[House Report 117-612]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


117th Congress    }                                   {      Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session       }                                   {      117-612

======================================================================

 
   RESOLUTION OF INQUIRY REQUESTING THE PRESIDENT AND DIRECTING THE 
SECRETARY OF STATE TO TRANSMIT, RESPECTIVELY, CERTAIN DOCUMENTS TO THE 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES RELATING TO THE CONCLUSION OF THE DEPARTMENT 
         OF STATE ON WHETHER MARC FOGEL IS WRONGFULLY DETAINED

                                _______
                                

  December 8, 2022.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed

                                _______
                                

    Mr. Meeks, from the Committee on Foreign Affairs, submitted the 
                               following

                             ADVERSE REPORT

                             together with

                            DISSENTING VIEWS

                      [To accompany H. Res. 1456]

    The Committee on Foreign Affairs, to whom was referred the 
resolution (H. Res. 1456) of inquiry requesting the President 
and directing the Secretary of State to transmit, respectively, 
certain documents to the House of Representatives relating to 
the conclusion of the Department of State on whether Marc Fogel 
is wrongfully detained, having considered the same, reports 
unfavorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the 
resolution not be agreed to.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
Summary..........................................................     2
Background.......................................................     2
Hearings.........................................................     3
Committee Consideration and Vote.................................     3
Committee Oversight Findings.....................................     3
New Budget Authority, Tax Expenditures, and Federal Mandates.....     3
Performance Goals and Objectives.................................     3
Congressional Accountability Act.................................     3
New Advisory Committees..........................................     3
Earmark Identification...........................................     3
Section-by-Section Analysis......................................     3
Dissenting Views.................................................     5

                                SUMMARY

    H. Res. 1456 requests the President and directs the 
Secretary of State to transmit to the House of Representatives 
copies of all documents, memoranda, advisory legal opinions, 
notes from meetings, audio recordings (including telephone 
records), correspondence (including electronic mail records), 
and other communications, or any portion of any such 
communications, to the extent that any such items are within 
the possession of the President or the Secretary and refer to 
information relating to the review conducted by the Department 
of State of the statutory criteria for Marc Fogel to be 
designated as ``wrongfully detained,'' based on the Robert 
Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability 
Act.

                               BACKGROUND

    The Committee on Foreign Affairs conducts oversight on the 
Department of State's work to ensure the welfare and humane 
treatment of Americans detained overseas, including efforts to 
secure their release on humanitarian grounds. Since Marc 
Fogel's detention by authorities in the Russian Federation in 
August 2021, the Committee and the House have held more than a 
dozen engagements for Members and staff to understand the 
conditions that he and other American citizens detained in 
Russia face and possible approaches to secure their return. In 
each instance, the Department of State provided information on 
specific cases as appropriate and pursuant to privacy act 
waivers.
    The Committee welcomes more transparency from the Executive 
Branch regarding cases of American citizens detained overseas, 
including the process by which the State Department may assess 
that individuals are ``wrongfully detained'' under the criteria 
of the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking 
Accountability Act. Given the sensitive nature of these cases 
and the information policymakers rely on when assessing 
possible wrongful detentions, the Committee also recognizes the 
need to appropriately protect such information from hostile 
governments. Russian officials have at times hardened their 
stance as information becomes public about ongoing negotiations 
and will not hesitate to exploit debates in the U.S. Congress 
for their own benefit--and against the interests of the 
Americans they hold. Furthermore, other malign actors are 
seeking to scrutinize the necessarily sensitive deliberative 
process by which the State Department makes wrongful detention 
determinations and to capitalize on any disagreements around 
how best to bring detained Americans home.
    This is why the recovery of American citizens detained 
overseas has long been a government-wide, bipartisan effort 
that has treated the safety and security of our citizens--and 
protecting any and all available means we have to get them 
back--as paramount. Unfortunately, while its co-sponsors have 
previously participated in bipartisan oversight on the Fogel 
case, this entirely partisan resolution of inquiry seeks to 
politicize an issue that Congress has long treated as sacred 
and above the partisan fray. Rather than engaging in serious 
oversight on this issue, either through further direct 
engagement with the Executive Branch or through the legislative 
process, this ROI instead is aimed at making a cheap political 
point--and in doing so, threatens to undermine prospects for 
Marc Fogel's potential release and the U.S. government's 
broader advocacy to bring detained Americans home. While the 
Committee will remain vigilant on Mr. Fogel's case and will 
press the Administration to do all in its power to secure his 
return, H. Res. 1456 is a dangerous precedent and, practically 
speaking, the wrong approach for doing so.

