II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 509 

To provide resources for United States nationals unlawfully or wrongfully 

detained abroad, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 16, 2023 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. RISCH, Mrs. SHAHEEN, and Mr. HAGERTY) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To provide resources for United States nationals unlawfully 

or wrongfully 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 ‘‘Supporting Americans 

5 Wrongfully or Unlawfully Detained Abroad Act of 2023’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 509 IS

1 SEC. 2. RESOURCES FOR UNITED STATES NATIONALS UN2 LAWFULLY OR WRONGFULLY DETAINED 

3 ABROAD. 

4 Section 302(d) of the Robert Levinson Hostage Re5 covery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 

6 1741(d)) is amended— 

7 (1) in the subsection heading, by striking ‘‘RE8 SOURCE GUIDANCE’’ and inserting ‘‘RESOURCES

9 FOR UNITED STATES NATIONALS UNLAWFULLY OR

10 WRONGFULLY DETAINED ABROAD’’; 

11 (2) in paragraph (1), by striking the paragraph 

12 heading and all that follows through ‘‘Not later 

13 than’’ and inserting the following: 

14 ‘‘(1) RESOURCE GUIDANCE.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than’’; 

16 (3) in paragraph (2), by redesignating subpara17 graphs (A), (B), (C), (D), and (E) and clauses (i), 

18 (ii), (iii), (iv), and (v), respectively, and moving such 

19 clauses (as so redesignated) 2 ems to the right; 

20 (4) by redesignating paragraph (2) as subpara21 graph (B) and moving such subparagraph (as so re22 designated) 2 ems to the right; 

23 (5) in subparagraph (B), as redesignated by 

24 paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘paragraph (1)’’ and in25 serting ‘‘subparagraph (A)’’; and 

26 (6) by adding at the end the following: 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 509 IS

1 ‘‘(2) TRAVEL ASSISTANCE.— 

2 ‘‘(A) FAMILY ADVOCACY.—For the purpose 

3 of facilitating meetings between the United 

4 States Government and the family members of 

5 United States nationals unlawfully or wrong6 fully detained abroad, the Secretary shall pro7 vide financial assistance to cover the costs of 

8 travel to Washington, DC, including travel by 

9 air, train, bus, or other transit as appropriate, 

10 to any individual who— 

11 ‘‘(i) is— 

12 ‘‘(I) a family member of a United 

13 States national unlawfully or wrong14 fully detained abroad as determined 

15 by the Secretary under subsection (a); 

16 or 

17 ‘‘(II) an appropriate individual 

18 who— 

19 ‘‘(aa) is approved by the 

20 Special Presidential Envoy for 

21 Hostage Affairs; and 

22 ‘‘(bb) does not represent in 

23 any legal capacity a United 

24 States national unlawfully or 

25 wrongfully detained abroad or 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 509 IS

1 the family of such United States 

2 national; 

3 ‘‘(ii) has a permanent address that is 

4 more than 50 miles from Washington, DC; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(iii) requests such assistance. 

7 ‘‘(B) TRAVEL AND LODGING.— 

8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For each such 

9 United States national unlawfully or 

10 wrongfully detained abroad, the financial 

11 assistance described in subparagraph (A) 

12 shall be provided for not more than 2 trips 

13 per fiscal year, unless the Special Presi14 dential Envoy for Hostage Affairs deter15 mines that a third trip is warranted. 

16 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATIONS.—Any trip de17 scribed in clause (i) shall— 

18 ‘‘(I) consist of not more than 2 

19 family members or other individuals 

20 approved in accordance with subpara21 graph (A)(i)(II), unless the Special 

22 Presidential Envoy for Hostage Af23 fairs determines that circumstances 

24 warrant an additional family member 

25 or other individual approved in acVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:59 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S509.IS S509

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 509 IS

1 cordance with subparagraph (A)(i)(II) 

2 and approves assistance to such third 

3 family member or other individual; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(II) not exceed more than 2 

6 nights lodging, which shall not exceed 

7 the applicable government rate. 

8 ‘‘(C) RETURN TRAVEL.—If other United 

9 States Government assistance is unavailable, 

10 the Secretary may provide to a United States 

11 national unlawfully or wrongfully detained 

12 abroad as determined by the Secretary under 

13 subsection (a), compensation and assistance, as 

14 necessary, for return travel to the United 

15 States upon release of such United States na16 tional. 

17 ‘‘(3) SUPPORT.—The Secretary shall seek to 

18 make available operational psychologists and clinical 

19 social workers, to support the mental health and 

20 well-being of— 

21 ‘‘(A) any United States national unlawfully 

22 or wrongfully detained abroad; and 

23 ‘‘(B) any family member of such United 

24 States national, with regard to the psychoVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:59 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S509.IS S509

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 509 IS

1 logical, social, and mental health effects of such 

2 unlawful or wrongful detention. 

3 ‘‘(4) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—The Sec4 retary shall notify the Committee on Foreign Rela5 tions of the Senate, the Committee on Foreign Af6 fairs of the House of Representatives, and the Com7 mittees on Appropriations of the Senate and the 

8 House of Representatives of any amount spent above 

9 $250,000 for any fiscal year to carry out paragraphs 

10 (2) and (3). 

11 ‘‘(5) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after 

12 the end of each fiscal year, the Secretary shall sub13 mit to the Committees on Foreign Relations and Ap14 propriations of the Senate and the Committee on 

15 Foreign Affairs and Appropriations of the House of 

16 Representatives a report that includes— 

17 ‘‘(A) a detailed description of expenditures 

18 made pursuant to paragraphs (2) and (3); 

19 ‘‘(B) a detailed description of support pro20 vided pursuant to paragraph (3) and the indi21 viduals providing such support; and 

22 ‘‘(C) the number and location of visits out23 side of Washington, DC, during the prior fiscal 

24 year made by the Special Presidential Envoy 

25 for Hostage Affairs to family members of each 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 509 IS

1 United States national unlawfully or wrongfully 

2 detained abroad. 

3 ‘‘(6) SUNSET.—The authority and requirements 

4 under paragraphs (2), (3), (4), and (5) shall termi5 nate on December 31, 2027. 

6 ‘‘(7) FAMILY MEMBER DEFINED.—In this sub7 section, the term ‘family member’ means a spouse, 

8 father, mother, child, brother, sister, grandparent, 

9 grandchild, aunt, uncle, nephew, niece, cousin, fa10 ther-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in11 law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, stepfather, step12 mother, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother, step13 sister, half brother, or half sister.’’. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS