II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5340 

To provide the United States Government with additional tools to deter 

state and non-state actors from wrongfully detaining United States nationals for political leverage, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 18, 2024 

Mr. COONS (for himself and Mr. RISCH) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To provide the United States Government with additional 

tools to deter state and non-state actors from wrongfully 

detaining United States nationals for political leverage, 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Countering Wrongful Detention Act of 2024’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 


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TITLE I—DETERRING AND PREVENTING UNLAWFUL OR 

WRONGFUL DETENTION 

Sec. 101. Designation of a foreign country as a State Sponsor of Unlawful or 

Wrongful Detention. 

Sec. 102. Options and strategies for reducing likelihood of United States nationals being unlawfully or wrongfully detained or taken hostage. 

Sec. 103. Additional funding for sanctions implementation. 

Sec. 104. Enhancing United States travel advisories. 

Sec. 105. Required certification regarding international travel advisories. 

Sec. 106. Privacy Act written consent and passport renewals. 

TITLE II—STRENGTHENING PROCESSES AND SERVICES FOR 

HOSTAGES AND UNLAWFUL OR WRONGFUL DETAINEES 

Sec. 201. Timeline for unlawful or wrongful detention determinations. 

Sec. 202. Declarations of invalidity. 

Sec. 203. Advisory Council on Hostage Taking and Unlawful or Wrongful Detention. 

Sec. 204. Chairmanship of the Hostage Response Group. 

1 TITLE I—DETERRING AND PRE2 VENTING UNLAWFUL OR 

3 WRONGFUL DETENTION 

4 SEC. 101. DESIGNATION OF A FOREIGN COUNTRY AS A 

5 STATE SPONSOR OF UNLAWFUL OR WRONG6 FUL DETENTION. 

7 The Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage8 Taking Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 1741 et seq.) is 

9 amended by inserting after section 306 the following: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 306A. DESIGNATION OF A FOREIGN COUNTRY AS A 

11 STATE SPONSOR OF UNLAWFUL OR WRONG12 FUL DETENTION. 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in con14 sultation with the heads of other relevant Federal agen15 cies, may designate a foreign country that has provided 

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1 ful detention of a United States national as a State Spon2 sor of Unlawful or Wrongful Detention based on any of 

3 the following criteria: 

4 ‘‘(1) The unlawful or wrongful detention of a 

5 United States national occurs in the foreign country. 

6 ‘‘(2) The government of the foreign country has 

7 failed to release an unlawfully or wrongfully detained 

8 United States national after having been notified by 

9 the Department of State. 

10 ‘‘(3) Actions taken by the government of the 

11 foreign country indicate that the government is re12 sponsible for, complicit in, or materially supports the 

13 unlawful or wrongful detention of a United States 

14 national, including by acting as described in para15 graph (2) after having been notified by the Depart16 ment of State. 

17 ‘‘(4) The actions of a state or nonstate actor in 

18 the foreign country, including any previous action 

19 relating to unlawful or wrongful detention or hostage 

20 taking of a United States national, pose a risk to 

21 the safety and security of United States nationals 

22 abroad sufficient to warrant designation of the for23 eign country as a State Sponsor of Unlawful or 

24 Wrongful Detention, as determined by the Secretary. 


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1 ‘‘(b) TERMINATION OF DESIGNATION.—The Sec2 retary may terminate the designation of a foreign country 

3 under subsection (a) if the Secretary certifies to Congress 

4 that the government of the foreign country— 

5 ‘‘(1) has released the United States nationals 

6 unlawfully or wrongfully detained within the terri7 tory of the foreign country; 

8 ‘‘(2) has positively contributed to the release of 

9 United States nationals taken hostage within the 

10 territory of the foreign country or from the custody 

11 of a nonstate entity; 

12 ‘‘(3) has demonstrated changes in leadership or 

13 policies with respect to unlawful or wrongful deten14 tion and hostage taking; or 

15 ‘‘(4) has provided assurances that the govern16 ment of the foreign country will not engage or be 

17 complicit in or support acts described in subsection 

18 (a). 

19 ‘‘(c) BRIEFING AND REPORTS TO CONGRESS; PUBLI20 CATION.— 

21 ‘‘(1) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

23 submit to Congress a report on— 

24 ‘‘(i) each designation of a foreign 

25 country as a State Sponsor of Unlawful or 


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1 Wrongful Detention under subsection (a) 

2 not later than 5 days after such designa3 tion is made; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) each termination of a designation 

5 under subsection (b) not later than 30 

6 days after such termination is made. 

