[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 62 (Thursday, April 11, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2721-S2722]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   SENATE RESOLUTION 638--CALLING FOR THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF RYAN 
  CORBETT, A UNITED STATES CITIZEN WHO WAS WRONGFULLY DETAINED BY THE 
 TALIBAN ON AUGUST 10, 2022, AND CONDEMNING THE WRONGFUL DETENTION OF 
                        AMERICANS BY THE TALIBAN

  Mr. SCHUMER (for himself and Mr. McConnell) submitted the following 
resolution; which was considered and agreed to:

                              S. Res. 638

       Whereas United States citizen Ryan Corbett has lived a life 
     of service by supporting humanitarian projects in Afghanistan 
     that help the Afghan people start and operate small 
     businesses;
       Whereas Ryan Corbett moved his family to Afghanistan in 
     2010 to help the local population and lived there for more 
     than a decade aiding the Afghan people;
       Whereas, in 2017, Ryan Corbett founded ``Bloom 
     Afghanistan'' to provide consulting and microloans to Afghan 
     small businesses to help build a self-sustaining local 
     economy;
       Whereas Ryan Corbett is known to his family, friends, 
     colleagues, and associates as a loving father and husband as 
     well as a kind, service-oriented man;
       Whereas, in August 2021, Ryan Corbett was forced to leave 
     his life, community, and Afghan partners behind when the 
     Taliban seized Kabul and United States citizens were 
     evacuated;
       Whereas, in August 2022, Ryan Corbett traveled to 
     Afghanistan for a 10-day trip to check on his business and 
     employees and was detained by the Taliban;
       Whereas the Taliban detained Ryan Corbett without charging 
     him with a crime or granting him due process in any judicial 
     proceedings;
       Whereas, on September 29, 2023, Ryan Corbett was designated 
     as wrongfully detained by United States Secretary of State 
     Antony Blinken;
       Whereas Ryan Corbett is being held in a 9-foot by 9-foot 
     underground cell with two other Taliban detainees and has 
     been held in solitary confinement on multiple occasions;
       Whereas Ryan Corbett has not been granted access to any 
     physical consular visits by United States Department of State 
     personnel but has had limited consular access via

[[Page S2722]]

     phone to a United States consular representative;
       Whereas, during his detention, Ryan Corbett seldom has had 
     phone calls with his family and has only had limited in-
     person visits with personnel from Qatar, the United States' 
     protecting power in Afghanistan;
       Whereas at least five third-country nationals previously 
     detained with Ryan Corbett have been released and have 
     reported on Ryan's horrific and deteriorating conditions;
       Whereas Ryan Corbett's former cellmates who have been 
     subsequently released stated that prisoners at the detention 
     facility must survive on scraps of fatty meat, seldom have 
     access to sunlight, and cannot use the bathroom without 
     permission;
       Whereas Ryan Corbett's former cellmates who have been 
     subsequently released stated that, during their captivity, 
     Ryan Corbett was suffering from seizures, fainting, and 
     discolored extremities;
       Whereas Ryan Corbett turned 40 years old during his 
     wrongful detention, and his physical and mental health is 
     rapidly declining due to the stress and harsh conditions, 
     such that his family fears he will not survive his wrongful 
     detention; and
       Whereas the Taliban's pursuit of international legitimacy 
     and recognition is without merit due to the Taliban's 
     continued use of hostages as a political tool, the Taliban's 
     support for terrorism, and the elimination of freedoms for 
     women and girls in Afghanistan: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) calls on the Taliban to immediately and unconditionally 
     release Ryan Corbett;
       (2) condemns the wrongful detention of Ryan Corbett by the 
     Taliban;
       (3) urges the Taliban to respect Ryan Corbett's fundamental 
     human rights and to provide full, unfettered, and consistent 
     health and welfare visits to Ryan Corbett while he remains in 
     detention;
       (4) urges all United States executive branch officials, 
     including President Joseph Biden, Secretary of State Antony 
     Blinken, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Special 
     Representative for Afghanistan Tom West, and Special 
     Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens, to 
     continue to raise the case of Ryan Corbett and to press for 
     his immediate release in all interactions with the Taliban;
       (5) condemns the Taliban's continued use of the wrongful 
     detention of United States citizens and lawful permanent 
     residents for political purposes and demands that the Taliban 
     stop unjustifiably detaining United States nationals for 
     political gain;
       (6) calls for the immediate release of other United States 
     citizens and lawful permanent residents who are wrongfully 
     detained in Afghanistan;
       (7) expresses sympathy for and solidarity with the families 
     of all other United States citizens and lawful permanent 
     residents wrongfully detained abroad; and
       (8) expresses support for the family of Ryan Corbett and 
     the family's commitment to bringing Ryan Corbett home.

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