[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 105 (Tuesday, June 21, 2022)]
[House]
[Page H5720]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   RELEASE ALEX DRUEKE AND ANDY HUYNH

  (Ms. JACKSON LEE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to assert the sovereignty of the 
United States of America, to applaud the bipartisan commitment to the 
Ukrainians who are fighting for democracy, and to acknowledge Alex 
Drueke and Andy Huynh, who are fighting as volunteers in the Ukrainian 
Army and have now been captured by the enemy.
  The enemy wants to call them a name that I refuse to say on the floor 
of the House. They are, in fact, volunteers, and they should be subject 
to the international obligations that Russia must adhere to and must 
look at the conventions that may be relevant. Their lives must be 
protected. They are soldiers who desired to fight for democracy.
  I am proud of them, as I am of the Americans who are held around the 
world falsely, in particular Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner, who are 
held as hostages in Russia. They are wrongly held, and I ask that we 
pursue this as Americans and the American Government to help release 
Brittney Griner, release Paul Whelan, stop the false judicial system 
and legal system of Russia, and bring our Americans home.
  We should not leave Alex Drueke and Andy Huynh on the battlefield. We 
need to protect them as a sovereign nation.

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