[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 162 (Tuesday, October 15, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S5776]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    WELCOMING PASTOR ANDREW BRUNSON

  Mr. TILLIS. Madam President and those who were watching during the 
opening prayer, that was Pastor Andrew Brunson from North Carolina. 
This month marks a year since Pastor Brunson was released from a 
Turkish prison. Norine, his wife, is in the Gallery as well. They were 
swept up in what I considered to be an overreaction by President 
Erdogan and the Turkish regime in their imprisoning thousands of people 
after the coup attempt in Turkey. I actually found out about this first 
as casework. Pastor Brunson was from North Carolina. Then, slowly but 
steadily, diplomacy wasn't working, and he found himself in a Turkish 
prison--at one point in really what we would consider to be despicable 
circumstances. He was in a prison cell that was designed for maybe 8 or 
10 people that had had more than 20 in it, and none of them spoke the 
English language.
  Pastor Brunson was a missionary in Turkey for almost 20 years. He had 
a church in Izmir, and all they tried to do for those who wanted to 
hear the Word of God was to speak it. For that, he was ultimately 
incarcerated and accused of being a part of the Turkish coup attempt. 
It was about a year later that they issued an indictment for him. It 
was a 62-page indictment that read like a horrible, fictional novel and 
had some of the most absurd allegations you could possibly imagine. 
Certainly, they were things that wouldn't keep you in jail overnight in 
the United States but were things that were potentially going to have 
Pastor Brunson convicted and spending 35 years in a Turkish prison.
  We got word back that after the indictment was issued against Pastor 
Brunson, he was afraid that the American people were going to believe 
it, that we would simply move on, and that he would be left there at 
the fate of the Turkish judiciary. When I heard that, the first thing I 
told my staff is that I had to go to Turkey. I wanted to go to the 
prison that Pastor Brunson was in, and I had the opportunity to meet 
Norine, his wife, the day before. I went there, and across a table that 
was about as wide as this desk, I told Pastor Brunson that we were not 
going to forget him and were not going to stop until we got him 
released from prison.
  In a series of efforts here, for which I have to really compliment 
all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, more than 72 Senators 
signed on to a letter that encouraged Pastor Brunson's release. More 
than 100 House Members signed on to a similar letter. We did everything 
we could diplomatically to get Pastor Brunson released.
  I decided I wanted to see how the court case was going, so I went 
back to Turkey a few months after I had first met Pastor Brunson in the 
prison, and I sat through 12 hours of so-called Turkish justice. I saw 
this man stand before a dais of three judges and a prosecutor, where 
basically you were assumed guilty until you proved innocence. His 
defense attorney was as far away from him as is that wall. That is 
Turkish justice. That is not anything we can imagine in this country, 
but that is what this man was subjected to.
  Over the course of several months and in working with the President, 
Secretary Pompeo, the Vice President, and a number of other people, we 
were able to get President Erdogan to recognize that this was a 
political exercise, that it was not an exercise in justice, and that he 
needed to be released.
  A year ago this month, he was released, and now he is opening the 
Senate in prayer. I thank Pastor Brunson for his perseverance. He went 
through things that most of us cannot imagine, and Norine was his 
strongest advocate.
  I see the Parliamentarian looking at me as if I am not supposed to 
recognize the fact that Norine Brunson is in the Gallery, so I will not 
recognize that fact because that would be a violation of the rules.
  They are a sight for sore eyes, and I am so glad to have them back in 
this country. I know they are going to continue their missionary work 
wherever they can. I thank them for their leadership and their deep 
faith.
  Thank you for opening the Senate today.
  Madam President, I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________