{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://sires.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/congressman-sires-statement-on-the-release-of-alan-gross", "Congressman Sires Statement on the Release of Alan Gross", "2014-12-17", "2014", "2014-12", "Democrat", "House", "NJ", "Albio Sires", "S001165", "sires.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "(Washington, D.C.)\u00a0-\u00a0 Congressman Albio Sires issued the following statement regarding the release of Alan Gross:\u00a0\n\u201cI am relieved that Alan Gross will no longer see the inside of his Cuban prison cell and finally be reunited with his family after five long years of unwarranted imprisonment by the Cuban Government.\u00a0 Let it be clear, however, that his release was by no means a humanitarian gesture. Nothing the Cuban regime does is humanitarian in nature, particularly when it continues to deny the Cuban people basic human rights while utilizing fear, incarceration, and unwarranted force to maintain control.\u00a0\nRather than accepting nothing but the unconditional release of Mr. Gross, the Administration has succumbed to short-sighted pressures to proceed with an unjust and dangerous prisoner exchange of convicted spies.\u00a0 While I am relieved that Mr. Gross will finally be home with his family, I would be remiss not to wonder how the family of murdered New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster feels as his killer, Joanne Chesimard, still roams freely in Cuba.\u00a0 Chesimard is currently listed by the FBI as the number one most wanted terrorist and has been enjoying political asylum in Cuba for 30 years.\nIt is a dangerous precedent to concede and utilize Americans detained abroad as mere pawns for trading.\u00a0 Not only will this be an open invitation for rogue regimes and actors to follow the same playbook, but it potentially places many American lives overseas at risk.\u201d\u00a0\nCongressman Sires serves as the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere within the House Committee on Foreign Affairs for the 113th Congress.\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://sires.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/congressman-sires-statement-on-the-release-of-alan-gross"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3988399878144264, "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"}