Peter Welch: “I want to thank Senator Durbin for his ongoing commitment to highlighting the plights of people who have been imprisoned…”

“I want to thank Senator Durbin for his ongoing commitment to highlighting the plights of people who have been imprisoned for doing nothing more than exercising free speech, for doing nothing more than speaking up on behalf of the oppressed in their own country, for speaking up on behalf of human rights and justice. What Senator Durbin said inspires me, and that is: We don't know what the outcome will be. Is anyone paying attention? We don't know, but what we do know and we have seen is that this does help and make a difference and get some attention on people who were unjustly imprisoned for doing something that is noble. And our goal here is not always to have everything be instrumental immediately, but it is to reassert the commitment that this U.S. Senate has to do what is within our power--sometimes it is very limited, as in this case of advocacy and attention to highlight and hopefully result in the highlighting of an oppressive situation--to have a release of a person who has been unjustly detained. So I just want to express my gratitude to Senator Durbin. And over the years, I have met people who used to be political prisoners and were shaking the hand of Senator Durbin. His advocacy made a difference. The advocacy of other Members of the Senate makes a difference.…”