Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I am coming back to the floor, sadly, to make a speech that I promised to make every week that I am in the U.S. Senate as long as a pastor from North Carolina, who has been in mission in Turkey for almost 20 years--until his release from a Turkish prison. Before I get started with that, I want to thank Senator Donnelly for his comments because I think we share a common concern with respect to the Joint Strike Fighter Program. That is something I am going to suggest in my discussions. I also thank, in advance, Senator Shaheen, who has worked with me, on a bipartisan basis, to highlight the concern we have for a man who has been in a Turkish prison for 614 days. Pastor Brunson was arrested in October of 2016 for nothing more than being a missionary. I went to Turkey about 2 months ago and visited him in a Turkish prison, after almost 17 months of being in prison, without any charges. They brought charges against him that are some of the most bogus excuses for evidence you could possibly imagine. I am certain that if it were somebody with these charges in the United States in a jail system or prison system, they would be released the day the charges were filed. This is Pastor Brunson. He is a little over 50 years old. Since he has been in prison, he has lost 50 pounds and has spent almost 17 months in a prison cell designed for 8 people that had 21 people in it, that entire time without a single formal charge levied against him.…”