[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 129 (Thursday, July 22, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5056-S5057]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CALLING ON THE GOVERNMENT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION TO PROVIDE EVIDENCE
OR TO RELEASE UNITED STATES CITIZEN PAUL WHELAN
Mr. REED. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed
to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 93, S. Res. 165.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
The bill clerk read as follows:
A resolution (S. Res. 165) calling on the Government of the
Russian Federation to provide evidence or to release United
States citizen Paul Whelan.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the
resolution, which had been reported from the Committee on Foreign
Relations, without amendment, and with an amendment to the preamble, as
follows:
(The part of the preamble intended to be stricken is shown in
boldface brackets and the part of the preamble intended to be inserted
is shown in italic.
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 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]
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 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
[[Page S5057]]
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 his
trial and sentencing were conducted almost entirely in
Russian, a language Mr. Whelan 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.
Mr. REED. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to;
the committee-reported amendment to the preamble be agreed to; the
preamble, as amended, be agreed to; and the motion to reconsider be
considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or
debate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The resolution (S. Res. 165) was agreed to.
The committee-reported amendment to the preamble was agreed to.
The preamble, as amended, was agreed to.
The resolution with its preamble, as amended, reads as follows
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 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 his
trial and sentencing were conducted almost entirely in
Russian, a language Mr. Whelan 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.
____________________