and seven children--thus far have been 
ignored.
  This brings us to the next point. According to New York Times 
investigative reporter Barry Meier, a meeting took place in 2011 in 
Paris in the Iranian Embassy with the Iranian Ambassador by a group of 
private American citizens who were doing what they could to facilitate 
the location of Bob or any information about Bob, and the Iranian 
Ambassador told them that, yes, Iran had Bob Levinson. This is 
according to a story published in the New York Times by Barry Meier a 
few months ago.
  This Senator called Barry Meier and asked: ``Are you sure of your 
facts?'' And he said yes. This Senator then called one of the people 
that was associated with this audience of private citizens, and that 
person, when I met with him, confirmed that what the New York Times had 
published was accurate and true, and that, in fact, the FBI had been 
called and the FBI had met with representatives of the Iranian Embassy 
in Paris right across the street from the Embassy in a cafe in Paris.
  This Senator called the former Deputy Director of the FBI--a man of 
impeccable reputation--Sean Joyce, who before he was Deputy Director 
had spearheaded the efforts on trying to find Bob Levinson and 
continued that in his new role as the No. 2 in the FBI. Just last week 
this Senator talked to Sean Joyce, and he said that he didn't know 
anything about this. Well, if an investigative reporter has found out 
this information and it has been confirmed by people who were there or 
knew of that meeting and, at the time in 2011, the top guy in the FBI 
who is spearheading the efforts to try to get Bob Levinson, a former 
FBI agent, doesn't know about it, what does this suggest? It suggests 
that there is a huge disconnect in the FBI, which leads this Senator, 
who has been on this case for 9 years on behalf of a grieving wife and 
seven children, to wonder what in the world is going on.
  Until this turmoil is sorted out, the bottom line is that we want Bob 
Levinson home with his family for humanitarian reasons. I know John 
Kerry is doing all he can, but we have to find

[[Page S1357]]

another way to get to the Supreme Leader. Maybe it is through some of 
these private contacts. Why has that not been coordinated? I know the 
White House is involved in this, but do they know about that 2011 
meeting? If FBI agents were there on the case, why was the White House 
not informed along with the leadership of the FBI? Something is 
terribly amiss, and we need to get to the bottom of it.
  Sadly, on this ninth year of Bob Levinson's disappearance, a 
patriotic American who--poof--on the way to the airport disappeared 
from Kish Island, Iran--sadly, 9 years later, there is no information 
about bringing Bob Levinson home.
  To the President of the United States, the Secretary of State, the 
head of the FBI, the head of all of our alphabet agencies: It is time 
to get the information about Bob and bring him home.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LANKFORD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Rounds). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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