[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 60 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. CON. RES. 60
Calling for the immediate release of Marc Fogel, a United States
citizen and teacher, who was given an unjust and disproportionate
criminal sentence by the Government of the Russian Federation in June
2022.
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 26, 2023
Mr. Deluzio (for himself, Mr. Reschenthaler, Mr. Evans, Mr. Boyle of
Pennsylvania, Mr. Kelly of Pennsylvania, Ms. Dean of Pennsylvania, Mr.
Fitzpatrick, Ms. Wild, Ms. Scanlon, Mr. Meuser, Mr. Thompson of
Pennsylvania, Ms. Houlahan, Mr. Cartwright, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania,
and Mr. Zinke) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
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CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Calling for the immediate release of Marc Fogel, a United States
citizen and teacher, who was given an unjust and disproportionate
criminal sentence by the Government of the Russian Federation in June
2022.
Whereas United States citizen Marc Fogel has lived a life of service, teaching
history at international schools in Colombia, Malaysia, Oman, Venezuela,
and Russia for 35 years;
Whereas Marc Fogel taught at the Anglo-American School of Moscow from 2012 to
2021, honorably serving the children of United States diplomats and
members of the Armed Forces;
Whereas Marc Fogel is known to his family, friends, colleagues, and students as
a kind, personable, upbeat, and giving man, a loving father, and a
passionate and dedicated teacher;
Whereas Marc Fogel has undergone three back surgeries, a spinal fusion, a hip
replacement, and two knee surgeries to correct various injuries and
health issues, which have left him with chronic back pain and a
permanent limp;
Whereas Marc Fogel did not wish to use opioids to manage his pain and was
instead prescribed medical marijuana for pain management in a manner
consistent with the State law of Pennsylvania;
Whereas, on August 14, 2021, as he returned to Russia for one final year of
teaching before his intended retirement, Marc Fogel was arrested in the
Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow for carrying about half an ounce of
medical marijuana in his luggage;
Whereas Marc Fogel has stated he intended that marijuana solely for personal
consumption, and the Government of the Russian Federation has presented
no evidence to the contrary;
Whereas, on June 16, 2022, a Russian court convicted Marc Fogel of ``large-scale
drugs smuggling'' in a politicized show trial and sentenced him to 14
years in a maximum-security penal colony in Russia;
Whereas Russian lawyers informed the family that the typical sentence for Marc
Fogel's offense is five years of probation, and in 2019, the same
Russian court sentenced Alexander Grigoriev to eight years in prison for
the possession of 1,500 grams of various narcotics;
Whereas Marc Fogel's sentence is vastly disproportionate to the severity of his
nonviolent crime, wildly dissimilar to the typical punishments for
comparable offenses in Russia, and clearly motivated by ongoing
political tensions between Russia and the United States;
Whereas, in August 2022, Russian courts denied Marc Fogel's appeal of his
sentence;
Whereas the 2021 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Russia issued by
the Department of State reported, ``Conditions in prisons and detention
centers . . . were often harsh and life threatening. Overcrowding, abuse
by guards and inmates, limited access to health care, food shortages,
and inadequate sanitation were common'';
Whereas Marc Fogel turns 62 years old in July 2023, and his physical and mental
health is rapidly declining due to the stress and harsh conditions of
his detention, such that his family fears he will not survive his
sentence; and
Whereas the Department of State requested Marc Fogel be released from Russian
custody on humanitarian grounds, but received no response to that
request: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
That Congress--
(1) calls on the Government of the Russian Federation to
immediately release Marc Fogel, who has already served more
time in prison than his minor and nonviolent crimes can
justify;
(2) urges the Government of the Russian Federation to
respect Marc Fogel's human rights and to provide full,
unfettered, and consistent consular access to Marc Fogel while
he remains in detention, in accordance with its international
obligations;
(3) urges all United States executive branch officials,
including President Joseph Biden, Secretary of State Antony
Blinken, and Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs
Roger Carstens, to raise the case of Marc Fogel and to press
for his immediate release in all interactions with the
Government of the Russian Federation;
(4) urges the Government of the Russian Federation to
desist from issuing outlandishly disproportionate criminal
sentences to nonviolent United States citizens;
(5) condemns the Government of the Russian Federation's
continued use of detentions and prosecutions of citizens and
lawful permanent residents of the United States for political
purposes;
(6) calls for the immediate release of other citizens and
lawful permanent residents of the United States who are
wrongfully detained in Russia, such as Paul Whelan, Evan
Gershkovich, and Vladimir Kara-Murza; and
(7) expresses sympathy for and solidarity with the families
of all other citizens and lawful permanent residents of the
United States wrongfully detained abroad for the personal
hardship experienced as a result of the arbitrary and baseless
detention of their loved ones.
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