POSTPONED: NPC Headliners Newsmaker: Reps. Green (D-TX), McCaul (R-TX) to Call on Administration to Free Austin Tice

Congressman Green represents the Houston District where the family of Award-wining journalist and Marine veteran Austin Tice lives. Congressman McCaul is the ranking member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.  

Tice has been held in Syria for nearly nine years. He was working as a freelance journalist for McClatchy and The Washington Post at the time he was abducted. No U.S. journalist has been held overseas longer than Tice.

Last fall, meetings occurred between the Trump administration and Syrian officials in Damascus -- despite the lack of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The Syrians, according to news reports, raised the broad issues of: reducing or withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria; access to Syrian oil fields currently being held by the U.S.; lifting of some sanctions against Syria; and reestablishment of a U.S. Embassy in Syria. It is unclear how the U.S. responded to these opening suggestions, but US Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens – originally a Trump appointee and one of the officials who took the fall trip to Syria --has been held over by the Biden Administration.

The Syrian government has consistently declined to publicly confirm they are holding Tice.

While there is often a pause in diplomatic initiatives between Administrations, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has been outspoken in his calls for Tice’s safe return including most recently on World Press Freedom Day (May 3). President Biden has yet to mention Tice’s name as President. Trump first said Tice’s name publicly in March 2020 at an event in the White House Briefing Room. One of the first steps in obtaining freedom for journalists being held hostage in the past has been for the President to speak the name of the hostage and call publicly for their release.  

The National Press Club has led several campaigns to call attention to the case of Austin Tice. In 2015 the Club named Tice one of its honorees for the John Aubuchon Award For Press Freedom. In 2018 the Club held a news conference with then Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Robert O’Brien in which the US government said publicly for the first time of Tice, “we have every reason to believe he is alive.” In 2019 the Club led an ambitious project -- Night Out For

Austin Tice where 80 restaurants in 16 states used the same evening to host discussions of Tice’s case and raise money to supplement the $1 million reward offered by the FBI for information leading to Tice’s safe return.  In 2020 the Club created a Freedom Clock to display the time Tice is being held in a dynamic countdown. The Clock is in the lobby of the Club. Recently, NPC President Lisa Matthews interviewed Tice’s 11-year-old niece about her passion for her uncle’s freedom.

Green and McCaul have been steadfast advocates for Tice, speaking out for him on the floor of the House on several occasions and helping to lead Dear Colleague letters circulated at the House. They are passionate and effective speakers on behalf of their fellow Texan. They will give remarks on the current situation and call on the Administration to bring Tice home and will take questions from the press.

National Press Club Headliner events are open to credentialed journalists, members of the National Press Club and their guests. Those wishing to attend this in-person event should register online. Attendees will be expected to have a vaccination card on their phone or recent negative COVID test to enter the Club.

The National Press Club is the world’s leading professional organization for journalists ™.The Club has more than 2,900 members worldwide representing nearly every major news organization and is a tireless advocate for press freedom.