IV 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 336 
Calling on the Government of the Russian Federation to provide evidence 
or to release United States citizen Paul Whelan. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 20, 2021 
Ms. STEVENS (for herself, Mr. WALBERG, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Mr. 
BERGMAN, Mrs. DINGELL, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. KILDEE, and Mr. 
HUIZENGA) 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 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 vet-
eran; 
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; 
Whereas the Federal Security Service has never provided any 
evidence of supposed wrongdoing; 
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Whereas Paul Whelan was imprisoned in Lefortovo Prison 
and was held there for more than 19 months after his 
arrest in pretrial detention; 
Whereas a Moscow court extended Paul Whelan’s pretrial de-
tention multiple times without publicly presenting jus-
tification or evidence of wrongdoing; 
Whereas even Paul Whelan’s Federal Security Service-ap-
pointed 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 con-
crete against Whelan in five months. That means there 
is nothing.’’; 
Whereas the then United States Ambassador to the Russian 
Federation, 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 for-
ward. We have seen nothing. If there was a case, I think 
the evidence would have been brought forward by now.’’; 
Whereas then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Rus-
sian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on May 14, 2019, 
and urged him to ensure United States citizens are not 
unjustly held abroad; 
Whereas the Kremlin has refused Paul Whelan full access to 
his lawyer and the so-called evidence against him; 
Whereas any evidence he has seen is in Russian, a language 
Paul does not read or speak; 
Whereas Lefortovo pretrial detention facility and the Ministry 
of Foreign Affairs refused to provide medical treatment 
for Paul Whelan’s medical condition, despite being aware 
of its worsening state, resulting in emergency surgery on 
May 29, 2020; 
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Whereas Paul Whelan was wrongfully convicted on June 15, 
2020, and sentenced to 16 years in a Russian labor camp 
by a 3-judge panel, in a trial witnessed by then United 
States Ambassador John Sullivan, who referred to it as 
‘‘a mockery of justice’’ due to the denial of a fair trial 
and the exclusion of defense witnesses; 
Whereas in August 2020, on an unknown day because he was 
moved secretly, Paul Whelan was transferred to camp 
IK–17, a penal labor camp in Mordovia, where he is 
forced to work 6 days a week in a garment factory; 
Whereas Ambassador John Sullivan, while visiting Paul 
Whelan at the labor camp in Mordovia, stated that ‘‘Rus-
sian authorities . . . have never shown the world evi-
dence of his guilt,’’ and reiterated his call that the Rus-
sian authorities correct this injustice and release Mr. 
Whelan; and 
Whereas Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Rus-
sian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on February 4, 
2021, and urged him to release Americans detained in 
Russia, including Paul Whelan and Trevor Reed, so that 
they are able to return home to their families in the 
United States: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) implores the Government of the Russian 
Federation to present credible evidence on the alle-
gations against Paul Whelan or immediately release 
him from imprisonment; 
(2) implores the Government of the Russian 
Federation to comply with its international treaty 
obligations and provide unrestricted consular access 
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to Paul Whelan while he remains imprisoned in Rus-
sia; 
(3) calls on the Government of the Russian 
Federation to provide Paul Whelan and all other po-
litical prisoners their constitutionally afforded due 
process rights and universally recognized human 
rights; and 
(4) expresses sympathy to the family of Paul 
Whelan for this travesty to justice and personal 
hardship, and expresses hope that their ordeal can 
soon be brought to a just end. 
Æ 
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