[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 68 (Tuesday, April 20, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2085-S2086]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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    SENATE RESOLUTION 165--CALLING ON THE GOVERNMENT OF THE RUSSIAN 
FEDERATION TO PROVIDE EVIDENCE OR TO RELEASE UNITED STATES CITIZEN PAUL 
                                 WHELAN

  Mr. PETERS (for himself and Ms. Stabenow) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 165

       Whereas United States citizen Paul Whelan is a resident of 
     Novi, Michigan, and a United States Marine Corps veteran;
       Whereas Paul Whelan traveled to Moscow for the wedding of a 
     personal friend on December 22, 2018;
       Whereas Russia's Federal Security Service arrested Paul 
     Whelan at the Metropol Hotel in Moscow on December 28, 2018, 
     and charged him with espionage;
       Whereas the Federal Security Service has never provided any 
     evidence of supposed wrongdoing;
       Whereas Paul Whelan was imprisoned in Lefortovo Prison and 
     was held there for more than 19 months after his arrest in 
     pre-trial detention;
       Whereas the Federal Security Service has not provided any 
     evidence of supposed wrongdoing;
       Whereas a Moscow court extended Paul Whelan's pre-trial 
     detention multiple times

[[Page S2086]]

     without publicly presenting justification or evidence of 
     wrongdoing;
       Whereas even Paul Whelan's Federal Security Service-
     appointed lawyer, Vladimir Zherebenkov, said on May 24, 2019, 
     ``[The Federal Security Service] always roll[s] out what they 
     have, but in this case, we've seen nothing concrete against 
     Whelan in five months. That means there is nothing.'';
       Whereas the then United States Ambassador to the Russian 
     Federation, Jon Huntsman, responded on April 12, 2019, to a 
     question about the detention of Paul Whelan, ``If the 
     Russians have evidence, they should bring it forward. We have 
     seen nothing. If there was a case, I think the evidence would 
     have been brought forward by now.'';
       Whereas then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with 
     Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on May 14, 2019, and 
     urged him to ensure United States citizens are not unjustly 
     held abroad;
       Whereas the Kremlin has refused Paul Whelan full access to 
     his lawyer and the so-called evidence against him, and any 
     evidence he has seen is in Russian, a language Paul does not 
     read or speak;
       Whereas Lefortovo pre-trial detention facility and the 
     Ministry of Foreign Affairs refused to provide medical 
     treatment for Paul Whelan's medical condition, despite being 
     aware of its worsening state, resulting in emergency surgery 
     on May 29, 2020;
       Whereas Paul Whelan was wrongfully convicted on June 15, 
     2020, and sentenced to 16 years in a Russian labor camp by a 
     three-judge panel, in a trial witnessed by United States 
     Ambassador John Sullivan, who referred to it as ``a mockery 
     of justice'' due to the denial of a fair trial and the 
     exclusion of defense witnesses;
       Whereas, in August 2020, on an unknown day because he was 
     moved secretly, Paul Whelan was transferred to camp IK-17, a 
     penal labor camp in Mordovia, where he is forced to work 6 
     days a week in a garment factory;
       Whereas Ambassador John Sullivan, while visiting Paul 
     Whelan at the labor camp in Mordovia, stated that ``Russian 
     authorities. . . have never shown the world evidence of his 
     guilt,'' and reiterated his call that the Russian authorities 
     correct this injustice and release Mr. Whelan; and
       Whereas Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with 
     Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on February 4, 2021, 
     and urged him to release Americans detained in Russia, 
     including Paul Whelan and Trevor Reed, so that they are able 
     to return home to their families in the United States: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) implores the Government of the Russian Federation 
     present credible evidence on the allegations against Paul 
     Whelan or immediately release him from imprisonment;
       (2) implores the Government of the Russian Federation 
     comply with its international treaty obligations and provide 
     unrestricted consular access to Paul Whelan while he remains 
     imprisoned in Russia;
       (3) calls on the Government of the Russian Federation to 
     provide Paul Whelan and all other political prisoners their 
     constitutionally afforded due process rights and universally 
     recognized human rights; and
       (4) expresses sympathy to the family of Paul Whelan for 
     this travesty to justice and personal hardship, and expresses 
     hope that their ordeal can soon be brought to a just end.

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