I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6669 

To provide resources for United States nationals unlawfully or wrongfully 

detained abroad. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 7, 2023 

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

was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide resources for United States nationals unlawfully 

or wrongfully detained abroad. 

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’’. 

2 

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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: 

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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 and from Washington, DC, including 

9 travel by air, train, bus, or other transit as ap10 propriate, 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 

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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 20:27 Dec 27, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6669.IH H6669
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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), United States assistance, as nec14 essary, for return travel to the United States 

15 upon release of such United States national. 

16 ‘‘(3) SUPPORT.— 

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

18 seek to make available physical health services, 

19 mental health services, and other support as ap20 propriate, including providing information on 

21 available legal or financial resources, to— 

22 ‘‘(i) any United States national un23 lawfully or wrongfully detained abroad; 

24 and 

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1 ‘‘(ii) any family member of such 

2 United States national. 

3 ‘‘(B) LIMITATIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For any support 

5 described in subparagraph (A) for an indi6 vidual described in clause (i) or (ii) of such 

7 subparagraph that commences following 

8 the return of a United States national who 

9 was unlawfully or wrongfully detained 

10 abroad, such support shall be made avail11 able for up to 5 years from the date on 

12 which any individual identified in subpara13 graph (A) chooses to avail themselves of 

14 the support described in that subpara15 graph, unless the Special Presidential 

16 Envoy for Hostage Affairs determines that 

17 circumstances warrant extending such sup18 port. 

19 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—The time limita20 tion under clause (i) does not apply to any 

21 support provided during the pendency of 

22 the detention of a United States national 

23 unlawfully or wrongfully detained abroad. 

24 ‘‘(4) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—The Sec25 retary shall notify the Committee on Foreign RelaVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:27 Dec 27, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6669.IH H6669
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1 tions of the Senate, the Committee on Foreign Af2 fairs of the House of Representatives, and the Com3 mittees on Appropriations of the Senate and the 

4 House of Representatives of any amount spent above 

5 $250,000 for any fiscal year to carry out paragraphs 

6 (2) and (3). 

7 ‘‘(5) FUNDING.—Funds authorized to be appro8 priated for the Department of State, which may in9 clude funds made available for unforeseen emer10 gencies arising in the diplomatic and consular serv11 ice, may be used to provide the support authorized 

12 by this section. 

13 ‘‘(6) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after 

14 the end of each fiscal year, the Secretary shall sub15 mit to the Committees on Foreign Relations and Ap16 propriations of the Senate and the Committee on 

17 Foreign Affairs and Appropriations of the House of 

18 Representatives a report that includes— 

19 ‘‘(A) a detailed description of expenditures 

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

21 ‘‘(B) a detailed description of types of sup22 port provided pursuant to paragraph (3), pro23 vided that such description does not identify 

24 any individuals receiving any physical or mental 

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1 health support, in order to protect their privacy; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(C) the number and location of visits out4 side of Washington, DC, during the prior fiscal 

5 year made by the Special Presidential Envoy 

6 for Hostage Affairs to family members of each 

7 United States national unlawfully or wrongfully 

8 detained abroad. 

9 ‘‘(7) SUNSET.—The authority and requirements 

10 under paragraphs (2), (3), (4), and (5) shall termi11 nate on December 31, 2027. 

12 ‘‘(8) FAMILY MEMBER DEFINED.—In this sub13 section, the term ‘family member’ means a spouse, 

14 father, mother, child, brother, sister, grandparent, 

15 grandchild, aunt, uncle, nephew, niece, cousin, fa16 ther-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in17 law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, stepfather, step18 mother, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother, step19 sister, half brother, or half sister.’’. 

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