We asked Sen. Risch about COVID, the USPS, 2 eastern Idahoans detained in China and more

IDAHO FALLS — Senator Jim Risch (R) spent Thursday in eastern Idaho and agreed to meet with EastIdahoNews.com to discuss a variety of issues.

We asked Risch about two eastern Idahoans who have been imprisoned in China for nearly a year, the latest on a proposed COVID-19 stimulus bill, the upcoming election and his thoughts on the United States Postal Service.

Here is a lightly edited transcript of our interview. You can watch the entire conversation in the video player above.

NATE EATON, EASTIDAHONEWS.COM REPORTER:I’d like to ask you about the two workers from China Horizons in Rexburg who were arrested last September in China. I know you probably can’t tell us everything happening behind the scenes, but what can you tell us?

SENATOR JIM RISCH: The first thing I can tell you is we have a State Department that’s very, very good. There are thousands of people that work for the State Department and they deal with problems that American citizens have in a different country.

There are 200 countries in the world. Every one of them has different laws and customs and that sort of thing. It is not uncommon that Americans have a problem with a foreign government. That’s what’s happened here.

These people have been detained for things they would not be detained for in the United States. I can tell you this. I have a staff that deals directly with the agency in the State Department that is dealing with this particular case. They regularly see the people and check on their wellbeing. We are doing everything we can behind the scenes to move this to a better place than where it is.

We have been pretty successful on ones that are similar to this but in the meantime, it is just a horrible catastrophe for the family as they sit and worry about their loved ones that are in prison in a different country.

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