Transcripts For CSPAN Families 20240703

[indistinct conversations] good morning. In congress, and your recognize, my friend. Mr. Hill chairman mast, thank you. First, let me start out before i do opening comments and welcome our families and provide introductions for the family members who are here on this very tough, emotional day for them. And a quarter, her husband ryan is a humanitarian aid worker who has been imprisoned in afghanistan since 2022. He is the father of three kids and has been away for 600 days. Deborah, her son is a freelance journalist and was kidnapped in syria in 2012. This august will mark his 12 and hopefully final year away from home. My dear friend marion, her father is a texas psychologist who traveled to syria back in february 2017 to treat refugees and establish a clinic. A day after arriving, he was stopped at a checkpoint outside of damascus and has not been seen since. Giselle, her father jimmy is an iranian journalist and Software Developer who has been detained by the Iranian Regime since 2020. Another, his wife has been unjustly imprisoned in russia since last october on the charge that she failed to register as a foreign agent. A journalist and mother of two, she is accused of failing to register for a u. S. Passport when traveling to russia to visit her elderly mother. In addition, we have other representatives to speak on behalf of other detained americans whose family members could not be here today. These include the mother of mark, who is detained in china, the wife of another detained in nigeria, and the wife of mark for will, who is detained in russia and with that, mr. Chairman, let me deliver some brief, opening comments. I want to thank the courage of the families who are coming here today and for their persistent advocacy to the congress and the administration and around the world on behalf of American Families held abroad. Having a loved one hostage abroad is unimaginable and is a heartbreaking and unimaginable heartbreaking circumstance for these families, and one that few americans truly noted im proud of the United States and the house for strongly believing in the responsibility that we have to advocate on behalf of the quick and prompt release for these held abroad hostages but also on behalf of the families to make sure they get the information and support from the state department. That is the goal that our government can do, which is act effectively commanded time, im sure that instances they are going through are rarer and rarer for the american people. According to the james foley legacy validation, there are now 50 publicly known americans wrongly detained or held abroad. I really cant imagine the pain those families are going through, and over the past few years, particularly with a family, i spent time with these families, to feel their pain. Which is why in 2021, i helped create the Congressional Task force on americans wrongfully attained abroad with former detained abroad with former senator ted deutch. He was traveling to syria and has not been seen since. Now today alongside congresswoman Haley Stevens, democrat of michigan, our hostage task force in the house continues to help families. Together, weve made great strides, including making march 9 National Hostage and wrongful detainee day. I was proud to work with haley to see that legislation enacted so that our families now have some Financial Support if they live outside the washington, d. C. , coming to advocate on behalf of their loved one. In every channel of the u. S. Government should be working to bring these americans home and this incentivize the wrongful attention of americans in the future by state actors or nonstate actors for this Means Congress must play an Important Role in conjunction with the executive branch. A start in 2020 codifying the work of both president obama and president trump, however, more should be done. First, no country or nonstate actors should be able to take an american with impunity, period, these instances should be punished, and they should be a focal point of foreign policy. It should be at the top of every bilateral or diplomatic meeting or negotiation with countries at hand that americans be released before we start that conversation. Finally, transparency and mitigation with the families must continue to improve. That is what im committed to come with us will congress is committed to, that is why i appreciate chairman mccall and chairman mast putting together this roundtable. I yield back. Rep. Mast thank you. We will leave now to representative jason crow. Rep. Crow thank you, chairman mast and mccall for leadership on these issues as well as our colleague, french hill, for your leadership, and Haley Stevens as well, for the hostages wrongfully detained. I will be sure, because i know no about of words or empathy from us will help you or your families today. The purpose of us is to listen and work with all of you, because we are committed to this, to doing Everything Possible in a bipartisan way to bring together a whole of government approach to bring our loved ones home. That is the bottom line. That is what we are here today, and with that, i will yield back, and i look forward to your colleagues comments and learning from you and seeing what more we can do. Rep. Mast thank you, mr. Crow. Chairman mccaul has been actively involved in this. He has been doing this throughout his time as a congressman, and i am proud to have him as a calling. Chairman, the floor is yours. Rep. Mccaul thank you, chairman mast, randy weber crow, french, your leadership on this is extraordinary. I cannot think of anything more painful than to have my loved one of ducted handheld hostage in a foreign land. My wife and i think of all of you very often. I do visit with all of you, previously come in fact, i was with you, sir, at the white house congressional correspondents dinner. I know your wife was of ducted. And all of you, to austin, anna, it is just i also want to note and acknowledge those who cannot be here, who are illegally held overseas, certain families who are not able to join us. I think one hostage is too many, and we are seeing a trend now where it is becoming a practice of foreign governments to take hostages in exchange for a trade. We have americans wrongfully detained in russia, china, iran, syria, afghanistan we remember all of them. As french said, this should be the first thing spoken when the secretary of state visits a country that has detained an american unlawfully. And i do give the administration some credit, but i also want to raise issues. For instance, we traded victor boone, one of the worlds most notorious arms dealers, called the merchant of, for Brittney Griner, a basketball player who had a vape pipe. If we are going to do a trade, it should be a fair trade, not a lopsided trade, because that only encourages more hostage taking. Another miscalculation in my judgment was trading five iranian spies and getting iran access to 6 billion for the exchange of five innocent americans. Think about that, iranian spies for innocent americans. And, sir, your wife was left behind in that trade. This is just encouraging more ransom, hostage taking, after we gave iran access to the 6 billion, we saw hamas take 241 hostages from israel, including Many Americans come and we know that many of them have not survived in the tunnel in gaza. We should be projecting power, as ranking talked about, we should be sanctions, punishing bad behavior, not rewarding bad behavior. I have five kids, and if there are no consequences to bad behavior, guess what . Bad behavior continues, and it just encourages more of that. We need to hold them accountable for their human rights abuses can negotiate from a position of strength, not weakness. Today is all about you, it is all about the missing americans. I grieve for you, i think about you every day. I think about not only you but your family. I saw anna at the state of the union with her dear children. I cannot imagine High School Kids knowing, having to deal with the fact that their father is held by the taliban in afghanistan, not going what is happening, what kind of condition he is income and never knowing for sure if he will ever come home. But in each of your cases, we are following up with the appropriate countries and ambassadors to get them returned safely back home. I think of austen, who has been held probably the longest, in a syrian prison. I tell all of you, i cannot imagine the grief. Quite frankly, it makes me angry, and we need to do something about it and get them home now. I yield back. Rep. Mast thank you, chairman. Ranking member . Thank you, chairman mast, Ranking Member crow. My heart breaks for each and every one of you. To me and this is not about politics at all. This is about getting your family members home. I think every american, whether you are the president of the United States, a member of congress, or a person who is just working, sanitation, police, work on the streets, do not want for a loved one held, detained, held hostage in any