7 ‘‘(B) ELEMENTS.— 

8 ‘‘(i) DESIGNATION REPORT.—In each 

9 report submitted under subparagraph 

10 (A)(i) with respect to the designation of a 

11 foreign country as a State Sponsor of Un12 lawful or Wrongful Detention, the Sec13 retary shall include— 

14 ‘‘(I) the justification for the des15 ignation; and 

16 ‘‘(II) a description of any action 

17 taken by the United States Govern18 ment, including the Secretary of State 

19 or the head of any other relevant Fed20 eral agency, in response to the des21 ignation to deter the unlawful or 

22 wrongful detention or hostage-taking 

23 of foreign nationals in the country. 

24 ‘‘(ii) TERMINATION REPORT.—In each 

25 report submitted under clause (i)(II) with 


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1 respect to the termination of a designation 

2 of a foreign country as a State Sponsor of 

3 Unlawful or Wrongful Detention, the Sec4 retary shall provide the justification for the 

5 termination, including the factor described 

6 in subsection (b) that supports the termi7 nation. 

8 ‘‘(2) BRIEFING REQUIRED.—Not later than 60 

9 days after the date of the enactment of this section, 

10 the Secretary shall brief Congress on the following: 

11 ‘‘(A) Whether any of the following coun12 tries should be designated as a State Sponsor 

13 of Unlawful or Wrongful Detention under sub14 section (a): 

15 ‘‘(i) Afghanistan. 

16 ‘‘(ii) Eritrea. 

17 ‘‘(iii) The Islamic Republic of Iran. 

18 ‘‘(iv) The People’s Republic of China. 

19 ‘‘(v) The Russian Federation. 

20 ‘‘(vi) Syria. 

21 ‘‘(vii) Venezuela under the regime of 

22 Nicola ́s Maduro. 

23 ‘‘(B) The steps taken by the Secretary of 

24 State and the heads of other relevant Federal 

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1 tention of United States nationals and to re2 spond to such detentions, including— 

3 ‘‘(i) any engagement with private sec4 tor search engine companies to optimize 

5 the distribution of travel advisories; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) any engagement with private 

7 tourism companies responsible for pro8 moting travel to foreign countries engaged 

9 in the unlawful or wrongful detention of 

10 United States nationals. 

11 ‘‘(C) An assessment of a possible expan12 sion of chapter 97 of title 28, United States 

13 Code (commonly known as the ‘Foreign Sov14 ereign Immunities Act of 1976’) to include an 

15 exception from asset seizure immunity for State 

16 Sponsors of Unlawful or Wrongful Detention. 

17 ‘‘(D) A detailed plan on the manner by 

18 which a geographic travel restriction could be 

19 instituted against State Sponsors of Unlawful 

20 or Wrongful Detention. 

21 ‘‘(E) The progress made in multilateral 

22 fora, including the United Nations and other 

23 international organizations, to address the un24 lawful and wrongful detention of United States 

25 nationals, in addition to nationals of partners 


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1 and allies of the United States in foreign coun2 tries. 

3 ‘‘(3) BRIEFING.—Not later than 1 year after 

4 the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually 

5 thereafter for 5 years, the Assistant Secretary of 

6 State for Consular Affairs and the Special Presi7 dential Envoy for Hostage Affairs shall brief the ap8 propriate congressional committees on the countries 

9 listed under paragraph (2)(A) and actions taken by 

10 the Secretary of State and the heads of other rel11 evant Federal agencies to deter the wrongful deten12 tion of United States nationals, including any steps 

13 taken in accordance with paragraph (2)(B). 

14 ‘‘(4) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall make 

15 available on a publicly accessible website of the De16 partment of State, and regularly update, a list of 

17 foreign countries designated as State Sponsors of 

18 Unlawful or Wrongful Detention under subsection 

19 (a). 

20 ‘‘(d) REVIEW OF AVAILABLE RESPONSES TO STATE

21 SPONSORS OF UNLAWFUL OR WRONGFUL DETENTION.— 

22 Upon designation of a foreign country as a State Sponsor 

23 of Unlawful or Wrongful Detention under subsection (a), 

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1 view of the use of existing authorities to respond to and 

2 deter the unlawful or wrongful detention of United States 

3 nationals in the foreign country, including— 

4 ‘‘(1) sanctions available under the International 

5 Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 

6 et seq.); 

7 ‘‘(2) visa restrictions available under section 

8 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Oper9 ations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 

10 2024 (division F of Public Law 118–47; 8 U.S.C. 

