; Whereas Secretary of State John Kerry stated on August 28, 2013, The United States respectfully asks the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to work cooperatively with us in our efforts to help U.S. citizen Robert Levinson. ; Whereas, on September 28, 2013, during the first direct phone conversation between the heads of governments of the United States and Iran since 1979, President Barack Obama raised the case of Robert Levinson to President of Iran Hassan Rouhani and urged the President of Iran to help locate Mr. Levinson and reunite him with his family; Whereas, on August 29, 2014, Secretary of State Kerry again stated that the United States respectfully request[s] the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran work cooperatively with us to find Mr. Levinson and bring him home ; Whereas, on January 16, 2016, the Government of Iran released five United States citizens detained in Iran; Whereas, on January 17, 2016, President Obama stated that even as we rejoice in the safe return of others, we will never forget about Bob, referring to Robert Levinson, and that each and every day but especially today our hearts are with the Levinson family and we will never rest until their family is whole again ; Whereas, on January 19, 2016, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest stated that the United States Government had secured a commitment from the Iranians to use the channel that has now been opened to secure the release of those individuals that we know were being held by Iran … to try and gather information about Mr. Levinson's possible whereabouts ; Whereas the Government of Iran’s most recent commitment to assist in and the diplomatic channel dedicated to locating and returning Bob Levinson have not yielded any meaningful results; Whereas, on November 23, 2016, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) issued Opinion No. 50/2016, concerning Robert Levinson in which the UNWGAD found Iran responsible for the arbitrary detention of Mr. Levinson