[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 18]
[House]
[Page 25878]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



             CONDEMNING THE HARSH TREATMENT OF EDMOND POPE

  (Mr. WALDEN of Oregon asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, it saddens me that my speeches on 
the floor condemning the harsh treatment of Edmond Pope have become all 
too regular. Mr. Pope, an American businessman being held in Russia on 
charges of espionage, has been in prison now for 213 days.
  I learned yesterday that during his trial, apparently Mr. Pope's 
jailers discovered he was doubled over in pain unable to continue the 
trial. Other reports suggest he collapsed after returning to his prison 
cell. What do they expect, Mr. Speaker? Six months into his 
imprisonment, he has not been seen by anyone but the prison doctor 
despite his frail health and history of cancer. If this prison doctor 
is as qualified to practice medicine as Ed's captors are to deliver 
justice, we have reason to fear for his health.
  Ed Pope has been held in unspeakable conditions in a Russian prison 
courtesy of a government that simply cannot let go of its legacy of 
human rights abuses. While we do not yet know the nature of his 
illness, he is obviously very sick.
  I am absolutely outraged over the barbaric treatment Ed Pope 
continues to receive. He must be released immediately, Mr. Speaker. At 
a minimum he


deserves the basic human right of being able to get appropriate medical 
care and an English-speaking doctor to review the results.

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