U.S.
House of Representatives
COMMITTEE ON
GOVERNMENT REFORM
107th Congress, 2nd Session Washington, D.C
Should the United States do more to help U.S. citizens
held against their will in Saudi Arabia?
June 12, 2002.
Read
the heart touching testimonies of mothers and grandmothers
whose children have been illegally abducted from their custody
by Saudi nationals, while the State Department stands by
and does little to nothing to help them. Read this and cry!
Congressional
Hearing:
Should the United States do more
to help U.S. citizens held against their will in Saudi Arabia?
The State Department has provided the House Reform Committee
with a list of 46 recent cases involving as many as 92 U.S.
citizens who have been held against their will in Saudi
Arabia (Case
Summaries PDF 1,201K), with the full blessing of the
Saudi government and often in violation of U.S. law. The
basic cause of this problem is Saudi law, which prohibits
the wives or children of a Saudi man from leaving Saudi
Arabia without his written permission. The U.S. government,
however, has refrained from holding the Saudi government
responsible for these detentions and has failed to treat
the detention of innocent U.S. citizens is an affront not
merely to those detained, but also to the people of the
United States.
Developments since the June 12th Hearing
Letter to Saudi Foreign Minister (PDF 207K)
Chairman Burton sent a letter to the Saudi Foreign Minister seeking to speak to him about the Americans being held in Saudi Arabia.
Letter to President Bush (PDF 452K)
Following the Congressional hearing on June 12th, 2002 on the plight of American women and children trapped in Saudi Arabia, Committee Members signed a letter to President Bush, urging him to come to the defense of these innocent citizens.The letter asked the President to personally encourage Crown Prince Abdullah "in the strongest terms" to resolve the cases of Patricia Roush, Monica Stowers, and others.
2nd Letter to President Bush (PDF 164K)
13 Members signed another letter to President Bush requesting that he direct the State Department to withhold visas from the Saudi kidnappers and their families who wish to travel to the United States.
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