Us Congress 2023-2024 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB6669 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	118THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 6669
5	5	To provide resources for United States nationals unlawfully or wrongfully
6	6	detained abroad.
7	7	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
8	8	DECEMBER7, 2023
9	9	Mr. H
10	10	ILL(for himself and Ms. STEVENS) introduced the following bill; which
11	11	was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
12	12	A BILL
13	13	To provide resources for United States nationals unlawfully
14	14	or wrongfully detained abroad.
15	15	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
16	16	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
17	17	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
18	18	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Supporting Americans 4
19	19	Wrongfully or Unlawfully Detained Abroad Act’’. 5
20	20	VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:27 Dec 27, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6669.IH H6669 2
21	21	•HR 6669 IH
22	22	SEC. 2. RESOURCES FOR UNITED STATES NATIONALS UN-1
23	23	LAWFULLY OR WRONGFULLY DETAINED 2
24	24	ABROAD. 3
25	25	Section 302(d) of the Robert Levinson Hostage Re-4
26	26	covery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 5
27	27	1741(d)) is amended— 6
28	28	(1) in the subsection heading, by striking ‘‘R
29	29	E-7
30	30	SOURCEGUIDANCE’’ and inserting ‘‘RESOURCES 8
31	31	FORUNITEDSTATESNATIONALSUNLAWFULLY OR 9
32	32	W
33	33	RONGFULLYDETAINEDABROAD’’; 10
34	34	(2) in paragraph (1), by striking the paragraph 11
35	35	heading and all that follows through ‘‘Not later 12
36	36	than’’ and inserting the following: 13
37	37	‘‘(1) R
38	38	ESOURCE GUIDANCE.— 14
39	39	‘‘(A) I
40	40	N GENERAL.—Not later than’’; 15
41	41	(3) in paragraph (2), by redesignating subpara-16
42	42	graphs (A), (B), (C), (D), and (E) and clauses (i), 17
43	43	(ii), (iii), (iv), and (v), respectively, and moving such 18
44	44	clauses (as so redesignated) 2 ems to the right; 19
45	45	(4) by redesignating paragraph (2) as subpara-20
46	46	graph (B) and moving such subparagraph (as so re-21
47	47	designated) 2 ems to the right; 22
48	48	(5) in subparagraph (B), as redesignated by 23
49	49	paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘paragraph (1)’’ and in-24
50	50	serting ‘‘subparagraph (A)’’; and 25
51	51	(6) by adding at the end the following: 26
52	52	VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:27 Dec 27, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6669.IH H6669 3
53	53	•HR 6669 IH
54	54	‘‘(2) TRAVEL ASSISTANCE.— 1
55	55	‘‘(A) F
56	56	AMILY ADVOCACY.—For the purpose 2
57	57	of facilitating meetings between the United 3
58	58	States Government and the family members of 4
59	59	United States nationals unlawfully or wrong-5
60	60	fully detained abroad, the Secretary shall pro-6
61	61	vide financial assistance to cover the costs of 7
62	62	travel to and from Washington, DC, including 8
63	63	travel by air, train, bus, or other transit as ap-9
64	64	propriate, to any individual who— 10
65	65	‘‘(i) is— 11
66	66	‘‘(I) a family member of a United 12
67	67	States national unlawfully or wrong-13
68	68	fully detained abroad as determined 14
69	69	by the Secretary under subsection (a); 15
70	70	or 16
71	71	‘‘(II) an appropriate individual 17
72	72	who— 18
73	73	‘‘(aa) is approved by the 19
74	74	Special Presidential Envoy for 20
75	75	Hostage Affairs; and 21
76	76	‘‘(bb) does not represent in 22
77	77	any legal capacity a United 23
78	78	States national unlawfully or 24
79	79	wrongfully detained abroad or 25
80	80	VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:27 Dec 27, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6669.IH H6669 4
81	81	•HR 6669 IH
82	82	the family of such United States 1
83	83	national; 2
84	84	‘‘(ii) has a permanent address that is 3
85	85	more than 50 miles from Washington, DC; 4
86	86	and 5
87	87	‘‘(iii) requests such assistance. 6
88	88	‘‘(B) T
89	89	RAVEL AND LODGING.— 7
90	90	‘‘(i) I
91	91	N GENERAL.—For each such 8
92	92	United States national unlawfully or 9
93	93	wrongfully detained abroad, the financial 10
94	94	assistance described in subparagraph (A) 11
95	95	shall be provided for not more than 2 trips 12
96	96	per fiscal year, unless the Special Presi-13
97	97	dential Envoy for Hostage Affairs deter-14
98	98	mines that a third trip is warranted. 15
99	99	‘‘(ii) L
100	100	IMITATIONS.—Any trip de-16
101	101	scribed in clause (i) shall— 17
102	102	‘‘(I) consist of not more than 2 18
103	103	family members or other individuals 19
104	104	approved in accordance with subpara-20
105	105	graph (A)(i)(II), unless the Special 21
106	106	Presidential Envoy for Hostage Af-22
107	107	fairs determines that circumstances 23
108	108	warrant an additional family member 24
109	109	or other individual approved in ac-25
110	110	VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:27 Dec 27, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6669.IH H6669 5
111	111	•HR 6669 IH
112	112	cordance with subparagraph (A)(i)(II) 1
113	113	and approves assistance to such third 2
114	114	family member or other individual; 3
115	115	and 4
116	116	‘‘(II) not exceed more than 2 5
