[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 5 (Thursday, January 10, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H374-H375]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         RELEASE KHALIL MAATOUK

  (Mr. BUDD asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BUDD. Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak about Khalil Maatouk, 
who is the executive director of the Syrian Center for Legal Studies 
and

[[Page H375]]

Research, and the head of the Syrian Center for the Defense of 
Detainees.
  On October 2 of 2012, 6 years ago, Mr. Maatouk was being driven to 
work by a friend, and that was the last time anyone was able to reach 
him. It is very possible that he was illegally detained at a security 
checkpoint by the Syrian Government. Even though a released detainee at 
the State Security detention facility in Damascus said he saw Khalil 
there, the Syrian general prosecutor has still denied his whereabouts.
  Six years is long enough, Madam Speaker. It is time for the Syrian 
Government to release Khalil. He has dedicated his life to the defense 
of human rights, and it is past time that he gets to return to his 
family.

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