Kelly, Pennsylvania delegation urge Rubio to bring Marc Fogel home
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- On Thursday, January 23, U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) joined U.S. Senators Dave McCormick (R-PA) and John Fetterman (D-PA) to lead a bipartisan, bicameral letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging him to use all the tools at his disposal to bring home Pennsylvania school teacher and Butler County native Marc Fogel, who has been wrongfully detained by the Russian government for nearly four years.
Kelly is among 11 members of the Pennsylvania House Delegation -- Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-1), Brendan Boyle (D-PA-2), Madeleine Dean (D-PA-4), Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA-6), Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA-7), Rob Bresnahan (R-PA-8), Dan Meuser (R-PA-9), Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA-14), Glenn Thompson (R-PA-15), & Chris Deluzio (D-PA-17) -- who signed onto the letter in the strongest display of bipartisanship the delegation has put forth this Congress.
You can read the letter here.
"For years, I have met with the Fogel family and advocated for Marc's safe and swift return to the United States," Representative Kelly said. "The Russian government has targeted Americans, including Marc, and used them as political pawns. I look forward to working with President Trump and Secretary Rubio to reunite Marc with his family in Western Pennsylvania. The Fogel family, especially his 95-year-old mother, deserves to see Marc again."
“As I told Marc’s Mom, Mafa, when we spoke in August, we must do everything possible to get Marc home,” Senator McCormick said. “I’m proud to stand with my Pennsylvania colleagues in solidarity of Marc and his family, with the strongest desire to secure his release. The Russian government has used Marc as a political pawn for too long, and we look forward to working with President Trump and Secretary Rubio to finally bring Marc home.”
"Marc Fogel is a good man who made a mistake, and now he's facing an inhumane sentence in a notoriously brutal Russian prison. Over the past two years, I’ve fought relentlessly to bring Marc home and I’m not stopping until we get it done,” said Senator Fetterman. “This letter is proof that Pennsylvanians, regardless of party, are united in bringing Marc home. I’m proud to stand with my new colleague, Senator McCormick, in calling on Secretary Rubio to take bold, decisive action to make that happen.”
BACKGROUND
In August 2021, Marc Fogel was detained by Russian authorities at Sheremetyevo Airport for carrying about half an ounce of medical marijuana in his luggage, which he was prescribed in the United States to treat chronic back pain. Marc and his wife, Jane, were returning to Moscow to teach at the Anglo-American School-Moscow. They had both worked there since 2012. In June 2022, the Russian court system sentenced Marc to 14 years behind bars. More than three harrowing years later, Marc remains expelled to a high-security penal colony, separated from his family, without a clear path home. Moscow has rejected the U.S. Department of State’s repeated requests for Marc’s release on humanitarian grounds, and his health is deteriorating badly.