11 1182 note) or any other provision of Federal law; 

12 ‘‘(3) sanctions available under the Immigration 

13 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.); 

14 ‘‘(4) imposition of a geographic travel restric15 tion on citizens of the United States; 

16 ‘‘(5) restrictions on assistance provided to the 

17 government of the country under the Foreign Assist18 ance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) or any 

19 other provision of Federal law; 

20 ‘‘(6) restrictions on the export of certain goods 

21 to the country under the Arms Export Control Act 

22 (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.), the Export Control Re23 form Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4801 et seq.), or any 

24 other Federal law; and 


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1 ‘‘(7) designating the government of the country 

2 as a government that has repeatedly provided sup3 port for acts of international terrorism pursuant 

4 to— 

5 ‘‘(A) section 1754(c)(1)(A)(i) of the Ex6 port Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 

7 4813(c)(1)(A)(i)); 

8 ‘‘(B) section 620A of the Foreign Assist9 ance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2371); 

10 ‘‘(C) section 40(d) of the Arms Export 

11 Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2780(d)); or 

12 ‘‘(D) any other provision of law. 

13 ‘‘(e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec14 tion shall be construed to imply that the United States 

15 Government formally recognizes any particular country or 

16 the government of such country as legitimate.’’. 

17 SEC. 102. OPTIONS AND STRATEGIES FOR REDUCING LIKE18 LIHOOD OF UNITED STATES NATIONALS 

19 BEING UNLAWFULLY OR WRONGFULLY DE20 TAINED OR TAKEN HOSTAGE. 

21 The Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage22 Taking Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 1741 et seq.) is 

23 amended by inserting after section 305 the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 305A. REPORT ON STRATEGIES FOR REDUCING LIKE2 LIHOOD OF UNITED STATES NATIONALS 

3 BEING UNLAWFULLY OR WRONGFULLY DE4 TAINED OR TAKEN HOSTAGE. 

5 ‘‘Not later than 60 days after the date of the enact6 ment of the Countering Wrongful Detention Act of 2024, 

7 the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, in co8 ordination with the Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell, the 

9 Hostage Response Group, and relevant agencies, as appro10 priate, shall submit to the President and the appropriate 

11 congressional committees a report that identifies and rec12 ommends options and strategies to reduce the likelihood 

13 of United States nationals being unlawfully or wrongfully 

14 detained abroad or taken hostage.’’. 

15 SEC. 103. ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR SANCTIONS IMPLE16 MENTATION. 

17 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec18 retary of State and the Secretary of the Treasury for fiscal 

19 year 2026 $2,000,000 to implement the sanctions authori20 ties provided by section 306 of the Robert Levinson Hos21 tage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act (22 

22 U.S.C. 1741d) and Executive Order 14078 (22 U.S.C. 

23 1741 note prec.; relating to bolstering efforts to bring hos24 tages and wrongfully detained United States nationals 

25 home). 


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1 SEC. 104. ENHANCING UNITED STATES TRAVEL 

2 ADVISORIES. 

3 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

4 authorized to be appropriated $2,000,000 to the Assistant 

5 Secretary of State for Consular Affairs to expend on travel 

6 advisory advertisement campaigns regarding travel made 

7 by United States nationals to countries under Level 4 ‘‘Do 

8 Not Travel’’ advisories issued by the Department of State 

9 Travel Advisory System. 

10 (b) BRIEFING.—If less than the $2,000,000 author11 ized in subsection (a) is expended on travel advisory adver12 tisement campaigns during fiscal year 2025, the Assistant 

13 Secretary of State for Consular Affairs shall brief Con14 gress on the justification of the amount expended for such 

15 purpose. 

16 SEC. 105. REQUIRED CERTIFICATION REGARDING INTER17 NATIONAL TRAVEL ADVISORIES. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 423 of title 49, United 

19 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol20 lowing new section: 

21 ‘‘§ 42309. Required certification regarding inter22 national travel advisories 

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An air carrier, foreign air car24 rier, or ticket agent who sells, in the United States, a tick25 et for foreign air transportation of a passenger to a coun26 try or other geographic area with a ‘D’ or ‘K’ indicator 


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1 issued by the Department of State Travel Advisory Sys2 tem shall require the passenger listed on the ticket to cer3 tify that the passenger— 

4 ‘‘(1) has reviewed the travel advisory of the De5 partment of State applicable to such country or 

6 other geographic area; and 

7 ‘‘(2) understands the risks involved with trav8 eling to such country or other geographic area. 

9 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

10 ‘‘(1) ‘D’ INDICATOR.—The term ‘‘ ‘D’’ indi11 cator’ means a travel advisory issued by the Depart12 ment of State that indicates a risk of wrongful de13 tention of a United States national. 

