[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 131 (Friday, July 28, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E744]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               MARC FOGEL

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. GLENN THOMPSON

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 28, 2023

  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heavy 
heart on Marc Fogel's 62nd birthday. Marc, a native of Butler County, 
Pennsylvania, isn't celebrating with his family today because he's 
wrongfully detained in Russia.
  On August 14, 2021, Marc was returning to Russia for the start of the 
school year at the Anglo-American School in Moscow, where he teaches. 
But instead, he was arrested at the airport.
  Since his arrest, Marc was sentenced and is currently serving an 
exorbitant 14-year hard labor sentence. His situation qualifies for a 
``wrongly detained'' status from the U.S. Department of State, yet this 
determination has not been made despite repeated requests from 
lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, including me.
  Mr. Speaker, I proudly support a resolution calling for Marc's 
immediate release and I urge my colleagues to do the same, today, on 
his birthday.
  I also encourage my colleagues to support H.R. 4388, the Marc Fogel 
Act, to ensure transparency and accountability at the State Department 
when wrongful determinations are considered.
  Mr. Speaker, we have not forgotten Marc. It is time to bring him home 
and I implore the President and Secretary of State to do everything 
they can so he may rejoin his family--his wife, Jane, and sons Sam and 
Ethan--as soon as possible.

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