II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1652 

To designate an existing Federal officer to coordinate efforts to secure the 

release of United States persons who are hostages of hostile groups 

or state sponsors of terrorism, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 23, 2015 

Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mr. CORNYN, Mrs. SHAHEEN, and Ms. MIKULSKI) 

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

Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To designate an existing Federal officer to coordinate efforts 

to secure the release of United States persons who are 

hostages of hostile groups or state sponsors of terrorism, 

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. INTERAGENCY HOSTAGE RECOVERY COORDI4 NATOR. 

5 (a) INTERAGENCY HOSTAGE RECOVERY COORDI6 NATOR.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 

8 the date of the enactment of this Act, the President 


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1 shall designate an existing Federal officer to coordi2 nate efforts to secure the release of United States 

3 persons who are hostages of hostile groups or state 

4 sponsors of terrorism. For purposes of carrying out 

5 the duties described in paragraph (2), such officer 

6 shall have the title of ‘‘Interagency Hostage Recov7 ery Coordinator’’. 

8 (2) DUTIES.—The Interagency Hostage Recov9 ery Coordinator shall have the following duties: 

10 (A) Coordinate and direct all activities of 

11 the Federal Government relating to each hos12 tage situation described in paragraph (1) to en13 sure efforts to secure the release of all hostages 

14 in a hostage situation are properly resourced 

15 and correct lines of authority are established 

16 and maintained. 

17 (B) Establish and direct a fusion cell con18 sisting of appropriate personnel of the Federal 

19 Government with purview over each hostage sit20 uation described in paragraph (1). 

21 (C) Develop a strategy to keep family 

22 members of hostages described in paragraph (1) 

23 informed of the status of such hostages and in24 form such family members of updates, proceVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:23 Jun 25, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1652.IS S1652

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1 dures, and policies that do not compromise the 

2 national security of the United States. 

3 (b) LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY.—The authority of 

4 the Interagency Hostage Recovery Coordinator shall be 

5 limited to hostage cases outside the United States. 

6 (c) QUARTERLY REPORT.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—On a quarterly basis, the 

8 Interagency Hostage Recovery Coordinator shall 

9 submit to the appropriate congressional committees 

10 and the Members of Congress described in para11 graph (2) a report that includes a summary of each 

12 hostage situation described in subsection (a)(1) and 

13 efforts to secure the release of all hostages in such 

14 hostage situation. 

15 (2) MEMBERS OF CONGRESS DESCRIBED.—The 

16 Members of Congress described in this paragraph 

17 are, with respect to a United States person hostage 

18 covered by a report under paragraph (1), the Sen19 ators representing the State, and the Member, Dele20 gate, or Resident Commissioner of the House of 

21 Representatives representing the district, where a 

22 hostage described in subsection (a)(1) resides. 

23 (3) FORM OF REPORT.—Each report under this 

24 subsection may be submitted in classified or unclas25 sified form. 


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1 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec2 tion shall be construed as authorizing the Federal Govern3 ment to negotiate with a state sponsor of terrorism or an 

4 organization that the Secretary of State has designated 

5 as a foreign terrorist organization pursuant to section 219 

6 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189) 

7 or any other hostage-takers. 

8 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) HOSTILE GROUP.—The term ‘‘hostile 

10 group’’ means— 

11 (A) a group that is designated as a foreign 

12 terrorist organization under section 219(a) of 

13 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

14 1189(a)); 

15 (B) a group that is engaged in armed con16 flict with the United States; or 

17 (C) any other group that the President de18 termines to be a hostile group for purposes of 

19 this paragraph. 

20 (2) STATE SPONSOR OF TERRORISM.—The term 

21 ‘‘state sponsor of terrorism’’— 

22 (A) means a country the government of 

23 which the Secretary of State has determined, 

24 for purposes of section 6(j)(1)(A) of the Export 

25 Administration Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. App. 


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1 2405(j)(1)(A)) (as continued in effect pursuant 

2 to the International Emergency Economic Pow3 ers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.)), section 

4 620A(a) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 

5 (22 U.S.C. 2371(a)), section 40(d) of the Arms 

6 Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2780(d)), or any 

7 other provision of law, to be a government that 

8 has repeatedly provided support for acts of 

9 international terrorism; and 

10 (B) includes North Korea. 

Æ 


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