[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 1028-1029]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




         SEEKING THE RELEASE OF AMERICAN CITIZENS HELD IN IRAN

  (Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, each Nation is sovereign, but 
across the airwaves of American television today we saw flashed three 
Americans who have been held by the leadership in Iran, three innocent 
Americans who crossed, by mistake, on a hike into the sovereign area of 
Iran. I make a plea today for the President of Iran to release those 
individuals.
  Today he sent a missive, a message to say that he would release them 
if we

[[Page 1029]]

release Iranians who are held in American jails. I believe that the 
right thing to do is to assess the innocence of these Americans, and to 
be able to engage in diplomacy on setting them free. If there is any 
cause for any innocent person who happens to be of Iranian descent that 
is here in the United States jails, I know that our leadership and 
criminal justice system will engage. But to hold hostage our innocent 
Americans who, by accident, during a hike, conspicuously crossed over 
and admitted it was a mistake is a shame on the international front and 
does not do justice to human rights around the world.

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