The letter sent to President Clinton on July 26, 2000 urged him to do everything within his power to seek Lori's immediate release. The 221 House members who have signed are listed below. If your Representative signed, please thank him or her for supporting Lori.
The letter was cosponsored by Representatives Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Jim Leach (R-IA), Connie Morella (R-MD), and Maxine Waters (D-CA).
April 2000
The Honorable William Jefferson Clinton
The President of the United States
The White House
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
We are writing to urge your support for the release of Lori Berenson, an American citizen who is being wrongfully imprisoned in Peru.
On January 11, 1996, a secret Peruvian military tribunal, in violation of international law, convicted Ms. Berenson of treason and sentenced her to life. During her incarceration in maximum security isolation - which has lasted more than four years and significantly damaged her health - she has constantly maintained her innocence.
Ms. Berenson was denied a fair public trial by an independent and impartial tribunal, as outlined in Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Peru ratified on April 28, 1978. The United Nations High Commission on Human Rights has condemned the Peruvian government for Ms. Berenson's wrongful imprisonment; Peru has continually ignored the Commission's recommendations. Additionally, Peru withdrew from its juridical obligations to the Inter-American Human Rights Court of the Organization for American States (OAS) after the body found that Peru's military tribunals had failed to provide human rights and democratic principles. It is now time for you to act.
Title 22 U.S.C. Section 1732 directs the President to take all necessary steps - short of going to war - to secure the release of an incarcerated American citizen "if it appears to be wrongful." A failure to intervene on Ms. Berenson's behalf would send the message that the United States will not act when its citizens are wrongfully imprisoned in foreign countries. We urge you to do everything in your power to seek her immediate release.
Sincerely,
Neil Abercrombie (D- HI)
Thomas H. Allen (D- ME)
Robert E. Andrews (D- NJ)
Joe Baca (D- CA)
Brian Baird (D- WA)
John E. Baldacci (D- ME)
Tammy Baldwin (D- WI)
Xavier Becerra (D- CA)
Ken Bentsen (D- TX)
Shelley Berkley (D- NV)
Howard L. Berman (D- CA)
Sanford Bishop, Jr. (D- GA)
Rod R. Blagojevich (D- IL)
Earl Blumenauer (D- OR)
Roy Blunt (R- MO)
Sherwood Boehlert (R- NY)
David E. Bonior (D- MI)
Robert A. Borksi (D- PA)
Robert A. Brady (D- PA)
Sherrod Brown (D- OH)
Allen Boyd (D- FL)
Ken Calvert (R- CA)
Tom Campbell (R- CA)
Lois Capps (D- CA)
Michael F. Capuano (D- MA)
Benjamin L. Cardin (D- MD)
Julia M. Carson (D- IN)
D.Christian-Christ'nsn (D- VI)
William L. Clay (D- MO)
Eva M. Clayton (D- NC)
James Clyburn (D- SC)
Tom Coburn (R- OK)
John Conyers (D- MI)
Jerry F. Costello (D- IL)
William J. Coyne (D- PA)
Philip M. Crane (R- IL)
Joseph Crowley (D- NY)
Elijah E. Cummings (D- MD)
Duke Cunningham (R- CA)
Pat Danner (D- MO)
Danny K. Davis (D- IL)
Thomas M. Davis (R- VA)
Peter A. DeFazio (D- OR)
Diana DeGette (D- CO)
William D. Delahunt (D- MA)
Rosa I. DeLauro (D- CT)
Peter Deutsch (D- FL)
Norman D. Dicks (D- WA)
Julian C. Dixon (D- CA)
Lloyd Doggett (D- TX)
Michael F. Doyle (D- PA)
Eliot L. Engel (D- NY)
Phil English (R- PA)
Anna G. Eshoo (D- CA)
Lane Evans (D- IL)
Eni Faleomavaega (D- AS)
Sam Farr (D- CA)
Chaka Fattah (D- PA)
Bob Filner (D- CA)
Harold E. Ford, Jr. (D- TN)
Bob Franks (R- NJ)
Martin Frost (D- TX)
Sam Gejdenson (D- CT)
Richard A. Gephardt (D- MO)
Charles A. Gonzalez (D- TX)
Jim Greenwood (R- PA)