117	117	nights lodging, which shall not exceed 6
118	118	the applicable government rate. 7
119	119	‘‘(C) R
120	120	ETURN TRAVEL.—If other United 8
121	121	States Government assistance is unavailable, 9
122	122	the Secretary may provide to a United States 10
123	123	national unlawfully or wrongfully detained 11
124	124	abroad as determined by the Secretary under 12
125	125	subsection (a), United States assistance, as nec-13
126	126	essary, for return travel to the United States 14
127	127	upon release of such United States national. 15
128	128	‘‘(3) S
129	129	UPPORT.— 16
130	130	‘‘(A) I
131	131	N GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 17
132	132	seek to make available physical health services, 18
133	133	mental health services, and other support as ap-19
134	134	propriate, including providing information on 20
135	135	available legal or financial resources, to— 21
136	136	‘‘(i) any United States national un-22
137	137	lawfully or wrongfully detained abroad; 23
138	138	and 24
139	139	VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:27 Dec 27, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6669.IH H6669 6
140	140	•HR 6669 IH
141	141	‘‘(ii) any family member of such 1
142	142	United States national. 2
143	143	‘‘(B) L
144	144	IMITATIONS.— 3
145	145	‘‘(i) I
146	146	N GENERAL.—For any support 4
147	147	described in subparagraph (A) for an indi-5
148	148	vidual described in clause (i) or (ii) of such 6
149	149	subparagraph that commences following 7
150	150	the return of a United States national who 8
151	151	was unlawfully or wrongfully detained 9
152	152	abroad, such support shall be made avail-10
153	153	able for up to 5 years from the date on 11
154	154	which any individual identified in subpara-12
155	155	graph (A) chooses to avail themselves of 13
156	156	the support described in that subpara-14
157	157	graph, unless the Special Presidential 15
158	158	Envoy for Hostage Affairs determines that 16
159	159	circumstances warrant extending such sup-17
160	160	port. 18
161	161	‘‘(ii) E
162	162	XCEPTION.—The time limita-19
163	163	tion under clause (i) does not apply to any 20
164	164	support provided during the pendency of 21
165	165	the detention of a United States national 22
166	166	unlawfully or wrongfully detained abroad. 23
167	167	‘‘(4) N
168	168	OTIFICATION REQUIREMENT .—The Sec-24
169	169	retary shall notify the Committee on Foreign Rela-25
170	170	VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:27 Dec 27, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6669.IH H6669 7
171	171	•HR 6669 IH
172	172	tions of the Senate, the Committee on Foreign Af-1
173	173	fairs of the House of Representatives, and the Com-2
174	174	mittees on Appropriations of the Senate and the 3
175	175	House of Representatives of any amount spent above 4
176	176	$250,000 for any fiscal year to carry out paragraphs 5
177	177	(2) and (3). 6
178	178	‘‘(5) F
179	179	UNDING.—Funds authorized to be appro-7
180	180	priated for the Department of State, which may in-8
181	181	clude funds made available for unforeseen emer-9
182	182	gencies arising in the diplomatic and consular serv-10
183	183	ice, may be used to provide the support authorized 11
184	184	by this section. 12
185	185	‘‘(6) R
186	186	EPORT.—Not later than 90 days after 13
187	187	the end of each fiscal year, the Secretary shall sub-14
188	188	mit to the Committees on Foreign Relations and Ap-15
189	189	propriations of the Senate and the Committee on 16
190	190	Foreign Affairs and Appropriations of the House of 17
191	191	Representatives a report that includes— 18
192	192	‘‘(A) a detailed description of expenditures 19
193	193	made pursuant to paragraphs (2) and (3); 20
194	194	‘‘(B) a detailed description of types of sup-21
195	195	port provided pursuant to paragraph (3), pro-22
196	196	vided that such description does not identify 23
197	197	any individuals receiving any physical or mental 24
198	198	VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:27 Dec 27, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6669.IH H6669 8
199	199	•HR 6669 IH
200	200	health support, in order to protect their privacy; 1
201	201	and 2
202	202	‘‘(C) the number and location of visits out-3
203	203	side of Washington, DC, during the prior fiscal 4
204	204	year made by the Special Presidential Envoy 5
205	205	for Hostage Affairs to family members of each 6
206	206	United States national unlawfully or wrongfully 7
207	207	detained abroad. 8
208	208	‘‘(7) S
209	209	UNSET.—The authority and requirements 9
210	210	under paragraphs (2), (3), (4), and (5) shall termi-10
211	211	nate on December 31, 2027. 11
212	212	‘‘(8) F
213	213	AMILY MEMBER DEFINED .—In this sub-12
214	214	section, the term ‘family member’ means a spouse, 13
215	215	father, mother, child, brother, sister, grandparent, 14
216	216	grandchild, aunt, uncle, nephew, niece, cousin, fa-15
217	217	ther-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in- 16
218	218	law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, stepfather, step-17
219	219	mother, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother, step-18
220	220	sister, half brother, or half sister.’’. 19
221	221	Æ
222	222	VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:27 Dec 27, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6669.IH H6669