this is pastor brunson. he's little over 50 years old. since he's been in prison he lost 50 pounds and spent almost 17 months in a prison cell designed for eight people that had 21 people in it, that entire time without a single formal charge lied against him. pastor brunson is a presbyterian minister from western north carolina, an area called black mountain. he was swept up inhe arrest that occurred after the illegal coup attempt that i think was inappropriate and that i publicly opposed because i think there's a peaceful way to change regimes. but pastor brunson wasn't one of the people who caused the coup. but if you went to that courtroom like i did and spent 12 hours in that courtroom, you would have heard absurd charges from over a dozen secret witnesses, many of them in prison, talking about the food that somebody may have ate, which is a preferred food of a terrorist organization. or the fact t light was on in a small church in izmir for four hours and certainly there had to be something bad going on. that's the nature of these c

this man's name is pastor brunson. he's a presbyterian minister that spent most of the last 20 years doing missionary work in turkey, sometimes going into syria, going to syria in refugee camps in turkey, living in and around the izmir area. in october of 2016 after the coup attempt, they started sweeping up thousands of people, including people who were doing nothing but trying to bring the word to those who wanted to hear it nrks this case in the country -- it, in this case the country of turkey. he was accused of being part of plotting the coup attempt. he's subsequently been accused of plotting terrorist act tifts against the -- activities against the government and people of turkey. the -- we've been working on this case for well over a year. we treated it like constituent work. we were doing everything we were supposed to do, working with the state department, working with the various agencies, reaching out to the country team to say why can't we get this pastor freed. why isn't he being held -- why is he being h

i'm talking about pastor brunson who has been in prison in turkey since 2016. the only thing he -- he is guilty of is being a missionary, who spent 20 years of his life to bringing the word of god to turkey. you can talk about all the trumped up charges after i spent in a courtroom in turkey, or when i spoke to pastor brunson when i spoke to him in prison. this is relevant to the defense authorization to put turkey on notice that this is unacceptable. turkey has been a an ally of the united states since 1952. if you know much about the nato alliance, what you need to know is that alliance commits every member of nato to send their men and women in uniform into harm's way to defend the national security of a nation of the alliance. we have that with turkey. we have since 1952. so over the past month or so we've seen a would-be add vermont sairy in -- adversary release a prisoner, but in turkey, since october 2016, wee seen them hold a man for -- we've seen them hold a man for over a year and a half without charges. i saw a man go before a court and i witnessed f

i rise today to draw attention to the ongoing plight of pastor andrew brunson, a christian missionary from my district in western north carolina. who has been held as a prisoner of the turkish government for the last 20 months. part of being arrested -- prior to being arrested by the turkish government in 2016, he has lived peacefully in turkey for decades. he had opened a church, raised his family, and made a life in the country. that all changed in 2016 when the turkish government arrested him on a series of bogus charges. he's been detained ever since. last months i sent a letter to the turkish president signed by a bipartisan group of 154 lawmakers calling on their government to release pastor brunson. it's a long time in coming but i hope and pray that pastor brunson will be released so he can be reunited with his family here in the united states. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek recognition. >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks 68 -- remarks. the speaker pro tempo

how pastor brunson and others in turkey are being treated. this is a nato ally since 1952. we also have the joint strike fighter. we think all that has to be looked at before we move ahead with that transaction. needs to be released. suggesting he would trade a pastor for a pastor, immediately made him a hostage. we want him released and be happy as an ally to consider an extradition if they have the evidence that he fits our high standards for extradition. >> in fact, the pastor in pennsylvania, the administration's officials from top to bottom said they are not turning him over without any real evidence he was involved in this attempt. >> well, what we don't need is a policy of appeasement with turkey. turkey is supposed to be our ally. allies don't arrest american citizens with no reason. allies don't buy weapon systems from our aggressor nations which is what turkey is looking at doing. we need to make a clear -- send to tke a clear message and a clear message that's not behavior that we expect or corn do condone in the united states and slowing down the sale of the f-3

