WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 11, 2024)- Today, the Senate passed my resolution reaffirming America’s commitment to freeing Ryan Corbett. For 609 days, Ryan has been confined to a nine-by-nine basement cell by the Taliban in Afghanistan.
It’s time for the Biden Administration to raise the stakes for enemies who wrongfully detain American citizens. It’s time to bring Ryan home.
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McConnell and Schumer Introduce Resolution Calling for Release of Ryan Corbett
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Monday, April 8, 2024) – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) introduced a Senate Resolution calling for the Taliban’s immediate release of American citizen, Ryan Corbett.
On August 10, 2022, the Taliban detained Ryan Corbett without charge in Afghanistan. For nearly two years, he has been imprisoned in a basement cell in Kabul, Afghanistan, with limited access to food, sunlight, and the outside world, receiving fewer than two in-person visits with personnel from Qatar, the U.S. protecting power in Afghanistan. Ryan’s wife, Anna, and their three children have spoken with Ryan only on exceptionally rare occasions.
For over a decade prior to the fall of Kabul, Ryan and his family lived in Afghanistan, where they served the community and ran a business focused on providing Afghans with the education and training to start their own businesses. As the Taliban returned to power, the Corbett family was forced to flee. After returning to Kabul to pay his workers and keep his business afloat, Ryan was wrongfully detained by the Taliban and has been held captive ever since.
“Today, Leader Schumer and I introduced a resolution calling for the immediate release of Ryan Corbett, an American citizen, husband, and father of three who was wrongfully detained by the Taliban nearly two years ago. Our resolution reaffirms America’s commitment to freeing Ryan and raises the international stakes of the Taliban’s wrongful imprisonment of American citizens,” said Senator McConnell. “Earlier this afternoon, I had a chance to meet with Ryan’s wife, Anna, their three children, and his parents, Drue and Evelyn, from Louisville. Now more than ever, they fear for Ryan’s life. As long as Ryan sits in captivity, I will continue to call on the Biden Administration to do more to bring him home. It’s time to put the Taliban’s violent rule on notice and show our enemies that the United States will not let American citizens be used as bargaining chips.”
“Ryan has been trapped in a basement cell, without charge, for more than 600 days, told over and over that his country has forgotten him. Today's resolution is proof that Ryan is not forgotten and that the chorus of those speaking out on his behalf is growing. My children and I are so grateful for Senator McConnell's support to our family and his partnership in working to bring Ryan home before it's too late,” said Anna Corbett.
“As a father, there is nothing worse than seeing your child suffer. And Ryan has been suffering for far too long -- often alone, his health slipping away. For our family, it's agony. But in this darkness, I'm grateful to Senator McConnell for the care he has shown my family and for his leadership in working to bring Ryan home as soon as possible,” said Drue Corbett.
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