[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 58 (Thursday, March 30, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1106-S1107]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    SENATE RESOLUTION 156--CALLING ON THE GOVERNMENT OF THE RUSSIAN 
        FEDERATION 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. 156

       Whereas United States citizen Paul Whelan is a resident of 
     Novi, Michigan, and a veteran of the Marine Corps;
       Whereas, on December 22, 2018, Paul Whelan traveled to 
     Moscow, Russia, for the wedding of a personal friend;
       Whereas, on December 28, 2018, the Federal Security Service 
     of the Russian Federation arrested Paul Whelan at the 
     Metropol Hotel in Moscow and charged him with espionage;
       Whereas the Federal Security Service has never provided any 
     evidence of supposed wrongdoing with respect to Paul Whelan;

[[Page S1107]]

       Whereas Paul Whelan was imprisoned in Lefortovo Prison and 
     was held in pretrial detention at the prison for more than 19 
     months after his arrest;
       Whereas a Moscow court extended Paul Whelan's pretrial 
     detention multiple times without publicly presenting 
     justification or evidence of wrongdoing;
       Whereas even Vladimir Zherebenkov, the lawyer appointed by 
     the Federal Security Service to represent Paul Whelan, 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 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 to provide Paul Whelan with 
     full access to his lawyer, and the so-called evidence against 
     Paul Whelan and any evidence he has seen is in Russian, a 
     language Whelan does not read or speak;
       Whereas the Lefortovo pretrial 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 the trial 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, Paul Whelan was 
     secretly transferred to camp IK-17, a penal labor camp in 
     Mordovia, Russia, 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 for the Russian authorities 
     to correct this injustice and release Paul Whelan;
       Whereas Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with 
     Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on February 4, 2021, 
     and urged him to release United States citizens detained in 
     the Russian Federation, including Paul Whelan and Trevor 
     Reed, so that they are able to return home to their families 
     in the United States;
       Whereas, on July 23, 2021, the Senate unanimously passed a 
     bipartisan resolution calling for the release of Whelan;
       Whereas, in August 2021, Whelan was released from a month-
     long stay in a solitary confinement at the IK-17 penal colony 
     in the region of Mordovia;
       Whereas Secretary Blinken ``pressed'' the Kremlin to accept 
     an offer by the United States that would bring Paul Whelan 
     and Brittney Griner home in July 2022;
       Whereas, in November 2022, Paul Whelan was unable to 
     contact his family for more than a week, during which time 
     Russian authorities claimed Whelan had been sent to the 
     hospital;
       Whereas Russian authorities refused to release Paul Whelan 
     as part of the prisoner exchange in December 2022;
       Whereas Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated, ``His 
     detention remains unacceptable, and we continue to press for 
     his immediate release at every opportunity''; and
       Whereas President Biden stated that his administration had 
     ``not forgotten about Paul Whelan,'' and promised to ``keep 
     negotiating in good faith for his release'': Now, therefore, 
     be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) implores the Government of the Russian Federation to 
     immediately release Paul Whelan from imprisonment;
       (2) implores the Government of the Russian Federation to 
     comply with international treaty obligations and provide 
     unrestricted consular access to Paul Whelan while he remains 
     imprisoned in the Russian Federation;
       (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;
       (4) expresses the sincere thanks of the United States to 
     the Governments of Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom for 
     their support in attempting to release Paul Whelan; and
       (5) 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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