IV

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 404

Calling for the immediate release of Mr. Edmond Pope from prison in the

Russian Federation for humanitarian reasons, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 19, 2000

Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. BILBRAY,

Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. DEMINT,

Ms. DUNN, Mr. FORBES, Mr. GEKAS, Mr. GIBBONS, Mr. GREENWOOD,

Mr. HERGER, Mr. HILLEARY, Mr. KLINK, Mr. MCKEON, Mr. MURTHA,

Mr. SCHAFFER, Mr. SHADEGG, Mr. SHERWOOD, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr.

SWEENEY, Mr. TERRY, Mr. WATKINS, Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania, Mr.

WOLF, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. ROGAN,

Mr. FARR of California, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. HOEKSTRA, Mr.

DIAZ-BALART, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. THORNBERRY, Mrs. NORTHUP, Mr.

BARRETT of Nebraska, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mrs. BIGGERT, Mr.

BLUNT, Mr. BOEHNER, Mrs. BONO, Mr. BRADY of Texas, Mr. BRADY

of Pennsylvania, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. CAMP, Mr. CANNON, Mr.

CHAMBLISS, Mr. COOK, Mr. COOKSEY, Mr. COX, Mrs. CUBIN, Mr. DAVIS

of Virginia, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. DELAY, Mr. DICKEY, Mr. DICKS, Mr.

DOOLITTLE, Mr. DOYLE, Mr. DUNCAN, Mrs. EMERSON, Mr. ENGLISH,

Mr. EWING, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. FOSSELLA, Mr. GOODE, Mr. GOODLATTE,

Mr. GORDON, Mr. GRAHAM, Ms. GRANGER, Mr. GUTKNECHT, Mr. HANSEN, Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. HOSTETTLER, Mr. HOYER, Mr.

HULSHOF, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. ISAKSON, Mr. JONES of North Carolina,

Mr. KANJORSKI, Mr. KIND, Mr. KNOLLENBERG, Mr. LARGENT, Mr.

LATHAM, Mr. LAZIO, Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky, Mr. LUCAS of Oklahoma,

Mr. MASCARA, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. MCINTOSH, Mr. MICA,

Mrs. MINK of Hawaii, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. MORAN of Kansas,

Mr. NEY, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr. PAUL, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr.

POMBO, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Ms. PRYCE of Ohio, Mr. QUINN,

Mr. RADANOVICH, Mr. REYNOLDS, Mr. RILEY, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr.

RYUN of Kansas, Mr. SANFORD, Mr. SAXTON, Mr. SCARBOROUGH, Mr.

SCOTT, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. SHUSTER, Mr. SKEEN, Mr. SMITH of Michigan, Mr. STENHOLM, Mr. SUNUNU, Mr. TAUZIN, Mr. TIAHRT, Mr.

TRAFICANT, Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, Mr. WALDEN of Oregon, Mr.

WELDON of Florida, Mr. WICKER, and Mrs. WILSON) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on

International Relations
2

•HCON 404 IH

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Calling for the immediate release of Mr. Edmond Pope from

prison in the Russian Federation for humanitarian reasons, and for other purposes.

Whereas Mr. Edmond Pope of State College, Pennsylvania,

is a husband, father, grandfather, son, and United States

businessman;

Whereas Edmond Pope has visited the Russian Federation

27 times in order to foster better business and universitybased research relationships;

Whereas Edmond Pope traveled to the Russian Federation in

late March 2000 in order to purchase commercially advertised underwater propulsion technology, as stated in

his visa approved by the Government of the Russian Federation;

Whereas Edmond Pope was arrested on April 3, 2000, in

Moscow, imprisoned in Lefortovo, and charged with espionage;

Whereas the Russian who allegedly committed an act of treason by aiding Edmond Pope was released and has been

living with his family;

Whereas Edmond Pope has been treated for

hemangiopericytoma, a rare form of cancer, that was in

remission prior to his travel;

Whereas Edmond Pope’s father is dying of multiple myeloma,

a type of bone cancer that can be hereditary;

Whereas Edmond Pope should receive routine medical care

by a qualified, trained professional in order to monitor

the possibility of a recurrence of cancer due to his highrisk potential;
3

•HCON 404 IH

Whereas Edmond Pope has missed his annual monitoring

visit resulting in a 14 month lapse since his last visit;

Whereas Edmond Pope’s prison conditions have caused a

dramatic loss in weight and his physical stature has deteriorated;

Whereas Edmond Pope has been denied the basic human

right of proper medical attention deserving of an individual in his condition;

Whereas two Americans have died in the past few months

within prisons in the Russian Federation and another individual has recently died in Lefortovo;

Whereas Edmond Pope has been unjustly arrested and detained for more than 5 months, preventing him from celebrating his 30th wedding anniversary and the marriage

of his son, and during which time his mother-in-law

passed away;

Whereas recent events have shown that trials in the Russian

Federation involving alleged violations in the area of national security can take several years;

Whereas it is unlikely that Edmond Pope would survive a

lengthy trial; and

Whereas United States business and academic interests with

the Russian Federation are beginning to be detrimentally

impacted by this event: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That—

3 (1) the Congress calls on the Russian Federa4 tion, under the leadership of President Vladimir

5 Putin, to immediately release Mr. Edmond Pope of
4

•HCON 404 IH

1 State College, Pennsylvania, and to ensure that

2 proper and qualified medical attention is provided to

3 him in order to ensure that another loss of life does

4 not occur in a prison in the Russian Federation;

5 (2) it is the sense of Congress that if Edmond

6 Pope is not released immediately the President

7 should continue all efforts afforded to the adminis8 tration to secure his release, including the consider9 ation of—

10 (A) terminating all assistance to the Gov11 ernment of the Russian Federation under the

12 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the annual

13 Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Re14 lated Programs Appropriations Act for purposes

15 of preparing the Russian Federation’s entrance

16 or accession to the World Trade Organization

17 (WTO); and

18 (B) opposing any further debt relief of ob19 ligations owed to the United States Government

20 from the Government of the Russian Federa21 tion; and

22 (3) the President should increase efforts to se23 cure appropriate medical attention for Edmond

24 Pope.

Æ