John Jefferson
American taxpayer dollars would no longer be able to fund aid to Afghanistan until “wrongfully detained” U.S. citizens are released under new legislation drafted in the House.
The No Funding Without Freedom Act would also require the State Department to offer regular updates regarding unlawfully detained American citizens there.
Rep. Dan Meuser, a Pennsylvania Republican whose constituent Ryan Corbett is among those detained in the Taliban-controlled country, said the bill will cut off the billions transferred to Kabul since the “disastrous” 2021 withdrawal.
Corbett, a native of Meuser’s district, worked with “Bloom Afghanistan,” a humanitarian organization. He was detained in August 2022 and is reportedly in declining health.
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Corbett has had limited familial contact and res in a heavily sheltered environment.
A second detainee, George Glezmann of Atlanta, Georgia, was detained in 2022 during a five-day cultural trip to the country.
The father and husband res in captivity, which has included solitary confinement, and is reportedly suffering from hemangioma — a blood vessel condition — malnutrition and hypertension.
The bill added that the secretary of state would make the ultimate determination whether an American detained in Afghanistan is in such a position wrongfully.
Meuser said the U.S. res the largest humanitarian donor to Afghanistan, providing more than $2.6 billion since President Joe Biden withdrew the U.S. military from the country.
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“Last month marked three years since the Biden-Harris administration’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, which allowed the Taliban to seize control of the country. And despite the Taliban’s wrongful imprisonment of Americans like Ryan Corbett and George Glezmann, this administration has continued to provide billions of dollars in humanitarian aid to the terror group,” Meuser said.
“We must leverage all options, including withholding financial aid, to secure the release of Ryan and George.”
Meuser’s bill later gained a handful of sponsors, including Reps. Bill Posey, R-Fla., Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., French Hill, R-Ark., and Greg Lopez, R-Colo.
Corbett was accused of “anti-state activities,” and there are no official charges against him, Corbett’s wife Anna told “Fox & Friends” in a January interview.
“I received a picture when the Qataris visited a second time. And he has lost so much weight. He has aged like 15 years. We received the picture, and it was so traumatic to see him.”
Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., added at the time that the State Department has been “tremendously helpful” in working with Qatar to allow access to Ryan Corbett.
“[Anna] has only had 22 minutes’ time in this period of over 16 months to actually have communication with him. We are just asking, pleading everyone… to get him out, and back.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.
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