[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 69 (Tuesday, April 25, 2023)] [House] [Pages H1935-H1938] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Date: 2023-04-25
Chamber: HOUSE
Mr. BILIRAKIS: I am grateful for this opportunity tonight, and I thank my good friend, Mr. Owens. He does an outstanding job. What a great American he is. I thank the gentleman for organizing this very important Special Order on the persecution faced by Enes Kanter Freedom by the Erdogan regime. This issue has personal significance to me, Mr. Speaker, because I consider Enes a very close friend. I am proud to call him my friend. Enes should be held up and supported by the American Government as someone who has used his platform to speak out against human rights violations around the world. Instead, Mr. Speaker, as the previous speaker said, the Biden administration has been critically silent on the Turkish persecution of Enes Kanter Freedom. Most recently, Enes had a 10 million Turkish lira bounty--slightly more than $500,000--placed on his head by the Erdogan regime. This is just the latest of a long line of direct attacks against Enes Kanter Freedom by the Turkish Government. It is unacceptable, and we must speak out. Since 2017, the Erdogan regime has issued at least 10 arrest warrants against Kanter Freedom, and he even narrowly avoided arrest on behalf of the Turkish Government in Indonesia. This is unacceptable, Mr. Speaker. I know for a fact that he hasn't seen his family for approximately 10 years because he can't go back to his native Turkiye. Now, he is an American citizen and loving it, and he is giving so much. He is such a great American. What has he done wrong? What crime has he committed? He chose to speak out against President Erdogan for his regime's numerous human rights violations. Enes knew the risks but felt compelled to face the risks to his apparent safety and livelihood to be the voice for the voiceless and the defenseless. What he has given up and what he has sacrificed for those around him, his fellow men and women--it is incredible what he has done. He had a great career in the NBA, and he sacrificed it to help others, people whom he doesn't even know. As a matter of fact, he holds these clinics around the world for our children, all of God's children here in the United States and around the world. What a great individual. Again, I am so proud to call him my friend. He reaches out to Republicans and Democrats to advocate on behalf of these wonderful people. He is a bipartisan guy. I would like to say he is a nonpartisan guy. He just wants to do the right thing. This is particularly evident, again, in his criticism of China and their treatment of the Uyghurs. Again, instead of standing behind Enes, a law-abiding American citizen--he is so proud of his country--the Biden administration has remained silent after the so-called American ally Turkiye placed Enes Kanter Freedom on their most-wanted terrorist list. Not only has the Biden administration been silent, but it has refused to meet with Mr. Freedom regarding the persecution he faces from the Turkish Government. That is just wrong. It really is, frankly, a failure on behalf of the Biden administration's responsibility to protect Americans from foreign threats. Through the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, President Biden is authorized to impose sanctions on any foreign person who is responsible for extrajudicial killings, torture, or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights against any individual. No action has been taken by this administration, Mr. Speaker, sadly. President Biden should lead on this issue instead of allowing Enes Kanter Freedom to continue to be persecuted by Turkiye. All we are asking for is a meeting of Mr. Freedom and President Biden or any member of the State Department, a high-level individual, so he can express his concerns.  The President needs, again, to meet with Mr. Freedom and stand up for what is right because that is what Enes does on a daily basis. Again, he has been persecuted in Turkiye. He lives in fear, but he is a fearless guy. In my opinion, he is a hero. I appreciate my good friend, Burgess Owens, who is a great American himself. He has done so much for so many people in the State of Utah. Again, I am proud to call him my friend. May God bless him.