Luis V. Gutierrez (D- IL)
Tony P. Hall (D- OH)
Ralph M. Hall (D- TX)
Alcee L. Hastings (D- FL)
Earl F. Hilliard (D- AL)
Maurice D. Hinchey (D- NY)
Ruben Hinojosa (D- TX)
Joseph Hoeffel (D- PA)
Peter Hoekstra (R- MI)
Tim Holden (D- PA)
Rush Holt (D- NJ)
Darlene Hooley (D- OR)
Stephen Horn (R- CA)
Steny H. Hoyer (D- MD)
Jay Inslee (D- WA)
Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (D- IL)
William J. Jefferson (D- LA)
Chris John (D- LA)
E. Bernice Johnson (D- TX)
Nancy L. Johnson (R- CT)
S. Tubbs Jones (D- OH)
Marcy Kaptur (D- OH)-
Sue W. Kelly (R- NY)
Patrick J. Kennedy (D- RI)
Dale E. Kildee (D- MI)
C. Cheeks Kilpatrick (D- MI)
Ron Kind (D- WI)
Peter T. King (R- NY)
Jerry Kleczka (D- WI)
Dennis J. Kucinich (D- OH)
Steven Kuykendall (R- CA)
Nick Lampson (D- TX)
Tom Lantos (D- CA)
John B. Larson (D- CT)
Tom Latham (R- IA)
Steve LaTourette (R- OH)
Rick A. Lazio (R- NY)
Jim Leach (R- IA)
Barbara Lee (D- CA)
Sheila Jackson Lee (D- TX)
Sander M. Levin (D- MI)
Jerry Lewis (R- CA)
John Lewis (D- GA)
Frank A. LoBiondo (R- NJ)
Zoe Lofgren (D- CA)
Nita M. Lowey (D- NY)
Carolyn B. Maloney (D- NY)
James H. Maloney (D- CT)
Edward J. Markey (D- MA)
Matthew G. Martinez (D- CA)
Frank Mascara (D- PA)
Robert T. Matsui (D- CA)
Carolyn McCarthy (D- NY)
Karen McCarthy (D- MO)
James P. McGovern (D- MA)
Cynthia A. McKinney (D- GA)
Michael R. McNulty (D- NY)
Martin T. Meehan (D- MA)
Carrie P. Meek (D- FL)
Gregory W. Meeks (D- NY)
Robert Menendez (D- NJ)
J.Millender-McDonald (D- CA)
George Miller (D- CA)
David Minge (D- MN)
Patsy T. Mink (D- HI)
John Joseph Moakley (D- MA)
Dennis Moore (D- KS)
James P. Moran (D- VA)
Connie A. Morella (R- MD)
John P. Murtha (D- PA)
Jerrold Nadler (D- NY)
G. Flores Napolitano (D- CA)
Richard E. Neal (D- MA)
E. Holmes Norton (D- DC)
Jim Nussle (R- IA)
James L. Oberstar (D- MN)
David R. Obey (D- WI)
John W. Olver (D- MA)
Solomon P. Ortiz (D- TX)
Major R. Owens (D- NY)
Frank Pallone (D- NJ)
Bill Pascrell (D- NJ)
Ed Pastor (D- AZ)
Donald M. Payne (D- NJ)
Nancy Pelosi (D- CA)
Collin Peterson (D- MN)
David D. Phelps (D- IL)
Chip Pickering, Jr. (R- MS)
Earl Pomeroy (D- ND)
John Edward Porter (R- IL)
David E. Price (D- NC)
Deborah Pryce (R- OH)
Jack Quinn (R- NY)
Nick J. Rahall (D- WV)
Charles B. Rangel (D- NY)
Silvestre Reyes (D- TX)
Ciro Rodriguez (D- TX)
C.A. Romero-Barcelo (D- PR)
Steven R. Rothman (D- NJ)
Lucille Roybal-Allard (D- CA)
Bobby L. Rush (D- IL)
Martin Olav Sabo (D- MN)
Loretta Sanchez (D- CA)
Bernard Sanders (I- VT)
Max Sandlin (D- TX)
Thomas C. Sawyer (D- OH)
Jim Saxton (R- NJ
Joe Scarborough (R- FL)
Janice D. Schakowsky (D- IL)
Robert C. Scott (D- VA)
Jose E. Serrano (D- NY)
Christopher Shays (R- CT)
Brad Sherman (D- CA)
Don Sherwood (R- PA)
Ronnie Shows (D- MS)
Norman Sisisky (D- VA)
Ike Skelton (D- MO)
L. McIntosh Slaughter (D- NY)
Adam Smith (D- WA)
Vic Snyder (D- AR)
John M. Spratt, Jr. (D- SC)
Debbie Stabenow (D- MI)
Fortney Pete Stark (D- CA)
Ted Strickland (D- OH)
Bart Stupak (D- MI)
John E. Sweeney (R- NY)
James M. Talent (R- MO)
John Tanner (D- TN)
Ellen O. Tauscher (D- CA)
Mike Thompson (D- CA)
Bennie G. Thompson (D- MS)
Karen L. Thurman (D- FL)
John F. Tierney (D- MA)
Edolphus Towns (D- NY)
James Traficant, Jr. (D- OH)
Jim Turner (D- TX)
Mark Udall (D- CO)
Robert A. Underwood (D- GU)
Fred Upton (R- MI)
Nydia M. Velazquez (D- NY)
Bruce F. Vento (D- MN)
Peter J. Visclosky (D- IN)
Greg Walden (R- OR)
James Walsh (R- NY)
Maxine Waters (D- CA)
Melvin L. Watt (D- NC)
Henry A. Waxman (D- CA)
Anthony D. Weiner (D- NY)
Curt Weldon (R- PA)
Robert Wexler (D- FL)
Robert A. Weygand (D- RI)
Ed Whitfield (R- KY)
Lynn C. Woolsey (D- CA)
David Wu (D- OR)
Albert Russell Wynn (D- MD)
Barney Frank (D- MA)*
* sent own letter