President Joe Biden reiterated calls for “answers” from the Syrian government regarding the decadelong imprisonment of journalist and former U.S. Marine Austin Tice.
Biden’s statement was released on the 10-year anniversary of Tice’s abduction in Damascus.
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“We have repeatedly asked the government of Syria to work with us so that we can bring Austin home. On the tenth anniversary of his abduction, I am calling on Syria to end this and help us bring him home,” the president wrote. “The Tice family deserves answers, and more importantly, they deserve to be swiftly reunited with Austin. We stand with Austin’s many loved ones, and we will not rest until we bring Austin home. Ten years is far, far too long. So is every additional day.”
Biden added that “there is no higher priority in my Administration than the recovery and return of Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad.”
“We must name them, keep them in our hearts and our minds, and make their recovery and return a priority,” he continued. “That is a pledge I have made to the American people and to Austin’s parents, and it is one that I am determined to uphold.”
The Tice family had previously pressured the Biden administration to do more to bring Tice home. His family wrote an open letter to the White House in October 2021 and called the Biden White House a “hurdle” on the road to Tice’s safe return in December of that same year.
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Meanwhile, the administration has faced growing pressure to secure the releases of WNBA star Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan, both of whom are currently imprisoned in Russia.
