Securing the Release of American Citizen Josh Holt and His Wife

On Saturday, Senator Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement on the release of American citizen Josh Holt and his wife, Thamy, who had been detained unjustly in a Venezuelan prison for the last two years.

“I am pleased to join Senator Hatch and President Trump in announcing the release of Josh and Thamy Holt,” said Corker. “Senator Hatch has worked tirelessly on the Holt family’s behalf, and I was honored to play a small role in bringing Josh and his wife home to the United States. I also would like to thank Secretary Pompeo and his team at the State Department for all that they have done.”

“On a personal note, I would like to thank Caleb McCarry, an incredibly valued member of my staff, for his dogged determination. We would not have been successful without his involvement,” added Corker.

Earlier this year, at the request of Hatch, Corker began discussions with the Venezuelan government in an effort to secure the couple’s release. He met in March with Venezuelan Governor Rafael Lacava in Washington and met Friday in Caracas with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro at his request.

Corker and McCarry traveled with the Holts from Venezuela to Washington, where they later met with President Trump in the Oval Office. The president thanked Corker and McCarry for their work to secure Josh and Thamy's release.

Corker has long advocated for the release of unjustly detained Americans around the world, including in Iran, North Korea, Turkey, and Africa.

Tennessean: Sen. Bob Corker worked for months to negotiate release of U.S. citizen held in Venezuela

Honoring Our Men and Women in Uniform Who Made the Ultimate Sacrifice

Senator Corker released the following statement in honor of Memorial Day.

“One of the greatest privileges I have as a U.S. senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is the opportunity to meet with members of our military serving at home and abroad,” said Corker. “Their courage and selflessness have helped ensure America remains the greatest country on Earth, and I know all Tennesseans joined me this Memorial Day as we honored our men and women in uniform who made the ultimate sacrifice. We are forever grateful for their service.” 

Receiving the Freedom House Leadership Award

Last week, Senator Corker received Freedom House’s annual Leadership Award for his work to end modern slavery and human trafficking worldwide.

“Today we have 27 million people in the world that live in slavery on a daily basis; now that certainly is living without human rights,” said Corker as he accepted the award. “We have together led an effort to end modern slavery through the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery, which is pulling together people around the world, but also governments, to work with us in a public-private partnership to end modern slavery. We have so many disparate efforts by so many wonderful people, many of them saints, like so many of the people here in the room that have toiled so hard. And what we need to do is, just like we did with HIV through PEPFAR, we need to have an international effort to end this scourge. I played a small role in this, because I happen to be chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but there are people in this room who played a much larger role. I thank you so much for honoring their work and the work being done by people around the world by honoring me as just a symbol of what they are doing. Thank you so much.”

“Freedom House was proud to recognize Sen. Corker for his dedication to democracy and the United States’ continued engagement in the world,” said Michael J. Abramowitz, president of the organization. “He has authored significant legislation to combat human trafficking, and to promote freedom and basic rights, especially for people most in need of American help.”

In 2015, Corker proposed a bold, bipartisan initiative to end modern slavery worldwide that became law in 2016 and now operates as the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery. GFEMS is designed to leverage limited foreign aid dollars and galvanize tremendous support and investment from the public sector, philanthropic organizations and the private sector to fund projects and organizations around the world working to end modern slavery where it is most prevalent. With support from the Trump administration, the U.S. made a $25 million contribution to the fund in 2017, which was soon after matched by the United Kingdom.

Welcoming Tennesseans to Washington

Last week, Senators Corker and Alexander hosted more than 60 Tennesseans at “Tennessee Tuesday,” a regular breakfast held on Capitol Hill every week the Senate is in session for visitors from the Volunteer State. For more information, click here.

Senator Corker last week sat down with University of Tennessee students visiting the Capitol as part of the Howard Baker Center's inaugural Washington program. 

Speaking With the Chattanooga Bar Association

Senator Corker recently visited with members of the Chattanooga Bar Association during their 2018 Law Day breakfast to provide an update and answer questions about his work in Washington. The organization presented the senator with its annual Liberty Bell Award, which recognizes a non-lawyer for working to provide a greater understanding of the American legal system and helping strengthen our country's justice system. 

Ensuring Our Community Banks Can Better Serve Hardworking Americans

Last week, Senator Corker, a senior member of the Senate Banking Committee, released the following statement after the House of Representatives passed the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (S.2155), which is targeted toward helping community banks, credit unions, mid-sized banks and regional banks. The bipartisan legislation, authored by Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and cosponsored by Corker, was signed into law by President Trump shortly after House passage.

“I am glad the House has passed our legislation to help reverse some of the overwhelming and disproportionate regulatory burdens Dodd-Frank has placed on community banks and credit unions in Tennessee and across our country,” said Corker. “These reforms are long overdue and not only will help these entities better serve hardworking Americans but also will ensure small businesses have access to the credit they need. I thank my colleagues for coming together in a bipartisan effort to give regulatory relief to these institutions.”