at least two americans, andrew brunson, and sirkan, are being . ld by the turkish regime the president believes he can use imprisoned americans as bargaining chips. he hopes he can trade american hostages for political opponents that have fled turkey's dictatorship. even if the individuals the president wanted had clearly committed crimes, which there's absolutely no evidence they have, we should never engage in rewarding turkey for taking hostages. he's proven he has no respect for the rule of law and instead rules by fear. we must not assist him in his destruction of democracy in turkey. american hostages like pastor andrew brunson, who have been held for more than 600 days, must be returned. until then, the united states needs to re-evaluate whether turkey wants to be considered a friend or a foe, and that's just the way it is. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from rhode island eek recognition? mr. langevin: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to rev

spoken to my counterpart in the last several days about not just the f-35 and the s-400, but pastor brunson's return is of paramount importance to us as well. i think this will lead us to an outcome that pleases everyone on the committee. >> i appreciate that. there is a long list. what is happening in syria is one and the pastor is another. let's be clear that turkey has unlawfully taken the pastor. i would like your commitment that the pastor will not be used as a bargaining chip with turkey or cooperating with the turks to throw the syrian kurds or allowing them to get the 2-400. -- the s-400. what they have done is horrible, as is what they did with the foreign nationals who worked for our embassies. >> those are separate and we are not linking them. >> we are just about done. just a quick rap and -- wrap. in terms of staffing, are you making progress? >> yes. not as rapidly as america needs is to. if north korea is watching, and i hope that you are, take that deal. it would be good. this time around, are you agreeing that we are running out of peaceful options? >> i do. i think the north

. >> turkey's treatment of pastor brunson is simply outrageous. i think that they need to understand that every member of congress is highly concerned about it. i appreciate your lead on it. i appreciate your strong statement on it as well. that would be a really big step in terms of helping to improve relationships with a very important country. my final question has to do with the baltic states. i have always been concerned, particularly after russia's invasion of georgia. our response now hopefully sends a strong message. can you give me your assessment in terms of the dangers of russian meddling? >> i think the dangers are very real. i think the baltics -- the baltic states have never been stronger. these are model democracies. the really set the standard across the region for strong atlantis bulwarks. we have to be diligent both militarily and with regard to hybrid and cyber threats. we have strong pathways of coordination with all of these countries. >> we really do appreciate your service. these are incredibly important relationships we are

senator to make turkey accountable for the unlawful detention of pastor brunson. and i think all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle -- 70 of them who agree with me -- who agree that pastor brunson should be set free. thank you, mr. president. i note the absence of a quorum. ifer officer the clerk should call the -- the presiding officer: the clerk should call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: quorum call: mr. portman: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. portman: mr. president, today i want to talk about an dish the presiding officer: the senate? a quorum call. mr. portman: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. portman: thank you. mr. president, today i want to talk about an issue that has gotten a lot of attention attene in washington appeared around the country over the past week or so, and that's the issue of children who cross our border. both those who cross the border illegally with their parents and those who come alone. those who come alo

some say, what on earth was pastor brunson doing in turkey. he was providing comfort for syrian refugees. he has a church in izmir, a very small church -- by the way, after the prison visit, i went back to turkey and heard the allegations myself in a courtroom there. they charged this was a hotbed for terrorist plotting. that this was where pastor brunson tried to conspire with others to facilitate the coup, an illegal coup that i disagreed with, the coup attempt a couple of years ago. we actually had one witness say that he had to have been involved in some nefarious activity because one night in the middle of the night they saw a light on for four hours. that was the charge, and therefore, there must have been something bad going on. well, number one, because somebody's light on doesn't mean they are necessarily doing anything bad, but what makes it more remarkable is that the room they were talking about doesn't have a room. there is no way anybody could observe it. so this witness who is in prison himself testifies to the fact that a light