14 ‘‘(2) ‘K’ INDICATOR.—The term ‘‘ ‘K’’ indi15 cator’ means a travel advisory issued by the Depart16 ment of State that indicates a criminal or terrorist 

17 individual or group has threatened to seize, detain, 

18 kill, or injure individuals (or has seized, detained, 

19 killed, or injured individuals) to compel a third party 

20 (including a governmental organization) to meet cer21 tain requirements as a condition of release.’’. 

22 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap23 ter 423 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by 

24 inserting after the item relating to section 42308 the fol25 lowing: 

‘‘42309. Required certification regarding international travel advisories.’’. 


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1 SEC. 106. PRIVACY ACT WRITTEN CONSENT AND PASSPORT 

2 RENEWALS. 

3 (a) REQUIREMENT TO INCLUDE TRAVEL ADVISORY

4 INFORMATION ON UNITED STATES PASSPORTS.—Section 

5 6103 of the Department of State Authorization Act of 

6 2023 (division F of Public Law 118–31; 22 U.S.C. 211a 

7 note) is amended, in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

8 by striking ‘‘should’’ and inserting ‘‘shall’’. 

9 (b) INCLUSION OF PRIVACY ACT WRITTEN CONSENT

10 FORM IN PASSPORT APPLICATION.—Section 1 of title IX 

11 of the Act of June 15, 1917 (22 U.S.C. 213) is amended 

12 by adding at the end the following: ‘‘Each passport appli13 cation made available to potential applicants (DS–11) and 

14 each passport renewal application made available to cur15 rent passport holders (DS–82) shall include a form that, 

16 if completed, indicates the applicant’s consent for the dis17 closure of information otherwise protected under section 

18 552a of title 5, United States Code (commonly known as 

19 the ‘Privacy Act of 1974’) in the event such applicant is 

20 determined to be unlawfully or wrongfully detained by a 

21 foreign government. Declining to complete such form shall 

22 not impact the issuance of a passport to a qualified appli23 cant or diplomatic efforts to secure the release of a United 

24 States national from the custody of a foreign government 

25 or entity.’’. 


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1 TITLE II—STRENGTHENING 

2 PROCESSES AND SERVICES 

3 FOR HOSTAGES AND UNLAW4 FUL OR WRONGFUL DETAIN5 EES 

6 SEC. 201. TIMELINE FOR UNLAWFUL OR WRONGFUL DE7 TENTION DETERMINATIONS. 

8 Section 302 of the Robert Levinson Hostage Recov9 ery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 

10 1741) is amended— 

11 (1) in subsection (d)(8), by striking ‘‘In this 

12 subsection’’ and inserting ‘‘In this section’’; and 

13 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(e) TIMELINE FOR UNLAWFUL OR WRONGFUL DE15 TENTION DETERMINATIONS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) CREDIBLE INFORMATION DETERMINA17 TIONS.— 

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

19 than every 180 days, the Assistant Secretary of 

20 State for Consular Affairs and the Special 

21 Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs shall re22 view the cases, identified through official gov23 ernment channels to either bureau, for which 

24 there is potential credible information that a 


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1 United States national is being unlawfully or 

2 wrongfully detained abroad. 

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

4 than 30 days after each review under subpara5 graph (A), the Assistant Secretary of State for 

6 Consular Affairs and the Special Presidential 

7 Envoy for Hostage Affairs shall jointly submit 

8 to Congress a classified report identifying each 

9 United States national whose case was reviewed 

10 under subparagraph (A) but who has not, as of 

11 the date of the submission of the report, been 

12 determined by the Secretary to be unlawfully or 

13 wrongfully detained under subsection (a). 

14 ‘‘(C) NOTIFICATION TO FAMILY MEM15 BERS.—Not later than 30 days after the date 

16 of the submission of the report under subpara17 graph (B), the Assistant Secretary of State for 

18 Consular Affairs shall notify a family member 

19 or legal representative of each United States 

20 national identified in the report. 

21 ‘‘(2) STATUS DETERMINATIONS.— 

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

23 subparagraph (B), and to the extent practical, 

24 not later than 180 days after the date on which 

25 the Secretary of State receives an assessment 


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1 from the Special Presidential Envoy for Hos2 tage Affairs or the head of any other relevant 

3 bureau of the Department of State that credible 

4 information exists that a United States national 

5 is being detained unlawfully or wrongfully, the 

6 Secretary shall determine whether the United 

7 States national is in fact being unlawfully or 

8 wrongfully detained. 