country. We want them home. You want them home. And it is important we have a whole of government approach. We should not be saying, i wont play politics with this one. It is not about democrat, republican politics, it is not about whether, you know, this is something that i think that every president , whether it be george w. Bush, barack obama, donald trump, joe biden, anybody that holds the presidency, i know they all want to have your loved ones home. I know theyll want to make sure that no american is detained, and i know that they will do anything that is possible to bring them home, but that is not just enough, because it is never enough until they are home, and we can never rest until they are home. It is unimaginable to me the pain that you go through every day, sometimes listening to what we are saying in congress, that we talk about in congress, you want your loved ones home. And we have got to be committed to do what we need to do to get them home. We know that you also are suffering economically and other ways. That is why im glad that we finally did pass a bill to try to help families until your loved ones get here. This is what this is about, for me, it is about getting them home. It is about, you know, when i look at the countries that many of them are being held in, nondemocratic governments, we want to see those changes, but we know that we cant let i know i cant rest until your family members and all of those that are detained or held hostage, in whatever countries they may be in, our home, because the only reason they are being held is because they are americans. So every american has the responsibility come of concern, and the commitment that your loved ones come back to you. You can be any place, your bravery of being here today is just unimaginable to me. The pain that you say you have, so i am here just to listen to you, listen to you and be with you, and until we can get your loved ones home. I yield back. Rep. Mast thank you, Ranking Member meeks paid i doubt recognize each one of you to speak and share with us what you wish about being family of an american detained abroad. Will be recognizing you first, ms. Corbett. I would ask mr. Beckett, you would not mind joining us as well, representing the family as well as a member of the wall street journal, some of the members may have russians for you also questions for you also. Will be other members have an opportunity to say word . Rep. Mast absolutely. Thank you. Rep. Mast ms. Corbett, you are recognized. Ms. Corbett thank you. My husband, ryan corbett, was a healthy and selfless american man who committed himself and our family healthy asking people build their local economy and build a better life for themselves and their families. In august 2020 two, having relocated to the u. S. With our family, ryan returned to afghanistan to check on his vision, a vision he had specifically been encouraged by the taliban to continue. He was granted a visa for this purpose, now for 628 days, he has been held hostage in a basement sale by the taliban services. He has endured unspeakable treatment. If he makes it out alive, our children worry he will not be recognizable to us and unable to fully recover. Im grateful for the assistance of the many Public Servants who have worked to bring ryan home, but i must say that this experience has tested my faith in our government close ability to solve the toughest problems. For example, the state Department Support for 14 months did not designate right as unlawfully detained based on a minor policy decision that should have beensimilarly, it ts for me to be granted my first meeting with representatives of of the National Security council. In the past several months, the information coming out of the white house has slowed to a trickle. My pleas for health are simply ignored by the nsc officials responsible for ryans case i. I desperately want to have faith in these efforts, but as i sit here, i literally have no idea what steps are being taken to rescue my husband. Notably when i here in person or am in the media, there seems to be a direct correlation to my speaking publicly and policy maker attention. It seems to move efforts a little. This is my 11th trip to the capitol. I am exhausted. I caring for three children who am are still processing the trauma of having been without ryan when you need him the most. [voice breaks] they have only spoken to him five times in over 20 months for mere minutes. I will continue to fight every day but i often feel helpless and alone. There is, however, room for hope. The response and support for ryan in congress has been amazing. I am grateful for new york senators schumer and jewelry brand immediately assessed the gravity of our situation and have been champions on behalf of the family. Senator mcconnell has also committed himself to this cause. House of Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman mccall has also been a huge advocate for ryan and generously allowed me to share ryans story for the first time at a public hearing. Less than not least, i am also very thankful for my representative, claudia tenney, who have been by our side from the beginning. Support culminated in a House Resolution with 72 bipartisan cosponsors and a Senate Resolution passed by both leaders of the senate in time for science 41st birthday three weeks ago. The taliban very much want to be part of the World Community and policy benefits from the United States in particular. And the u. S. Seems to be willing to engage and explore areas in which it Sees Opportunities for progress. There are many public statements from u. S. Diplomats involved in these efforts. Most recently we have seen public statements about womens rights, education, events regarding environmental consciousness on earth day, specifically, and i quote, afghanistan is at the forefront of the battle against climate change. These words matter. Notably remarkably absent from this dialogue already mentions of ryan or any american citizens held hostage. Over 2 billion of aid money has been sent to afghanistan since ryan has been held we should be universally shocked and appalled that the taliban is not feeling an ounce of pain from holding a u. S. Citizen hostage and not allowing him to be visited by doctors or even to speak on a regular basis with his family. In response to formal complaints that we need to do you week, the taliban told the u. S. Media that brian has access to doctors and regular telephone conversations with us. Things we know are untrue. But to date, that state department has not corrected the record. As i finished, in the absence of any information from the administration and considering these Public Policy pronouncements, how can i reach any conclusion other than this saving ryans life is not a priority. Thank you so much for letting me share my experience and thank you for your interest in ryans case. I hope it helps in some small way the families who are forced to confront the horrors of hostage diplomacy. We must do better for our loved ones. Thank you, ms. Corvette. So, i am deborah tice, mother of austin tice, held in silence for 4,278 days, which is 11 years, eight months, when week. Before i share my thoughts, i would like to answer the awkward question is he still alive . Yes often in the lives. And that often is alive, and no doubt eager to walk free. Austin is alive, and no doubt eager to walk free. This is not wishful mom talk, and it would not be prudent, but it would they would be prudent for me to share the source. The United States government needs to be free to engage foreign governments diplomatically, economically and intellectually in order to advance the interests of the United States. This brings me to the issue at hr 3202. Which weighs heavily on my heart. It would be profoundly detrimental to the functions of our government for it to be illegal to engage with another country, to prohibit all commerce with another country. Two attempts to mandate the foreign policies of our allies. How can disagreements be purposefully resolved if all engagement is forbidden . If the United States government is prohibited and prohibits any business or ally from engaging with the candy current syrianarab republic government and its serving president bashar alassad, the United States of america is effectively condemning often and any other americans detained in syria to life in prison. If our legislative branch insists on codifying the onerous bergen, i must plead that an amendment be attached which allows engagement for the benefit of freeing unjustly detained hostage americans. My preference, and the more noble stance from my country is to diplomatically engage with all countries in an effort toward an end of strife and beginning of healing, to lead in peacemaking rather than warmongering. I am asking our house and senate to encourage our president , the executive branch, including the state department, to effectively engage with the Syrian Government in order to secure the release of austin, and any other american detainees. The president and every