[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4474]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           PARDON RAIF BADAWI

  (Mr. McGOVERN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I stand today on behalf of Saudi Arabian 
blogger Raif Badawi.
  In 2014, Saudi Arabian authorities sentenced Raif to 10 years in 
prison and 1,000 lashes for his liberal writings and support for 
secularism. Today is Raif's 1,425th day in prison. He has been publicly 
flogged 50 times, and his wife and children, fearful for their safety, 
have had to abandon their country for Canada.
  But Raif is not a criminal. He is a champion of freedom of thought 
and expression in a kingdom whose rulers fear both.
  This week President Obama will travel to Saudi Arabia to meet with 
leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council. When the President sees King 
Salman, he should urge him to pardon Raif and allow him to join his 
wife and three children in Canada.
  I seek the full support of Congress and the Obama administration in 
urging the Saudi Arabian Government to free Raif and all other 
prisoners of conscience like him, as befits any government with a seat 
on the U.N. Human Rights Council.

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