IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 552 

Calling on the Government of the Russian Federation to provide evidence 

of wrongdoing or to release United States citizen Paul Whelan. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 11, 2019 

Ms. STEVENS (for herself, Mr. WALBERG, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Mr. KILDEE, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. KEATING, Mr. HUIZENGA, Mr. UPTON, Mr. 

MOOLENAAR, Mr. KING of New York, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Ms. SLOTKIN, 

and Mr. BERGMAN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Calling on the Government of the Russian Federation to 

provide evidence of wrongdoing or to release United 

States citizen Paul Whelan. 

Whereas United States citizen Paul Whelan is a resident of 

Novi, Michigan, and a United States Marine Corps veteran; 

Whereas Paul Whelan traveled to Moscow for the wedding of 

a personal friend on December 22, 2018; 

Whereas Russia’s Federal Security Service arrested Paul 

Whelan at the Metropol Hotel in Moscow on December 

28, 2018, and charged him with espionage; 


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•HRES 552 IH 

Whereas Paul Whelan was imprisoned in Lefortovo Prison 

and continues to be held there more than eight months 

after his arrest; 

Whereas the Federal Security Service has not provided any 

evidence of supposed wrongdoing; 

Whereas a Moscow court has extended Paul Whelan’s pretrial detention multiple times without publicly presenting 

justification or evidence of wrongdoing; 

Whereas officials from the United States Embassy in Moscow 

have routinely had their topics of discussion with Paul 

Whelan severely limited by the Federal Security Service; 

Whereas even Paul Whelan’s Federal Security Service-appointed lawyer, Vladimir Zherebenkov, said on May 24, 

2019, ‘‘[The Federal Security Service] always roll[s] out 

what they have, but in this case, we’ve seen nothing concrete against Whelan in five months. That means there 

is nothing.’’; 

Whereas the United States Ambassador to Russia, Jon 

Huntsman, responded on April 12, 2019, to a question 

about the detention of Paul Whelan, ‘‘If the Russians 

have evidence, they should bring it forward. We have seen 

nothing. If there was a case, I think the evidence would 

have been brought forward by now.’’; and 

Whereas Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Russian 

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on May 14, 2019, and 

urged him to ensure United States citizens are not unjustly held abroad: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) urges the Government of the Russian Fed3 eration to present credible evidence on the allegaVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:38 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR552.IH HR552

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•HRES 552 IH 

1 tions against Paul Whelan or immediately release 

2 him from detention; 

3 (2) urges the Government of the Russian Fed4 eration to provide unrestricted consular access to 

5 Paul Whelan while he remains in detention; 

6 (3) urges the Government of the Russian Fed7 eration to ensure Paul Whelan is afforded due proc8 ess and universally recognized human rights; 

9 (4) encourages the President and the Secretary 

10 of State to continue to press the Government of the 

11 Russian Federation at every opportunity and urge 

12 the Russian Government to guarantee a fair and 

13 transparent judicial process without undue delay in 

14 accordance with its international legal obligation; 

15 and 

16 (5) expresses sympathy to the family of Paul 

17 Whelan and expresses hope that their ordeal can 

18 soon be brought to an end. 

Æ 


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