Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, this has been one of the most difficult issues I have ever dealt with. Let us just think about it for a moment. For 11 days, Edmund Pope has been in a Russian prison. If my colleagues have not been in a Russian prison, I was there a few months ago. It is no place to be. He went over there in March on his 27th trip to do business. He was arrested on April 3 and thrown in prison. For 13 weeks, his wife never received a note from him, a phone call from him or any word. He never received one of her letters that she sent daily. Between two countries that have normal relations in business, a prisoner never heard from his family or was allowed to communicate with his family for 13 weeks. In June, Cheri Pope, his wife, and two of my staff went to Russia. They found out he did not have a competent lawyer, a 73-year-old lawyer that was not considered good; and so they were able to hire him a good lawyer who has been very helpful and who started to build a case.”