                                HEARINGS

    The Committee on Foreign Affairs held no hearings on H. 
Res. 1456.

                    COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION AND VOTE

    The Committee considered H. Res. 1456 on December 6, 2022 
and agreed to a motion to report the resolution adversely to 
the House of Representatives by voice vote.

                      COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS

    In compliance with Clause 3 (c)(1) of rule XIII of the 
rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee reports 
that the findings and recommendations of the Committee, based 
on oversight activities under Clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the 
House of Representatives, are incorporated in the descriptive 
portions of this report, particularly in the ``Background'' 
section.

      NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY, TAX EXPENDITURES, AND FEDERAL MANDATES

    Clause 3(c)(2) of House rule XIII and the Unfunded Mandates 
Reform Act (Public Law 104-4) are inapplicable because H. Res. 
1456 does not provide new budget authority or increased tax 
expenditures.

                    PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

    The rule requiring a statement of performance goals and 
objectives is inapplicable to this resolution.

                    CONGRESSIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY ACT

    H. Res. 1456 does not apply to terms and conditions of 
employment or to access to public services or accommodations 
within the legislative branch.

                        NEW ADVISORY COMMITTEES

    H. Res. 1456 does not establish or authorize any new 
advisory committees.

                         EARMARK IDENTIFICATION

    H. Res. 1456 contains no congressional earmarks, limited 
tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as described in 
clauses 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of House Rule XXI.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

    This resolution, if adopted, would request the President 
and direct the Secretary of State to transmit to the House of 
Representatives copies of all documents, memoranda, advisory 
legal opinions, notes from meetings, audio recordings 
(including telephone records), correspondence (including 
electronic mail records), and other communications, or any 
portion of any such communications, to the extent that any such 
items are within the possession of the President or the 
Secretary and refer to information relating to the review 
conducted by the Department of State of the statutory criteria 
for Marc Fogel to be designated as ``wrongfully detained,'' 
based on the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-
Taking Accountability Act.

                            DISSENTING VIEWS

    This resolution of inquiry requires the Secretary of State 
to turn over records concerning Marc Fogel, a 60-year-old 
American teacher, who currently is detained in the IK-2 labor 
camp north of Moscow.
    It is imperative that Congress receives these records, even 
if it is in a classified setting. Congress wrote the Robert 
Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-taking Accountability Act 
(22 U.S.C. 1741 et seq.) for the express purpose of providing 
assistance to U.S. citizens taken hostage by foreign 
governments. We laid out explicit criteria for the State 
Department to use when deciding whether Americans are being 
unlawfully or wrongfully detained.
    We owe Marc Fogel, and his family, a real determination. 
Not tomorrow or next week. Right now.
    Marc Fogel was arrested by Russian authorities in August of 
2021. This is not a new case. Every case is different and I 
understand that there is no statutorily mandated timeline. But 
almost a year and a half has gone by. That's much too long.
    Republicans and Democrats alike are outraged by the Putin 
regime's use of Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner as political 
pawns. The Department made a relatively swift determination 
regarding their wrongful detentions. Marc and his family 
deserve answers.
    I acknowledge that the State Department has not ignored 
this case--the Bureau of Consular Affairs, the Special 
Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, and the Bureau of 
European and Eurasian Affairs are having regular deliberations. 
But this resolution would allow Congress to better understand 
those deliberations in real time, and gain access to the 
information that is being considered when weighing the Levinson 
Act factors.

                                   Michael T. McCaul.

                                  [all]