{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://delaney.house.gov//news/press-releases/delaney-presses-government-officials-on-efforts-to-free-warren-weinstein", "Delaney Presses Government Officials on Efforts to Free Warren Weinstein", "2014-12-11", "2014", "2014-12", "Democrat", "House", "MD", "John Delaney", "D000620", "delaney.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON \u2013 Congressman John K. Delaney (MD-6) took part in a House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing on Afghanistan and Pakistan policy Wednesday. Although not a member of the committee, Delaney requested to take part in the hearing in order to press administration officials on the handling of Warren Weinstein, a Rockville resident and constituent who was abducted in Pakistan in 2011.\nIn the hearing, Delaney asked the panel of officials from the Department of State, U.S. Agency for International Development, and Department of Justice.\nCongressman Delaney issues the following statement on yesterday\u2019s hearing:\n\u201cOver three years ago Warren Weinstein was captured \u2013 and he\u2019s still not free. That singular fact should dominate our approach. We need to reexamine Pakistan\u2019s level of cooperation and we need to reexamine what our own government is doing and how we can improve. There should be no hesitation from Pakistani officials in providing us with information about Warren\u2019s location and the details related to his case. We have the leverage to ask for Pakistan\u2019s assistance on such important matters and we should use it. I am also concerned that our own response to freeing American hostages needs to improve. We have to remember Warren and the other Americans being held abroad \u2013 every day that they aren\u2019t home is a tragedy. Let\u2019s make sure our agency responses are well coordinated, that we\u2019re giving hostages the highest priority, and that Congress is responsive to any requests for how to improve. I thank the leaders of the Foreign Affairs Committee for allowing me to join yesterday\u2019s hearing so that our government can hear once again that we must remember Warren Weinstein.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\nFor video of Congressman Delaney\u2019s remarks in the hearing, click here. (Delaney remarks begin at 2:25:40.)\nThe hearing, titled \u201cThe Way Forward in Afghanistan and Pakistan\u201d was a joint subcommittee hearing held by the Asia and Pacific Subcommittee and the Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee within Foreign Affairs. The witnesses were the Honorable Jarret Blanc, Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan \u2013 U.S. Department of State; the Honorable Donald L. Sampler, Assistant to the Administrator - Office of Afghanistan and Pakistan Affairs, U.S. Agency for International Development; and Mr. James Soiles, Deputy Chief of Operations - Office of Global Enforcement, Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Department of Justice.\nDelaney has introduced a House Resolution (H. Con. Res 101) in support of Weinstein, which was subsequently introduced in the Senate by Senator Barbara Mikulski (MD) and Senator Ben Cardin (MD).\u00a0 In June, Delaney spoke on the House floor in support of Weinstein, to view his remarks, click here. In January, Delaney wrote to President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry, urging them to \u201cdo everything they can\u201d to bring Warren home.\n\u00a0\n##", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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": ["http://delaney.house.gov//news/press-releases/delaney-presses-government-officials-on-efforts-to-free-warren-weinstein"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.6673128809779882, "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"}