Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I have, sadly, had to do this speech once a week for the past couple of months. So I am back again to draw attention to what I think is one of the saddest moments in the great relationship and history that we have had with the country of Turkey. For 622 days, counting today, we have had an American who spent 20 years as a missionary--a Presbyterian minister--in Turkey in prison. For about 19 of the months he was in prison, he was held without charges. A couple of months ago, he was finally charged and indicted, and he was indicted on some of the most absurd charges you could possibly hear. He was indicted with evidence that wouldn't keep somebody in jail overnight in the United States. The person I am talking about is Andrew Brunson. Andrew Brunson is a little over 50 years old. He was imprisoned in October of 2016. Since then, he has spent nearly 17 months in a prison cell that was designed for 8 people and had 21 people in it. He has lost 50 pounds. He is keeping good spirits, but you can tell his mental state has diminished. The reason I know that is because I went to visit him. After the indictment was laid out back in April, I heard through his family that he thought the American people and the Congress were going to read the indictment and believe it and turn their backs on him, so I thought it was personally important for me to go to that prison in Turkey and look him straight in the eye and tell him that he has the U.S. Congress behind him.…”