[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 129 (Wednesday, July 26, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3626-S3627]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 18--CALLING FOR THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF 
   MARC FOGEL, A UNITED STATES CITIZEN AND TEACHER, WHO WAS GIVEN AN 
UNJUST AND DISPROPORTIONATE CRIMINAL SENTENCE BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE 
                    RUSSIAN FEDERATION IN JUNE 2022

  Mr. CASEY (for himself, Mr. Daines, Mr. Fetterman, and Mr. Tester) 
submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                            S. Con. Res. 18

       Whereas United States citizen Marc Fogel has lived a life 
     of service, teaching history at international schools in 
     Colombia, Malaysia, Oman, Venezuela, and Russia for 35 years;
       Whereas Marc Fogel taught at the Anglo-American School of 
     Moscow from 2012 to 2021, honorably serving the children of 
     United States diplomats and members of the Armed Forces;
       Whereas Marc Fogel is known to his family, friends, 
     colleagues, and students as a kind, personable, upbeat, and 
     giving man, a loving father, and a passionate and dedicated 
     teacher;
       Whereas Marc Fogel has undergone three back surgeries, a 
     spinal fusion, a hip replacement, and two knee surgeries to 
     correct various injuries and health issues, which have left 
     him with chronic back pain and a permanent limp;
       Whereas Marc Fogel did not wish to use opioids to manage 
     his pain and was instead prescribed medical marijuana for 
     pain management in a manner consistent with the State law of 
     Pennsylvania;
       Whereas, on August 14, 2021, as he returned to Russia for 
     one final year of teaching before his intended retirement, 
     Marc Fogel was arrested in the Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow 
     for carrying about half an ounce of medical marijuana in his 
     luggage;
       Whereas Marc Fogel has stated he intended that marijuana 
     solely for personal consumption, and the Government of the 
     Russian Federation has presented no evidence to the contrary;
       Whereas, on June 16, 2022, a Russian court convicted Marc 
     Fogel of ``large-scale drugs smuggling'' in a politicized 
     show trial and sentenced him to 14 years in a maximum-
     security penal colony in Russia;
       Whereas Russian lawyers informed the family that the 
     typical sentence for Marc Fogel's offense is five years of 
     probation, and in 2019, the same Russian court sentenced 
     Alexander Grigoriev to eight years in prison for the 
     possession of 1,500 grams of various narcotics;
       Whereas Marc Fogel's sentence is vastly disproportionate to 
     the severity of his nonviolent crime, wildly dissimilar to 
     the typical punishments for comparable offenses in Russia, 
     and clearly motivated by ongoing political tensions between 
     Russia and the United States;
       Whereas, in August 2022, Russian courts denied Marc Fogel's 
     appeal of his sentence;
       Whereas the 2021 Country Report on Human Rights Practices 
     in Russia issued by the Department of State reported, 
     ``Conditions in prisons and detention centers . . . were 
     often harsh and life threatening. Overcrowding, abuse by 
     guards and inmates, limited access to health care, food 
     shortages, and inadequate sanitation were common'';
       Whereas Marc Fogel turns 62 years old in July 2023, and his 
     physical and mental health is rapidly declining due to the 
     stress and harsh conditions of his detention, such that

[[Page S3627]]

     his family fears he will not survive his sentence; and
       Whereas the Department of State requested Marc Fogel be 
     released from Russian custody on humanitarian grounds, but 
     received no response to that request: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That Congress--
       (1) calls on the Government of the Russian Federation to 
     immediately release Marc Fogel, who has already served more 
     time in prison than his minor and nonviolent crimes can 
     justify;
       (2) urges the Government of the Russian Federation to 
     respect Marc Fogel's human rights and to provide full, 
     unfettered, and consistent consular access to Marc Fogel 
     while he remains in detention, in accordance with its 
     international obligations;
       (3) urges all United States executive branch officials, 
     including President Joseph Biden, Secretary of State Antony 
     Blinken, and Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs 
     Roger Carstens, to raise the case of Marc Fogel and to press 
     for his immediate release in all interactions with the 
     Government of the Russian Federation;
       (4) urges the Government of the Russian Federation to 
     desist from issuing outlandishly disproportionate criminal 
     sentences to nonviolent United States citizens;
       (5) condemns the Government of the Russian Federation's 
     continued use of detentions and prosecutions of citizens and 
     lawful permanent residents of the United States for political 
     purposes;
       (6) calls for the immediate release of other citizens and 
     lawful permanent residents of the United States who are 
     wrongfully detained in Russia, such as Paul Whelan, Evan 
     Gershkovich, and Vladimir Kara-Murza; and
       (7) expresses sympathy for and solidarity with the families 
     of all other citizens and lawful permanent residents of the 
     United States wrongfully detained abroad for the personal 
     hardship experienced as a result of the arbitrary and 
     baseless detention of their loved ones.

                          ____________________