american entity should always peacefully engage with any entity Holding Americans unjustly. We should not allow americans to be held hostage. Thank you. I yield the floor. Thank you, maam. Ms. Kamalmaz. I am the daughter of majd kamalmaz. He is an american syrian born in syria and the United States. All his children were born in the United States. I would like to thank you for taking the time to listen to us and listen to our fathers horrific situation that he has been going through for the past seven years, and thank you to representative french hill for always being there for my family and for your advocacy to bring him home. My father is an awardwinning psychotherapist. He had a heart to care for people. His passion was to help. He found it through mental health. He traveled the world to help those that had suffered the most extreme forms of from a. And the latest was the situation in syria that he had set up an institute named the International Institute for Psychosocial Development in lebanon where his doors were open to everyone. And i want to make that clear. He was not political. His door was open to anyone that walked through that needed any sort of health was there to help mend his techniques awarded him the humanitarian of the year award by the hartmath institute here in the United States. He was very successful at what he did. Throughout time, he was recommended to come into syria to see the situation of those that needed his help there as well, as well as to check of family members that were suffering from cancer and were going to pass away. He went in from lebanon into damascus weakly without any issues. He spent the night at a family members house. The next morning he was out on his very first trip into the city, when he was stopped at a checkpoint and wrongfully detained. Until today, we dont know why or what happened, all that we know is that he didnt have his american passport on him and he did see him as a very big, important person and they believed he would be a person worth negotiating with the United States for. We were told at the time that they tried to negotiate with the United States to do a trade, and the United States turned it down. It has been seven years now. My father has not been charged with a crime. Jazz video case, no trial. Nothing. No word from him. There has been no case. No trial, nothing. No word from him. If there was anything against him, by now we would surely have none. If there was anything against him, by now the Syrian Government would have said we have him and here he is and he is alive and well. There is nothing. The u. S. Government has not been successful at having the Syrian Government come forward with any form of information. Can you imagine for us as a family, not knowing anything about your loved one for seven years . If anything did happen to my father, then i know it would be a form of torture, a form of execution and possibly murder. How can a government take an innocent person. Not trying to give them a trial, no case, no crime, and then disappear him . And i am supposed to be ok with that . Without any formal proof . That is not possible and it will not happen. I need to know whether my father is alive or not. I have to know whether my father is alive or not. My entire family, my grandmother needs to know. We need proof. It is not ok to just say well, he is originally syrian, so it is what it is. He is an american. We are all americans. We need to know where he is and how he is and if he is alive or not and we want him home regardless of his situation. [voice breaks] i would also request that we put pressure on the syrians to admit whether they have him or how the situation is. It is about time. We need to come to a conclusion. It is seven years of not knowing what it is way too loud. We need to come to a conclusion of the circumstances and the situation he is in. Thank you. Thank you. Ms. Sharmahd. Members of congress, family members and ladies and gentlemen, my name is gazelle sharmahd, i am the president of jimmy sharmahd. Jimmy is a german American National currently held hostage in iran on death row. My father did not travel to iran, he didnt just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. My dad was kidnapped and taken to iran by force. My father is a journalist who used his First Amendment right to advocate for freedom, democracy and our godgiven right, and he knew if we as americans failed to oppose Human Rights Violations abroad flexing a run, these terrorist regimes and their oppression will find its way to our soils, and he was right. This is not my family First Encounter with the regimes transnational terrorism. They have harassed us for decades here on u. S. Soil. In 2009, the regime since the ss our home in los angeles to murderous. Luckily that was spoiled, but that was the first of many attempts to silence jimmy by force. In 2020, their resume agents kidnapped my father doing a slight overlay and took him to iran. I dont expect anything but cruelty and violence from terrorists, but our family has been disappointed by our state department officials, particularly the former iran envoy robert malleys has plans to address my fathers political situation for three years. When the islamic regime showcased the International Kidnapping of an american by federating my father on your national tv blindfolded with a swollen face, forced to do confessions there was zero spots from the u. S. When they tortured him on a daily basis, broke his teeth, withdrew his lifesaving parkinsons medication until my dad could barely walk, talk or barely brief and then sentenced him to death in whats Amnesty International and other organizations follow a sham trial, there was zero response from the u. S. When mr. Robert malley and his colleagues negotiated the release of several Americans Last summer and without explanation, excluded my father and others in my family were asking, why in the hell would we leave the one american hostage in iran on death row defenselessly in the hands of his kidnappers and tormentors . There was zero response. When last month on march 11, the regime sentence my dad, once again, but this time with 52 u. S. Officials and president s to pay 2. 5 billion within a 60the ultimatum or else they will hang my dad in public from a crane, there was zero response. This oversight represents not just diplomatic failure, but a betrayal of american values. You may ask yourself right now, how come i havent been informed and i have not heard about an American National harassed , kidnapped, tortured, abandoned and condemned to death, also i am well, i myself the same am question because i have been very vocal from day one and thats why i want to thank the members of this committee and everyone who made this briefing possible today. We last heard from my dad in october and we could barely make out the words that he was saying because he had stabbing chest pains and difficulty breathing. As a Critical Care nurse, my first thing was i should call nine but i cant do that. I can only call on you. When we show zero response to a state after violating it International Laws and human rights through abduction and wrongful detention, the consequences do not just affect my father and my family, but everyone here and beyond. It challenges the very principles of justice, Human Dignity and the will of the. And the United States must uphold them. Please do everything in your power to right this wrong and bring back home and everybody else thank you, maam. This site at daca, would you mind sitting next to ms. Corbett that increased some questions for you as well, sisterinlaw of socks and he is detained by mr. Torey, you are recognized. Thank you, sir. I appreciate this opportunity to speak and i would like to thank jim and my his support to secure officers released from russian activities, back in october, when he was first detained, chairman mccall was personally first to issue his steadfast support. I appreciate your statement yesterday calling on the state department to designate them as wrongfully detained. Since october 18 last year, he has been held prisoner in inhumane conditions. We heard her describe these conditions recently in court. Sheena easton sleeps three feet from a hole in the fourth for toilet food for her health is deteriorating from and she has not received adequate medical care. She has not been allowed a single phone call with her daughters. This weekend when will mark 200 days of her unjust detention in russia. She is accused of being a foreign agent. The only person currently incarcerated in a on these charges. And also of spreading what russia believes to be false information about its army in ukraine. Six months on, my children and i are struggling to understand why alsu was captured and what the russian government wants from our family, it has been a very tough several months for us. I have two daughters who are at a very tender age, 12 and 15. They have been without their mother almost a year now. I am doing the best i can as a single father, but there is that bond between a mother and her daughters, something that i cannot substitute for. The words do not adequately describe the daily pain that we go through. Alsu spent her career at radio free europe, radio liberty. It is a congressional he funded editorially independent News Organization and she is now targeted for her work at rfl and for exercising her First Amendment rights as an american. Alsu wasnt one american. She chose to become an american citizen because the Great American promise of personal freedom, free speech and expression, freedom to exercise or not exercise religion. Becoming an american is a solemn and emotional event. I remember alsu being overwhelmed with emotion with tears in her eyes as she pronounced her oath of allegiance to the United States and renounced all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign state my. My elder daughter is turning 16 this summers from it two years from becoming a voter in u. S. Elections. Alsu can hardly count on russias court system for justice but we want to be sure that we can count on the u. S. Government for support in our efforts to free alsu. The state department should hesitate to declare her as wrongfully detained and commit to securing her to release from russian captivity. