I
118THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 1522
To amend title 36, United States Code, to request the President to issue
an annual proclamation designating Hostage and Wrongful Detainee
Day, to designate the Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Flag as an official
symbol to recognize citizens of the United States held as hostages or
wrongfully detained abroad, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH9, 2023
Ms. S
TEVENS(for herself and Mr. HILL) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, and in
addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To amend title 36, United States Code, to request the Presi-
dent to issue an annual proclamation designating Hos-
tage and Wrongful Detainee Day, to designate the Hos-
tage and Wrongful Detainee Flag as an official symbol
to recognize citizens of the United States held as hos-
tages or wrongfully detained abroad, and for other pur-
poses.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
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•HR 1522 IH
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hostage and Wrongful 2
Detainee Day Act of 2023’’. 3
SEC. 2. DESIGNATION. 4
(a) H
OSTAGE ANDWRONGFULDETAINEEDAY.— 5
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Chapter 1 of title 36, United 6
States Code, is amended— 7
(A) by redesignating the second section 8
146 (relating to Choose Respect Day) as section 9
147; and 10
(B) by adding at the end the following: 11
‘‘§ 148. Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Day 12
‘‘The President is requested to issue each year a 13
proclamation— 14
‘‘(1) designating a day as Hostage and Wrong-15
ful Detainee Day; and 16
‘‘(2) calling on the people of the United States 17
to observe Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Day with 18
appropriate ceremonies and activities.’’. 19
(2) T
ECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND -20
MENT.—The table of sections for chapter 1 of title 21
36, United States Code, is amended by striking the 22
item relating to the second section 146 and inserting 23
the following: 24
‘‘147. Choose Respect Day.
‘‘148. Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Day.’’.
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•HR 1522 IH
(b) HOSTAGE ANDWRONGFULDETAINEEFLAG.— 1
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Chapter 9 of title 36, United 2
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 3
following: 4
‘‘§ 904. Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Flag 5
‘‘(a) D
ESIGNATION.—The Hostage and Wrongful De-6
tainee Flag championed by the Bring Our Families Home 7
Campaign is designated as the symbol of the commitment 8
of the United States to recognizing citizens of the United 9
States held as hostages or wrongfully detained abroad. 10
‘‘(b) R
EQUIREDDISPLAY.— 11
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—The Hostage and Wrongful 12
Detainee Flag shall be displayed at the locations 13
specified in paragraph (2) on the days specified in 14
paragraph (3). 15
‘‘(2) L
OCATIONS SPECIFIED .—The locations 16
specified in this paragraph are the following: 17
‘‘(A) The Capitol. 18
‘‘(B) The White House. 19
‘‘(C) The buildings containing the official 20
office of— 21
‘‘(i) the Secretary of State; and 22
‘‘(ii) the Secretary of Defense. 23
‘‘(3) D
AYS SPECIFIED.—The days specified in 24
this paragraph are the following: 25
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•HR 1522 IH
‘‘(A) Flag Day, June 14. 1
‘‘(B) Independence Day, July 4. 2
‘‘(C) Any other day on which a citizen or 3
lawful permanent resident of the United 4
States— 5
‘‘(i) returns to the United States from 6
being held hostage or wrongfully detained 7
abroad; or 8
‘‘(ii) dies while being held hostage or 9
wrongfully detained abroad. 10
‘‘(4) D
ISPLAY TO BE IN A MANNER VISIBLE TO 11
THE PUBLIC.—Display of the Hostage and Wrongful 12
Detainee Flag pursuant to this section shall be in a 13
manner designed to ensure visibility to the public. 14
‘‘(5) L
IMITATION.—This section may not be 15
construed or applied so as to require any employee 16
to report to work solely for the purpose of providing 17
for the display of the Hostage and Wrongful De-18
tainee Flag.’’. 19
(2) T
ECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND -20
MENT.—The table of sections for chapter 9 of title 21
36, United States Code, is amended by adding at 22
the end the following: 23
‘‘904. Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Flag.’’.
Æ
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