I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 10168 

To amend the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act to require the Secretary of State to provide additional 

information to Congress regarding United States nationals detained 

abroad, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 19, 2024 

Mr. HILL (for himself and Ms. STEVENS) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act to require the Secretary 

of State to provide additional information to Congress 

regarding United States nationals detained abroad, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American Detainee 

5 Transparency and Recovery Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TIMELINE FOR UNLAWFUL OR WRONGFUL DETEN2 TION DETERMINATIONS. 

3 Section 302 of the Robert Levinson Hostage Recov4 ery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 

5 1741) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(e) TIMELINE FOR UNLAWFUL OR WRONGFUL DE7 TENTION DETERMINATIONS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) CREDIBLE INFORMATION DETERMINA9 TIONS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not less frequently 

11 than every 180 days, the Assistant Secretary 

12 for the Bureau of Consular Affairs and the 

13 Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs 

14 shall review the cases where there is potential 

15 credible information that any United States na16 tional is being detained wrongfully and which 

17 has been identified through official government 

18 channels to both bureaus. 

19 ‘‘(B) REPORT OF FINDINGS.—Not later 

20 than 30 days after each review under subpara21 graph (A), the Assistant Secretary of State for 

22 Consular Affairs and the Special Presidential 

23 Envoy for Hostage Affairs shall jointly submit 

24 to Congress a classified report identifying the 

25 United States nationals identified as a result of 

26 the review in subparagraph (A) detained overVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Nov 20, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H10168.IH H10168

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1 seas who have not, as of the date of the report, 

2 been determined by the Secretary to be unlaw3 fully or wrongfully detained. 

4 ‘‘(C) NOTIFICATION TO FAMILY MEM5 BERS.—In the case of a United States national 

6 detained overseas identified in the report under 

7 subparagraph (B), the Assistant Secretary of 

8 State for Consular Affairs shall notify a family 

9 member (as that term is defined in subsection 

10 (d)(8)) or the legal representative of the United 

11 States national not later than 30 days after the 

12 transmittal of the report required by subpara13 graph (B). 

14 ‘‘(2) STATUS DETERMINATIONS.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

16 subparagraph (B) and to the extent practicable, 

17 not later than 180 days after the date on which 

18 the Secretary of State receives an assessment 

19 from the Special Presidential Envoy for Hos20 tage Affairs or the head of any other relevant 

21 bureau of the Department of State that credible 

22 information exists that a United States national 

23 is being detained unlawfully or wrongfully, the 

24 Secretary shall determine whether the United 


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1 States national is in fact being unlawfully or 

2 wrongfully detained. 

3 ‘‘(B) WAIVER.— 

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

5 may waive the requirement under subpara6 graph (A) to make an unlawful or wrong7 ful detention determination if the Sec8 retary— 

9 ‘‘(I) determines that making such 

10 a determination may jeopardize the 

11 safety or interests of the United 

12 States national being detained abroad 

13 or the national security interests of 

14 the United States; and 

15 ‘‘(II) submits to Congress a clas16 sified report describing the reasons 

17 for the waiver. 

18 ‘‘(ii) TIMING.—A waiver under clause 

19 (i) shall expire on the date that is 180 

20 days after the date on which the Secretary 

21 submits the report on the waiver to Con22 gress pursuant to clause (i)(II). 

23 ‘‘(iii) RENEWAL.—The Secretary may 

24 renew a waiver granted pursuant to clause 


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1 (i) in the manner provided under such 

2 clause.’’. 

Æ 


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