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Members are now going to ask questions from those that they have questions for. We will begin by recognizing chairman mccall for as long as he wishes. Let me just say that that was very powerful, all five of you. Let me also the stylist spoke, i meant that jimmy was left behind in the negotiations. Five. Espys for five innocent americans. And then your husband left behind. And 6 million. All their cases are devastating. Probably to him, i know we talked about your wife, radio free europe, just speaking the truth and you are now confined in the russian prison. Syria and determined that under the worst conditions. So i guess my question would be, this is being carried live by cspan, is being watched flat only in this country, but it is being watched around the world right now, and it is being watched by our adversaries. Like the taliban, like bashar alassad, like the ayatollah, like putin. My question for all five of you is, what question would what message would you like to deliver to those who are holding your loved ones hostage, and what message would you like to send to the administration . We start with you, s. Anna. I would say to the taliban, just let ryan go. If you come home before it is too late, before he deteriorates, dies. Our family needs him. He was only trying to help. He had a valid visa and he had run his business helping the afghan people. So many people express gratitude to him. He was trying to help, and, yeah, they need to do the right thing and let him go before it is too late, that is what i would say to the taliban. We are praying as a family, as a company, as a Community Around the world for his safety, for his return and we need him back. Also, i would say to the administration, ryans case needs to truly be prioritized. I have heard over and over that it is a priority to bring u. S. Citizens home. Brian is a u. S. Citizen. And i want to see this case truly prioritized. This case truly prioritized. Decisions need to be made and steps need to be taken. We want communication. As a family we deserve that, we need to hear what is going on. My three teenage kids are very aware of what is happening and very concerned for their dad. We also have such strong support between the resolution on the senate side and on the house side. I just dont understand how this wouldnt be prioritized. Everyone is agreeing that ryan needs to be brought home immediately so why are we not doing this . That is what i would say to the administration. Thank you. Thank. Ms. Deborah tice . I would say, i think you are aware that i have been advocating and pushing and demanding and crying i would i addressing the Syrian Government, i would tell them that i believe they know that i have been advocating for austins release and that i have been pushing our government ever since they sent me the message on march 3 to 14. They will meet with the mother. Send me a u. S. Government officials of appropriate title to discuss transfer of possession of austin tice. Since that day, i have been begging my government, obama, trump, and mouth biotin to engage genuinely, sincerely, to secure austens release. I would like for you to note that austin has now served more than two of the of the punishments of entering your country illegally, and as a mother, i beg you to recognize how hard i have worked to make this happen, and i would forfeit you can offer mercy and allow us to have austin walk free. To my government, i would save that pretty words dont substitute for hard work. I know that this is something many people are opposed to but bostons freedom relies on engagement with the Syrian Government, sincere engagement with the Syrian Government. In the absence of that, my understanding is that he will stay in the syrian prison. Thank you, ms. Tice. Merriam, les. My message to the Syrian Government would be that this is a human being and it means a lot to us, he is a father and a son and a father and a grandfather. We need to know what has happened to him. Do the right thing if you want to be recognized as a government. You need to also acknowledge what has happens to all the detainees. They just cant disappear people and expect the world to forget, we need to know what happened to my father. We need closure. So, come forward. Please let us know his condition, how he is and whether he is alive or not. To the United States government, i would say, as ms. Tice said, there is a lot of pretty words. Unfortunately, there isnt as much action. We need serious action. We have both been waiting in the dark to learn about our loved ones and how long is expected of us to keep waiting, and for things to drive and drag on for months and months and months, that is not ok. We expect that you do all you can, just as we have seen you do that families in other situations. That you take our case is as serious if not more serious, as we do not know the conditions of our loved ones. Do your best to bring them home. To be able to have closure. We deserve closure. You certainly do. Ms. Gazelle sharmahd. First to the islamic regime in iran, i have nothing to say, they are not a legitimate government. This is a terrorist Organization Holding the entire nation of iran hostage for 45 years. And if i were ever going to talk to the kidnappers and hostage takers of my father, it will be in an International Footwear they will be held accountable International Court where they have will be held accountable for what they have done to my father and for crimes against humanity into my government and america. My president , my members of congress, the state department, we have for five generations of americans now living here. We have rights. We have been ignored for three years. It took me leaving my threeyearold daughter at home and come to dc last summer in a city in venice sitin strike with other families in front of the state department until they finally after 3 years talks to us. I would give anything for nice words. I havent heard from nice words from which they have talked about my father who was obviously kidnapped and taken by say he is also a german citizen. This responsibility ping pong between america and germany is costing my dad his life right now. We have to step up as a nation and protect our citizens. When i need to protect our citizens, i need also us. I am not safe in my house. Thankfully to the Fbi Field Office in california, i am safe when traveling here in america. I cannot travel to germany without 24 hour protection. It means our failure to respond with my father who was almost assassinated and then kidnapped, is causing us this distress. It is showing the terrorists, you can come and kidnap people and do that to them and nothing will happen to you. So i am asking you to help me raise this case and bring my father home and we need in the you need in the seditious to see what he was left behind. Very powerful. To the russian government, alsu presents no threats to you. She is not an activist or a member of the position, she is an innocent mother of two young daughters who miss her very much. Please let her go. To my government here in the United States, the designation of alsu as wrongfully detained is long overdue. I understand it it will not bring her home immediately, but this will send a powerful signal to the russian government and also to her fellow journalists. I refuse to think of alsu and evan as as pawns in a political game. They are human beings. They shouldnt be treated as human beings both by the russians and by the u. S. Government. Now that President Bidens, at the white house correspondents dinner, called on the russian leader to release evan and alsu immediately, my question is simple, does the u. S. Government believe that alsus detention by the russian government is justified or wrongful . Is there a suggestion that alsu has indeed broken russian law and her detention is justified . Does it mean that we endorse russias repressive media laws as directed against americans . I hope that answers no. I would like the governments to commit to alsu and evanss release and let me just also say that i stand in solidarity with all the families and on the other detainees represented here today. And i will follow up in closing, i want to mention mark swidan, represented by his congressman from texas, houston area. Wrongfully detained in china for bogus charges. Now he is on death row in china. For a crime he didnt commit. I think about his family as well, thank you for being here. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I hope my colleagues will accept my apology, we have two members here to offer statements on behalf of families who couldnt attend from that i didnt realize they were here to offer statements, i thought they were here to offer questions. First of all from rich mccormick representing the gambaryan family. Rep. Mccormick thank you, mr. Chairman for arranging this roundtable. First, my prayers are with tigran gambaryan, his two children and the entire family for the pain and suffering they have endured throughout this time of tigrans unjust detention. He would live at home in the arms of his loved ones and i believe that our duty is to dedicate every possible resource to ensure his safe and expedient return home to the United States. Unfortunately, mrs. Gambaryan has been unable to attend today this roundtable, so i am delivering the following statement on her behalf. Thank you so muchmember crew and members of the Foreign Affairs committee for hosting is very important roundtable discussion. Although i am unable to attend, i am thankful for the chance to share my story and by doing so i hope we can progress towards correcting a grave injustice. I want to start by acknowledging the strength and courage of other families year to date whether in person or otherwise. We are members of an exclusive and unwanted club, the loved ones of those held hostage abroad. As wives, daughters, husbands, sons and fathers and mothers, we yearn for the day we can be reunited with our loved ones and restore the wholeness that was taken from us. They understand your i understand your plight and will think of you and your loved ones every day hoping and praying for their swift return. My husband and the father of our two young children, tigran , has been in nigeria in custody for 65 days, the longest two months of our lives. On february 25, he landed and in abuja at the Nigerian Governments request for financial compliance policy meetings with government officials. He helps countries to navigate the notoriously prickly world of finance crimes compliance he spends his days investigating and pursuing criminal activity on the cryptocurrency platform of binaries, his employer. However, 20 four hours after his arrival, he was arrested and detained without charge for exclamation. It took over two weeks for the Nigerian Government to segregate its tax related charges against him and Brandon Smith for charges against him are utterly baseless. He was lured into the country under false pretenses only to be arrested and convicted of a husband and i guess you can fire and now my family is being caught in the crossfire. Today my husband sits in a notorious prison, a place that has held terrorists from the islamic and boko haram. Ironically, tigran spend more than a decade as a special agent for the u. S. Internal Revenue Service investigate issues of National Security, terrorist financing, identity theft, evasion, and more he is deeply committed to doing the right thing and has dedicated his life to doing so. To see my husband who is vice nature a person of good will and strong moral character be used as a bargaining chip by the Nigerian Government is devastated. The United States cannot afford to remain passive while its once citizen suffers tremendously in the name of geopolitical gamesmanship. Tigran has served his country with distinction. I am asking you now to to repay this service. I have invested nearly every evan, conducting the facilities, the department of state, even the Nigerian Government. I have called more people in the last two months than i have in my entire life. I am trying my best to push the right right buttons and pull the right levers so that we can correct this injustice. My husband is going through. I hope this plea will be a catalyst for action for over two decades, we have learned to live as a family of three. This is by far south along with my children have ever gone without seeing their father. Every day i summon all my strength to give them a hopeful answer. I sincerely hope that this statement will not be updated in the future because that would mean that our efforts to bring my beloved husband home have not been successful. Thank you for your time and dedication to resolving this nightmare. Find, his wife. And i would like to sit as representative of the entire gambaryan family, i am proud to sit on this panel of offer her statements with listening to the other testimonies this morning has been incredibly moving. Once again, thank you to this committee for holding this important roundtable. I hope that tigran and all those who are unjustly held as americans to return home safely in an expedient manner. Thank you. Thank you. Representative mcclellan on behalf of the mark swidan family. Thank you, chairman, Committee Leaders and members from bringing muchneeded attention to this issue, i know you have been working on this for some time. Thank you for being here to share your heart wrenching story and please know that our prayers are with you as well. I will read the testimony from the letter of mark swidan who is unjustly detained in communist china and has been so for about a decade. These her if are. Chairperson and distinguished members of the committee, thank you for affording me a chance to share my son marks story with you. My name is catherine swidan, an american citizen who has been unjustly detained in china for 11 years. Mark is not a statistic. He is a son, a brother and a friend. His absence has left a gaping hole in our hearts. He went to china to visit and do business and he will leave i hope soon as a former political prisoner. I wish i could be there today but my Healing Health is failing in any to be strong for when martha comes home for good over a decade has passed since mark was taken from us. He continues to languish in a foreign prison deprived of his freedoms, his Health Deteriorating and his pulsating. I dont want my son to become another james foley. I understand that diplomacy is complex and that negotiations with foreign governments are delicate, yet we know that this Chinese Government has expressed willingness to resolve my sons case presenting proposals that regrettably have been met with reluctance or outright rejection by the Biden Administration. Time is something mark and our family dont have the luxury of. Every moment lost is a moment mark is denied justice and for a moment or family cannot regain. I am here today not only as a grieving but determined mother, but as a representative of every American Family whose loved ones are wrongfully detained abroad to plead for your help there are so many of us but we all hear in the news is recent cases of celebrity cases. Who speaks for us. I ask you all to demand for the Biden Administration and consider its ends to engage honestly with the Chinese Government on mark and all other americans. Our loved ones are not bargaining chips or political pawns, they are human beings whose rights and freedoms deserve to be upheld and protected. I read a lot about Congress Standing up for the human rights of chinese Political Prisoners yet very little if anything about mark for other americans. I urge you not to let diplomatic complexities stand in in the way of human decency and justice im. I pleading for my sons life for am his freedom, and for the chance to bring him home. Let us show the world that the United States of america does not abandon his citizens. That we fight for their rights and their return no matter the challenge is. A few weeks ago bishop , strickland from texas visited with me. We talked and prayed for mark, a devout catholic, who even in captivity has stood up for fellow prisoners when abused by chinese guards. Mark has had his bible confiscated and rosary destroyed but as i shared with bishop strickland, he has not lost his faith in god, family or country. I also want to thank mel gibson who did a video for mark and a mass and so many members of congress from texas such as representative macleods and senator ted cruz for not forgetting mark. There are so many other people supporting mark. I hope mark can meet them all someday so that he learns hes not alone and not forgotten in. In closing, i ask for your meeting action in your commitment to engage in a meaningful dialogue and negotiationfoot marks release. Our family is counting on you. Mark, please help bring my son home. This case has already set a terrible precedent for hostage diplomacy but my son is still alive and come and off on the high notes, this must never happen again to any americans. Thank you for supporting the congressional resolution on mark last year and for your time and consideration. Thank you, chairman, i yelled back. Thank you. I just want to let members know we have a vote in about 25 minutes. Ranking member meets, you arent recognized. Thank you, mr. Chairman, i want to thank all of you for your testimony. I know that you may not think it is enough, but you being here and speaking of in this hearing, it is something that is getting out to the rest of the world and all of americans. I see a scenario also where we have had individuals that have been held hostage and wrongfully detained for years and years like ms. Tyson, at least since 2012 ms. Tice, at least since 2012. Can you hear me now . Right. So if, i said i see that there is a difference, the fate is the same. In your case, often has been held since 2012. Some have been held for a matter of months or weeks. All of these authoritarian governments are doing the same thing over and over again. Year after year. Then go back, i dont care how long. I have been in congress for 26 years. 36 years. And it has happened my entire professional career congressional career. People health and families like you, one of them that i know, his wife is still in nigeria and cannot get out. I know that i have talked to members of both sides, Haley Stevens and mr. Green for example. When i was the chair of the committee. Stay constantly they are constantly coming to me and advocating on behalf of those loved ones, your loved ones. So, my question to you is, and it hurts me because i am part of the United States government. Not just the executive branch, i am part of it, all of us in congress. And i have heard you talk about coming to talk to congress. Send me a give you the opportunity to let other americans hear your stories. But i want to know, what can i do for schmucks what can congress do . What do you think congress can do . We are not powerless here. I know that every opportunity i have when i speak to anybody any of these countries, if i get the chance i understand your concern, ms. Tice about talking to others because that is what diplomacy is about. And if you dont talk to others, especially those you dont agree with, it is hard to get a resolution. And we need to try to get that done because those are the individuals, none of them that are holding any american that are holding any american. You need to talk to them. I agree with you. And that is true when i talk about from administration to administration. 26 years. You do matter. Your loved ones that are being have do matter. So, in your experiences and talking to the members of congress, i just want to know if what more can we do. I dont want to push it off on anybody else. I am on this Foreign Affairs committee for a long time. What more can we do . What do you think you need to improve . I will start, we will go down, i will start with you, ms. Corvette and then the down. Tell me, what can we do . Thank you. I first want to say that in mind for some life experience, i have received incredible support from all of you and many others on the hill. It has been truly a bright spot in this nightmare. And i am extremely grateful. I would say the outreache to the state department and thes white house asking for briefings have been very helpful, and all of those show that our case is a priority and importance and matters, so that is something that i would say i have had a good experience with. But more of that food and i think for all the cases, i with each situation is different, but that is what i would say makes a difference. And the coordination of that, bipartisan coordination. Letters asking for these cases to these for these cases to be prioritized. Asking where are things stuck right now, if they are stuck . What is the issue. What steps need to be taken next, is what comes to my mind. My congressman, congressman greene, has been holding my hand for over 11 years, and i would like for him to answer this question on behalf of our family. The chair yield to me . Thank you, mr. Chairman. First, let me thank all of you for the efforts that you have made. It means a lot to this family and i believed all the families. If i may, thank you. I think ms. Tice makes an excellent point, and the chairman, thank you for following up on it, with reference to having dialogue. I can think of one reason why we shouldnt talk to those who hold persons hostage. But one and that is if the families choose not to have do so. Other than that, i can think of no reason. If the families dont want us to talk, we dont talk, but if these families want us to talk and advocate, i think we ought to do it. I dont think we should leave any stone unturned. I dont think there is a bridge too far, i dont think there is a price too high. Every of them regardless of what they do, by the lake, makes no difference to me so much writing on human beings being held hostage and the need to be brought home. Ms. Tice, i also want to thank you for the courage he ha shown over many years. This is not within an easy journey for you. You have been to syria, you went to syria yourself. You track to speak to us on he tried to speak to assasd yourself. [bengs table] i dont know what the solution is. But i know it is not isolating ourselves from the people who are Holding People hostage. And i will say that to any president that is not, to cascade, not to cast shade, as we say in the fifth to anybody, but this is painful. I thank you. I dont know if i responded appropriately, but that is what was on my heart and i had to say it. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, mr. Green. Thank you for having us ask you something that you could help us with as we are here for this reason for us as a family, we want to know our fathers fate as of now, we need proof of life or proof of death. We need to continue direct communication with the syrians to find out exactly what happened and without direct communication, who will not be able to get anywhere, we will stay in this loop forever. That is not possible. So, there needs to be absolutely needs to be a form of negotiation, of direct communication, of everything between the u. S. Government and the syrians about the fate of our loved ones. I recommend that this needs to be addressed and pushed forward on in order for any sort of information to come back to us and help our families cope with what is going on. As well as, if anything has happened to my father, we do want him back home regardless. So, that is might ask, to continue pushing. If theres any information in the u. S. Government is holding back from us, we need to know, as well as direct communication with the syrians to find out exactly what has happened and to bring him home. First of all, i want to thank you one more time for having this hearing. Hearings like that are so important to me, my family, my father who has been ignored by the media, ignored by our administration. So just being here means the world to us because the regime can see that we are not forgetting about people that have been kidnapped. I want to thank also my lawyer, and i encourage you to Work Together with these lawyers but have done wonderful things from day one would make it possible for us to come here and be here and take part in these things. What i wish for my people in congress is, first of all, congressional oversight about what is going on. How we are dealing with hostage cases. Who is making decisions on what grounds food how we cherry pick hostages. That shouldnt happen. Should have a celebrity like Brittney Griner being brought out and fall the length left behind. We should let celebrities not get equal rites over here. Also with every member of congress can do is what i was one of norma torres has done, speak on the house floor and bring up the names of everybody. When we get ignored, but when you are out there and ask the same questions and bring them up, they cant ignore you. They have to answer those questions. If that helps us a lot from the resolutions of velocity of bipartisan working matters, doing something. It doesnt matter if you are republican, democrat, this affects all of us. Hostagetaking affects all of us. What i would also like to see, maybe above and beyond, we have hostages in iran right now from europe, from australia, from canada. We have hostages in gaza from one of the world food this seems to be a global problem. If it is a global problem, wife are we not working together with why are we not working together as allies to put pressure on these regimes to release those hostages and fed a solution to stop hostage to pharmacy . Thank you host diplomacy . Thank you. I am caught in that situation where the russian government provides no information and also the wrongfully detained the delicious and opaque to those detained. So we are caught in this memo really dont know what is