9 ‘‘(B) WAIVER.— 

10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

11 may waive the requirement under subpara12 graph (A) to make an unlawful or wrong13 ful detention determination if the Sec14 retary— 

15 ‘‘(I) determines that making such 

16 a determination may jeopardize the 

17 safety or interests of the United 

18 States national being detained abroad 

19 or the national security interests of 

20 the United States; and 

21 ‘‘(II) submits to Congress a re22 port describing the reasons for the 

23 waiver. 

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

25 (i) shall expired on the date that is 180 


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1 days after the date on which the Secretary 

2 submits the report on the waiver to Con3 gress pursuant to clause (i)(II). 

4 ‘‘(iii) RENEWAL.—The Secretary may 

5 renew a waiver granted pursuant to clause 

6 (i) in the manner provided under such 

7 clause.’’. 

8 SEC. 202. DECLARATIONS OF INVALIDITY. 

9 Section 302 of the Robert Levinson Hostage Recov10 ery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 

11 1741), as amended by sections 201 and 202, is further 

12 amended by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(f) DECLARATIONS OF INVALIDITY.—Upon the re14 lease of a United States national taken hostage or deter15 mined to be unlawfully or wrongfully detained abroad and 

16 the return of that national, the President shall issue to 

17 that national a letter, to be known as a ‘declaration of 

18 invalidity’, that officially declares the detention abroad of 

19 the national as invalid for the purpose of completing any 

20 documentation that warrants a background investigation 

21 or review of prior offenses, such as a conviction.’’. 

22 SEC. 203. ADVISORY COUNCIL ON HOSTAGE TAKING AND 

23 UNLAWFUL OR WRONGFUL DETENTION. 

24 The Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage25 Taking Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 1741 et seq.), as 


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1 amended by section 102, is further amended by inserting 

2 after section 305A the following: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 305B. ADVISORY COUNCIL ON HOSTAGE TAKING AND 

4 UNLAWFUL OR WRONGFUL DETENTION. 

5 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President shall estab6 lish an advisory council, to be known as the ‘Advisory 

7 Council on Hostage Taking and Unlawful or Wrongful De8 tention’ (in this section referred to as the ‘Advisory Coun9 cil’), to advise the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage 

10 Affairs, the Hostage Response Group, and the Hostage 

11 Recovery Fusion Cell with respect to Federal policies re12 garding hostage-taking and unlawful or wrongful deten13 tion. 

14 ‘‘(b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall invite 

16 individuals to the Advisory Council, which shall be 

17 comprised of— 

18 ‘‘(A) United States nationals who have 

19 been unlawfully or wrongfully detained or taken 

20 hostage abroad; 

21 ‘‘(B) family members of such United 

22 States nationals; and 

23 ‘‘(C) not fewer than 2 experts on areas in24 cluding hostage taking, wrongful detention, 

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1 terrorism who have been recommended by the 

2 Secretary of State. 

3 ‘‘(2) TERMS.—The term of a member of the 

4 Advisory Council shall be 3 years. 

5 ‘‘(3) COMPENSATION AND TRAVEL EX6 PENSES.—A member of the Advisory Council shall 

7 not be considered a Federal employee and shall not 

8 be compensated for service on the Advisory Council, 

9 but may be allowed travel expenses, including per 

10 diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with sub11 chapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States 

12 Code. 

13 ‘‘(c) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year after 

14 the date of the enactment of this section, and annually 

15 thereafter, the Advisory Council shall submit to the Presi16 dent and the appropriate congressional committees a re17 port setting forth the recommendations of the Advisory 

18 Council. 

19 ‘‘(d) TERMINATION.—The Advisory Council shall ter20 minate on the date that is 10 years after the date of the 

21 enactment of this section.’’. 


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1 SEC. 204. CHAIRMANSHIP OF THE HOSTAGE RESPONSE 

2 GROUP. 

3 Section 305(a) of the Robert Levinson Hostage Re4 covery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 

5 1741c(a)) is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be a Hostage 

8 Response Group, which shall be— 

9 ‘‘(A) chaired by the Special Presidential 

10 Envoy for Hostage Affairs; and 

11 ‘‘(B) convened on a regular basis at the 

12 White House, and as needed at the request of 

13 the National Security Council, to further the 

14 safe recovery of United States nationals held 

15 unlawfully or wrongfully abroad. 

16 ‘‘(2) COORDINATION OF GOVERNMENT RE17 SPONSE.—The Hostage Response Group may also be 

18 tasked with coordinating the United States Govern19 ment response to other hostage takings abroad in 

20 which the United States has a national interest as 

21 specifically referred to the Hostage Recovery Fusion 

22 Cell by the National Security Council Deputies Com23 mittee.’’. 

Æ 


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