Jared Huffman: “I do want to start by thanking Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Engel for moving this bill forward; and a huge thanks…”

“I do want to start by thanking Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Engel for moving this bill forward; and a huge thanks to my great colleague from Michigan, Representative Kildee, he has been described as tireless and courageous and relentless. He is all of that and more in working to highlight the injustice that these American detainees are facing in Iran. {time} 1645 One of these detainees, Jason Rezaian, has been mentioned as having grown up in California. He actually grew up in my district. I have gotten to know his family. And in some way, I feel like I have gotten to know Jason--at least a little bit--through this tragic situation. So I know something about the terrible hardship that he and his family have been going through for this past year. It is with that unconscionable level of hardship in mind that I am proud to join with my colleagues in working to make sure that Congress does everything that it can to secure Jason's safe release and also the safe release of these other unjustly detained Americans. Passing this resolution on a bipartisan basis is one of the most important things that we can do to reaffirm to the Iranian regime that the whole world is watching. Jason Rezaian was The Washington Post Tehran bureau chief when he was arrested in Tehran on July 22 last year. He has now been held twice as long as any previous western journalist in Iran. The circumstances under which he has been held are an absolute mockery of justice.…”