they've requested to go to teheran to meet with pastor youcef nadarkhani. development as the case continues to gather now interest nation until attention from governments which is huge. martha: we genuinely hope that they will give that opportunity for some of these countries to visit him, to verify his well-being. there is a lot of arrests though of christians going on in iran. do you think that this is going to put the spotlight more squarely on this issue and the pressure on iran and other kreugss tha christians that are being held in that country. >> reporter: 17 more christians were arrested. some did let go after a couple of hours, some are still in jail today, others get charged for two, three years. what pastor youcef nadarkhani represents is thousand 0s of people who are in iranian jails that are forgotten b. he has no idea what is going on around the world about him. he refused to renounce his faith. he refused to acknowledge mohammed as a prophet he would have been let go. he's taking a stand in his case, in this case why you're seeing the world

the report comes amid growing international concern for christian pastor youcef nadarkhani. his death sentence for converting from islam was reaffirmed last week. although he was arrested and convicted on apostasy charges, the iranian government now says he is being held for rape. nadarkhani's lawyers say that's a lie designed to blunt the worldwide criticism. >>> here in the u.s., a free-speech group filed a federal lawsuit demanding that the obama administration make public its legal justification for a drone strike in yemen last year that killed u.s.-born al qaeda cleric anwar al-awlaki. a second american al qaeda operative also died in the attack. the lawsuit argues that the public has a right to know how the us justified killing american citizens on foreign soil. under the obama administration, america's use of weaponized drones has risen dramatically. the president recently defended this, saying the u.s. drone program is kept on a "very tight leash." yet, there have been ethical questions. the drone technology may be strategic, but is it moral to use it? >> reporter: d

i concur with the resolution in calling for the exoneration and immediate re-- release of youcef nadarkhani and all other individuals held or charged on account of their religion. i yield back to the gentleman from michigan and thank him for his courtesy. mr. conyers: mr. speaker, i have no further requests for time. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. under the speaker's announced policy of january 5, 2011, the gentleman from michigan, mr. mccotter, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. mr. mccotter: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise to observe the loss of my friend, andrew, at the age of 43. in endeavoring to eulogize anyone, there is truly no more eloquent testament than their family, and to his wife suzy and their four beautiful children, our prayers, our thoughts and our acts are with you. professionally in andrew's genius that was his life's work, he tirelessly fought the good fight. and in the end, gave his all with every fiber of his soul to serve his fellow human beings and the