happening. The free world must have the moral fortitude to engage with bad actors, unfortunately that is just a fact of our lives. I am told the u. S. Now has little leverage with russia. There has to be leverage. My children are under the impression that they are citizens of the most powerful country in the world. We want to see that in action. If possible, we should try to facilitate context perhaps with third countries, third parties. There has to be something that can be done through other parties. Someone does talk to the russian government. And i will say it, again, american journalists, evan and alsu, they are not pawns in a geopolitical gain through if they are citizens and should be treated as such. Thank you. Representative hill. Thank you, chairman. Its an emotional day for all of us and we sit here with heavy hearts, whether the story is just for a few weeks or a decade we stand in solidarity with you. But i think the gershkovichs new are so proud to have them in the government for the state of the union. The corbetts, proud to have you at the state of the union. If you are not forgotten and this group of people here today are committed to carrying that message and pressing the state department and pressing these foreign governments. I want to start with the state department question. Ms. Corbett, you gave a nice timing of your relationship with the state is a ton of them took ryan from the 14 months to designate him as wrongfully detained. Ms. Dash, you just reference that alsu had not been designated as wrongfully detained. How long did it take . What was the interaction to determine, from your viewpoint as a mouse, that, ok, he is or she is wrongfully detained. Tell me about it. I started working with spiha pretty early on in the case. Both the process to officially designate ryan took 14 months. Did they ask information to provide or was it a purely state departmentdriven process . It was at the state department for a really long time. And it seems like it was stuck in some legal parts of it. And they had all the information. Yes, it just was really stuck. I know chairman mcauliffe was a huge part of getting that unstuck. It took too long to get that official designation. Tell me about your case. The reason i am asking this question is for the chairman, the Ranking Member and for Haley Stevens and myself. How do you advocate to shorten the process, make it more clear, has some clarity in that determination process . I was led to believe that alsu meets most if not all the criteria. However, the state department has been assessing a totality of circumstances around her detention. Other than that, i have very little information. No visibility into that process. But until she has been designated, she is being dealt with by Consular Affairs and i do appreciate their work. So let us talk about that. Until one is designated, they are dealt with through the Consular Office committed to that country . Correct. Then once designated, it moves to the spiha office . Correct. Anyone else have a comment on this issue . Yes, we have submitted on behalf of zach shaheen, my brother, for almost two years. He has been wrongfully designated this way by the u. N. Working groups, by the only foundation, but human rights watch. But still, we are waiting for the state department to designate him. We met 8 of the 11 criteria and hes supposed to meet only one of the levinson act. He is not declined and he is not accepted. They keep telling us when you have new information, give us. They have got everything. This is very helpful. Precisely the kind of work we are doing on determining if the levinson act is functioning that we want it to. Chairman, i know this is a facility for the Foreign Affairs committee in that assessment process. If wanted to comment on the evans Case Assessment paul beckett, assistant editor of the wall street journal working full time to try to secure evans release. I appreciate our participation today and fence from his family, they regret that they were unable to attend have the other end of that experience, to be honest. Evan was designated in 12 days after he was taken from you if grateful the special president ial Envoys Office does a very good job and is doing a very good job on family liaison issues, on the efforts to find a solution that will bring evan home. It is also apparent, which i think it has been to everyone who has spoken today, that there are inevitably other parts of the u. S. Government that are intimately involved in this. So being referred to the special president ial Envoys Office is by no means the end of the process. You have heard mentioned that National Security council, the gershwins family is relying on by its promise to bring evan home and we think that would include everyone who is wrongfully detained. So it involves many parts of the government and i think it causes for greater calls for greater transparency. Sometimes it can be hard to tell which part of the government ultimately is responsible and in the end, it will come to the oval office. Thank you very much. Mr. Chairman, i yield back. Thank you all for being here and advocating for your families and i yield back. I would like to say something. Austin is not wrongfully detained and i will have to tell you that the state department is soaked in vitriol for syria. They want nothing to do with syria. As far as with austin, it is necessary for us to engage with syria and to do all the things you have to do with a hostage, engage, dialogue, contested. Concession. You will not get any hostage home without doing those. I got the message from the Syrian Government when i was there in 2014 to discuss transfer possession of austin tice, we have his arrest record, we have the video of austin six weeks after he was detained. But here is the off ramp. We cannot have a negotiation with the Syrian Government unless or until they acknowledge having austin. So one of my favorite sesame street parts, there is a random and as sheep on a cliff and they run into each other. And they each say we are not moving. So they are standing there and neither one of them is getting anywhere and finally they have this great idea. This one hops over that one and away they go. And somebody somewhere has to come up with the idea that we are going to have to do the three steps of hostage recovery. Engagement, dialogue, confessions. Austins freedom depends on it. Thank you. Thank you again, mr. Hill. I would be happy to yield my time to ms. Stevens who is doing a lot of the work, if that is ok with you, chairman. Thank you all gentlemen for assembling this group. I wish we did not have to be here. It is very intentional. Russia, afghanistan, syria, iran , russia again, nigeria, china. They are all coordinating in some respect. They are holding all of you hostage. They are holding your families hostage. This is a form of collective torture. And it is not acceptable. I think you bring up a very good point about coordinating at the international stage. Mr. Wheeling of michigan designated wrongfully detained holds four passports so we have seen some of that coordination in action. Across a multitude of governments. Yet here we sit. This cannot be acceptable on the global stage. These are, in many respects, adversaries were sworn enemies, but it does not mean we cannot have dialogue. Mr. Hills Great Questions about how to further exercise the weapons act, which i truly think our Foreign Affairs leadership for being such Diligent Partners rings so true here. I am furious. And i would like to know, for the record in this room, when is the last time you spoke to your loved one, and when is the last time you know that the United States government spoke to your loved one . We know that in those communications, a lot of times what wants to be said cannot be said. We are being manipulated as a government and as a population and we do get the chance to speak, but i really believe it is important to hear it directly from you. And lastly, mr. Beckett, i want to recognize it is so important that you were here as an employer. I will never forget the day paul leland was let go by his employer and there is a whole backend you and loved ones carry. Loss of home, loss of income, loss of dignity. Pauls dog had passed away, never got to say goodbye, things along those lines. So i encourage all of you at the wall street journal, because it is costly to do what you were doing on behalf of evan garza which and his family. This is partly why when we passed the ndaa and included in it support and resources, i look at debra, what has it been like for you for 12 years . Can you even access the resources because austin is not unlawfully detained . I mean the resources to come here. We all need to hold feet to the fire, as members of congress on behalf of the administration. But if we can, i think it would be very important here, when is the last time you have spoken to your loved ones, heard from your loved ones, and when is the last known time that the u. S. Government has . Thank you for your comments. Your point about employers