Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 552) calling on the Government of the Russian Federation to provide evidence of wrongdoing or to release United States citizen Paul Whelan. The Clerk read the title of the resolution. The text of the resolution is as follows: H. Res. 552 Whereas United States citizen Paul Whelan is a resident of Novi, Michigan, and a United States Marine Corps veteran; Whereas Paul Whelan traveled to Moscow for the wedding of a personal friend on December 22, 2018; Whereas Russia's Federal Security Service arrested Paul Whelan at the Metropol Hotel in Moscow on December 28, 2018, and charged him with espionage; Whereas Paul Whelan was imprisoned in Lefortovo Prison and continues to be held there more than eight months after his arrest; Whereas the Federal Security Service has not provided any evidence of supposed wrongdoing; Whereas a Moscow court has extended Paul Whelan's pre-trial detention multiple times without publicly presenting justification or evidence of wrongdoing; Whereas officials from the United States Embassy in Moscow have routinely had their topics of discussion with Paul Whelan severely limited by the Federal Security Service; Whereas even Paul Whelan's Federal Security Service- appointed lawyer, Vladimir Zherebenkov, said on May 24, 2019, ``[The Federal Security Service] always roll[s] out what they have, but in this case, we've seen nothing concrete against Whelan in five months.…”