[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 23, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S2871]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



            Calling for the Release of Pastor Andrew Brunson

  Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, sadly, I have to do a speech that I 
promised I would do every week until we find justice for someone who 
has been in a Turkish prison now for a number of days. This is Pastor 
Brunson. He is a Presbyterian minister from Black Mountain. He has been 
in Turkey for 20 years, doing missionary work for a small church that I 
will describe briefly later.
  On October 4, 2016, he was swept up in President Erdogan's regime's 
reaction to an unlawful coup--a coup that I disagree with. I believe in 
a peaceful transition of power, and I do believe that people who are 
responsible for it should be subject to Turkish laws. But the roundup 
of people by President Erdogan--he cast a very wide net--went so far 
beyond any reasonable expectation of people who could have been 
involved in the coup attempt. On October 4, 2016, a Presbyterian 
minister from Black Mountain, NC--the same church that Billy Graham was 
a part of--found himself arrested on charges for being a potential 
terrorist and plotting a coup.
  He is in a Turkish prison. He has been in that prison now for 593 
days--593 days, almost 17 months--without charges. He is held in a 
prison cell that is designed for 8 people but has 21 people in it. He 
is not really allowed to speak with his family. In fact, the only 
family he has seen over the last 593 days has been his wife, because 
they have been afraid to let his children come into the country for 
fear that they would not be allowed to leave, nor will his wife Norine 
leave the country for fear that she will not be able to come back. She 
is his only connection to his family. It has been 593 days.
  I want to go back and tell you what really underlines why they think 
this Presbyterian minister is a part of the coup attempt or a terrorist 
organization. It is because they believe that religions in the United 
States are somehow joined together in this intelligence-gathering 
network so that, instead of doing missionary work, they can go into 
these countries and infiltrate their systems and then force coups or 
support or provide aid to people who would commit a terrorist act 
against the Turkish homeland--something that I would object to and 
something of which I would say that anybody who does that should be 
subject to Turkish law.
  They believe this of Pastor Brunson, a pastor of a church in Izmir, 
who for many years, when he was doing missionary work, didn't even have 
a church. They finally were able to get the resources together. They 
have 50 members. This is a 50-member congregation in a church in Izmir, 
which is one of the more populous cities in the Turkey.
  This is a very small church. On a packed day, on a Sunday, you may be 
able to fit 120 people in it. They open the doors so that people 
walking down the street can hear what they are talking about. They open 
the windows. They invite anybody in it.
  Part of the case is that they believe that people who have entered 
that church are Kurdish, and because they are Kurdish, they must be 
associated with the PKK, and if they are associated with the PKK, then, 
clearly, they were involved with terrorist attempts against Turkey.
  This church was also used in evidence. You see the picture. There is 
a small room upstairs in this very small church. There have been over 
one dozen secret witnesses. In a Turkish court, he doesn't have a trial 
by jury. He has three judges, and there is a prosecutor who is 
elevated, effectively, to be another judge, whom he is testifying 
before. One of the secret witnesses said that he clearly is guilty of 
nefarious activity because one night he saw a window open in this 
church for about 4 hours. That was the evidence submitted.
  There is a problem with that. No. 1, generally speaking, in our 
country, having a light on doesn't necessarily go directly to being 
prosecuted for terrorism or conspiracy to commit terrorism. There is 
another problem with this allegation. This room doesn't have a window. 
There is no possible way somebody could have seen the light. Even if 
you would argue that seeing a light could somehow be linked to 
terrorist activity, you can't even see it.
  To make matters worse, after more than a dozen secret witnesses came 
on, many of them in Turkish prisons themselves for the prosecution, the 
defense asked if they had 10 witnesses who would testify on his behalf. 
The judges said they would not be allowed to testify because they are 
suspects. They haven't been charged with anything, necessarily. They 
may not even be incarcerated, but they are suspects. Therefore, he has 
no opportunity whatsoever to defend himself.
  I am about to go back and do a final vote on the National Defense 
Authorization Act. We have to get President Erdogan's attention. In a 
bill that we are going to have on this floor in the next couple of 
weeks, I believe we are going to send a very clear message to the 
President and to the people of Turkey to treat our people fairly, to 
treat with respect a nation that is prepared to send American men and 
women to Turkey to fight and die for their freedom. If they don't, then 
we are going to have to continue to up the temperature until justice is 
done for Pastor Brunson and others in Turkish prisons.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.