is well taken because in so many of these cases, this is an issue for american businesses doing business overseas if the u. S. Government cannot guarantee the safety of citizens overseas, it has an impact on us. Evan has been corresponding with his parents on family fairly regularly over the last year and one month. He has received two visits from ambassador lynn tracy and a representative every four or five weeks and in the beginning it took a very long time, i think his first visit was not until the end of may and it has been approximately five weeks. He is awaiting trial. We have no information, which is part of the frustration for his parents on wind any trial on when any trial or evidence may be presented. My brotherinlaw, who is in jail for jail in dubai, and allied country, for 16 years and he needs to serve another 40 years. He will be 100 and then he will be released for an alleged financial crime. I will not get into the details. Assume he is guilty of all charges, alleged financial crime, 56 years in jail. But we have all the signs that he is not guilty. He is seriously ill physically and mentally and we have been screaming this. The u. S. Government was convinced and in march 2023 they submitted an official request to the uae government to release him on humanitarian grounds for medical reasons. No response. That is what we get. What happens . He is sick. He is dying. Where is the response . Cant secretary blinken or President Biden pick up the phone and talk with our friends . His family is waiting for him. We do not want him dead. We want him alive. Can the u. S. Government do something . You were convinced and you put it in writing and you sent a request. Just work on it. Do something. You do not even label him as wrongfully detained though the whole world has labeled him. We showed the evidence. We show the lack of due process in dubai. Is it just because it is an ally country we do not want to offend them or wreck any trade . What is the reason . This should be an easy case. It is not like the other cases. Those countries are element enemies. This is an ally country and we have all of the proof, we submitted tons of documents. We hear compassion but he is dying, literally dying. His wife, my sister, has been waiting for him for the last 16 years. His son and his sister, they waited for years and they finally got married. He missed their graduations, he did not get to walk his daughter down the aisle, he is missing his life. The u. S. Government can do a lot more. Take it seriously before he dies. Thank you. My last call with ryan was march 26. It was 12 minutes long. We have had five calls in the last 628 days. He has received two visits. The qataris are contesting power with afghanistan. We are desperate to have him seen by a doctor. His health is declining. We are hopeful for more contact. I have had two pictures come to me. He looked in the last one on december 25, he had lost a lot of weight and looked really haggard. That is all the contacts we have had with him. The last time i talked with austin was january 2012 when i took him to the airport to come back to d. C. And the last time i spoke to him was on his birthday , august 11, 2012. The last time i hugged him, spoke to him, was the day before he was detained, august 13, 2012. We have had no contact with austin since he was detained. We are in a similar situation. The last time my mother had contact with my father was 2017 when he let her know that he had arrived in damascus, syria, and he told her i will call you back soon. He never did. It has been over seven years. We have had no contact with him whatsoever and we have had no u. S. Official contact him. No visits. No one from the u. S. Government has spoken to austin . Deborah . The last time we had a sign of life for my father was october 2000 15, he was allowed one phone call with my mother. They are highly supervised phone calls with regime agents sitting around and stopping the call if they ask any questions they do not want asked or if he tries to give any information. No one knows where he is being held and no one has seen him. The German Government and German Embassy have tried to reach out and they are not allowed to. As far as i know the swiss government has not tried to reach out and no officials have tried to reach out. I just wanted to add that being in solitary confinement for 1003 50 days, we cannot even imagine. I think everybody remembers being in lockdown during the pandemic in our own home. My father is now 192 weeks on lockdown without sunlight come up talking to a human being that does not want to kill or torture him. One more point if i may add to the designation, there is definitely something wrong with the process. The u. N. Working group of detention designated my father wrongfully detained already in 2022 and the u. N. Is usually very slow because it has to go through all of the lawyers. When the five americans were released last year in the prisoner swap, three of them were designated. Two of them did not even have a trial in iran. They were there for a couple of months and released. It seems very arbitrary on who is designated and when and who we bring back so that is another point i would like to have investigated and raised by you. Thank you. My communication, even written communication with alsu is limited. Since her arrest in october last year the russian government has denied her phone calls to the family so we have not really interacted with her. We have only heard her voice once, when she was allowed to speak to journalists in court on april 1 and she revealed inadequate medical care and lack of basic amenities. The absurdity of the situation is she is accused of being an american agent and the russian government has borrowed any access to the consular staff in moscow so she has not been able to speak to anyone from the u. S. Embassy. Two american diplomats were able to travel and they were at a Court Hearing once and she was very happy to see Friendly Faces in the courtroom but other than that she has had no contact with a consular or staff. This calls the vote for all of us. I am going to recognize the remaining members for any statements they might have. We thank you for taking the time to come and speak to all of us, for your engagement with us constantly. My statement on americans being held abroad would be this. It is unacceptable. There should be every expectation that if you are american there is an american coming to get you, whether it is a diplomat or shooter can be decided that there should be an american coming to get you and that should be the line for the United States of america. With that, i recognize my colleague. Thank you, chairman, for supporting and calling that hearing and my colleagues around the table have done a lot of work for you individually as well as generally a policy on the issue and this was an incredibly helpful and enlightening roundtable for me. I learned a lot and i know it took a lot of courage to do this, because you did not take lightly the decision to go public with your advocacy. I know some of you struggled with that because there are tradeoffs for the family and your loved ones so thank you to those of you who made that decision. For those of you who are listening to the hearing at home who are in similar situations come up with family or loved ones detained, you are seen, you are heard by us. We are working diligently and we will do Everything Possible to support your families and get your loved ones home to you. Thank you. Thank you. Probably everything has been said by people while i was in another meeting so i will just suffice to say you have our sympathy and you also have a recognition that we have concentrated on hostages in gaza recently, we have looked at a lot of areas, many of you, particularly syria and iran, your loved ones are in countries where we do not have diplomatic relations, as well as afghanistan, and that makes it harder but it does not give us an excuse not to insist on through counterparts that any relationships that those countries want to have our contingent on putting at least of recognition, wellbeing, and visitation of your loved ones and then ultimately the release. Russia is a classic example. There is always a price to trade somebody. If someone is a spy, they are happy to trade for one of theirs. That has been going on since before i was born. So this chairman and the chairman of the subcommittee, we are ready to do any pressure we can on our country but also on things, for example i know nigeria is not here right now but we have an aid package with nigeria and it demands there be some greater engagement. We still have diplomatic relations with china. Yet china ignores american human rights. So this committee does care about it and i want to thank you for being here. I am sorry i came in late from another committee but my office is happy to follow with any of you with specifics. Deborah, that that would particularly be related to your son. Thank you. Thank you to all the family members and advocates. We stand adjourned