{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://kelly.house.gov/media/press-releases/kelly-reschenthaler-introduce-resolution-help-bring-russian-detainee-marc", "Kelly, Reschenthaler Introduce Resolution to Help Bring Russian Detainee Marc Fogel Home", "2022-11-04", "2022", "2022-11", "Republican", "House", "PA", "Mike Kelly", "K000376", "kelly.house.gov", "kelly", "https://kelly.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, Representatives Mike Kelly (PA-16) and Guy Reschenthaler (PA-14) introduced a resolution of inquiry in response to the Biden Administration\u2019s continued reluctance to designate Marc Fogel, a history teacher and Pittsburgh-area native imprisoned in Russia, as \u201cwrongfully detained.\u201d\n\n\u201cAfter repeated congressional inquiries from both sides of the aisle, Marc Fogel's family deserves answers from the Biden Administration regarding Mr. Fogel\u2019s potential designation as \u2018wrongfully detained,\u2019\u201d said Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA). \u201cIn addition to his grossly disproportionate 14-year sentence to a Russian maximum-security penal colony, Marc\u2019s case certainly meets several of the other established criteria to be considered \u2018wrongfully detained.\u2019 With this resolution, it is my hope that the State Department will elevate this case, properly designate Marc as \u2018wrongfully detained,\u2019 and work to secure his timely release for Marc, his Western Pennsylvania family, and supporters across the globe.\u201d\n\n\u201cAs a former district judge and U.S. Navy JAG, I know when I\u2019m being stonewalled,\u201d said Rep. Reschenthaler (R-PA). \u201cIt is indisputable Marc Fogel meets the definition of wrongfully detained under the Levinson criteria. Yet as his health rapidly deteriorates ahead of his transfer to a hard-labor penal colony, the Biden Administration is still making excuses rather than following the letter of the law. They owe Congress an explanation for their inaction.\u201d\n\n\u201cAs the Russian government continues its hostilities toward Americans, we must have complete access to the full report regarding Mr. Fogel's detainment, trial, and sentencing,\" said Rep. Glenn \"GT\" Thompson (R-PA). \"It is imperative the State Department exhausts all efforts to return him to his family here in the United States.\"\n\n\u201cIUP fully supports the House Resolution of Inquiry proposed and advanced by Reps. Reschenthaler, Glenn \u2018GT\u2019 Thompson, and Mike Kelly with the goal of ultimately ending IUP alumni Marc Fogel\u2019s unjust, inequitable, and cruel detainment,\u201d said Indiana University of Pennsylvania President Michael A. Driscoll. \u201cMr. Fogel is a valued IUP alumnus \u2013 a member of the IUP family \u2013 and we share the pain, sadness, and concern of his family and friends. We hope that the Biden Administration will take all steps possible to free Mr. Fogel and that the Russian government will release him. \u201c\n\nSpecifically, this resolution would direct President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to provide the U.S. House of Representatives with copies of all documents relating to the Department of State\u2019s review of the statutory criteria for Marc Fogel to be designated as \u201cwrongfully detained,\u201d based on the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act. This includes all documents, telephone records, audio recordings, and correspondence relating to this case within the possession of the Secretary.\n\nBACKGROUND\n\nMr. Fogel is a Butler County, Pennsylvania native and taught history courses at schools attended by children of U.S. diplomats in Columbia, Venezuela, Oman, Malaysia, and Russia. In August 2021, he was detained at the Sheremetyevo Airport with a small amount of medical marijuana prescribed for his chronic back pain. In June 2022, he was sentenced to fourteen years of hard labor in a Russia prison, a sentence usually reserved for large-scale drug smugglers.\n\nUnder federal law, Mr. Fogel meets at least six of the eleven established criteria to be designated as \u201cwrongfully detained\u201d by the State Department.\n\nReps. Kelly and Thompson have signed on as original cosponsors.\n\nRead the resolution here.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T03:24:37Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://kelly.house.gov/media/press-releases/kelly-reschenthaler-introduce-resolution-help-bring-russian-detainee-marc"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4827819541096687, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}