[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 59 (Monday, April 8, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S2632]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Ryan Corbett

  Now, Madam President, on another matter, the disastrous consequences 
of America's withdrawal from Afghanistan were both foreseeable and 
foreseen, and as Taliban rule terrorizes the region and brutalizes the 
Afghan people, it has also inflicted terrible pain on American 
families.
  I have worked closely with the family of Ryan Corbett, an American 
citizen detained in Afghanistan by the Taliban.
  For over a decade, prior to the fall of Kabul, Ryan and his family 
lived amongst the Afghan people, where they served the community and 
ran a business focused on providing Afghans with education and training 
to start their own businesses. As the Taliban returned to power, the 
Corbett family was forced to flee, but Ryan made the difficult decision 
to return, hoping to pay his staff and keep his business afloat. And, 
on August 10, 2022, the Taliban detained him without charge.
  For 607 days, Ryan has been confined to a 9-by-9 basement cell, with 
scraps for food, little to no sunlight, and intermittent contact with 
his family. After nearly 2 years of wrongful detention, his hopes of 
ever returning to America are dimming.
  Earlier this afternoon, I had a chance to meet with Ryan's wife, 
Anna, their three teenaged children, and his parents, Drue and Evelyn, 
from Louisville. Now, more than ever, they fear for Ryan's life.
  Today, the Democratic leader and I have introduced a resolution 
calling for Ryan's immediate release. It reaffirms America's commitment 
to freeing Ryan and raising the international stakes of the Taliban's 
wrongful detention of American citizens.
  Unfortunately, while Ryan languishes in captivity, the Biden 
administration sends a different message to his captors. Since his 
detention, the U.S. Government has sent roughly $1 billion in aid to a 
country in the tight grip of a medieval, theocratic regime.
  It is time to put the Taliban's violent rule on notice. It is time to 
show our enemies that the United States will not let American citizens 
be used as bargaining chips. It is time to bring Ryan Corbett home.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The senior Senator from Illinois.