Delaney Attends Vigil for Alan Gross, Calls for Maryland Native’s Release from Cuban Prison

For Immediate Release: December 3, 2013
Contact: Will McDonald, 202-225-2721

Delaney Attends Vigil for Alan Gross, Calls for Maryland Native’s Release from Cuban Prison

WASHINGTON – Congressman John K. Delaney (MD-6) attended a vigil for Montgomery County native Alan Gross and called for his release.  Gross, sent to Cuba as a contractor for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has been captive since 2009. The vigil, held on the fourth anniversary of Gross’s imprisonment, was organized by the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington and took place at Lafayette Park, adjacent to the White House. The vigil included elected officials and local Jewish community leaders.

“Our message today is clear: Alan, you are not forgotten and you are not alone,” said Congressman Delaney. “Alan Gross is an American who was sent by his country overseas and it is our government’s obligation to do everything we can to bring him home. Alan’s imprisonment is unjust and the hardship suffered by Alan and his family is extreme. Each day that Alan spends locked in a Cuban cell is an affront to our values of a free society. It’s time to bring Alan home.”  

Gross was sent to Cuba in 2009 as a USAID contractor to assist the Jewish community in Cuba. Following his 2009 arrest, Gross was convicted by Cuba of crimes against the state in 2011 and sentenced to 15 years. In November, 66 Senators wrote to President Obama urging the Administration to prioritize Gross’s release as “a matter of grave urgency.”

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