Warren Weinstein Hostage Rescue Act

Bill: 114-hr-2201
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Delaney, John K. [D-MD-6]
Introduced: 2015-05-01
Policy area: International Affairs
Subjects: Congressional oversight

Diplomacy, foreign officials, Americans abroad

Executive Office of the President

Executive agency funding and structure

Federal officials

Terrorism
Latest action: action_date: 2015-05-01
text: Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Armed Services, and Intelligence (Permanent Select), for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

Summaries:
action_date: 2015-05-01
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><strong>Warren Weinstein Hostage Rescue Act</strong></p> <p>This bill amends the National Security Act of 1947 to establish: (1) the Committee on Hostage Recovery within the National Security Council (NSC), and (2) the Interagency Fusion Cell on Hostage Recovery which shall execute the Committee's hostage retrieval strategies. </p> <p>The Committee's functions shall include: </p> <ul> <li>coordinating retrieval of U.S. hostages among federal departments and agencies and among the United States and its allies; </li> <li>coordinating with the Interagency Fusion Cell on Hostage Recovery; </li> <li>developing hostage retrieval strategies and guidelines; </li> <li>developing information sharing policies and procedures; and </li> <li>developing a strategy to keep family members of U.S. hostages informed, and policies that do not compromise U.S. national security. </li> </ul> <p>It is the sense of Congress that the President should appoint a Special Advisor on Hostage Affairs who: (1) serves as the chair of the NSC Committee on Hostage Recovery; (2) has extensive foreign policy, counterterrorism, and hostage recovery experience; and; (3) serves (or the designee of the Special Advisor serves) as a primary liaison between the federal government and the family of a U.S. hostage. </p> <p>Nothing in this Act shall be construed as authorizing the federal government to negotiate with a state sponsor of terrorism or a foreign terrorist organization.</p>

tv_txt: I 114th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 2201 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES May 1, 2015 Mr. Delaney introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs , and in addition to the Committees on Armed Services and Select Intelligence (Permanent Select) , for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the National Security Act of 1947 to establish a committee of the National Security Council on hostage recovery, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Warren Weinstein Hostage Rescue Act . 2. National Security Council Committee on Hostage Recovery (a) Establishment Section 101 of the National Security Act of 1947 ( 50 U.S.C. 3021 ) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: (m) Committee on hostage recovery (1) There is established within the National Security Council a committee to be known as the Committee on Hostage Recovery (in this subsection referred to as the Committee ). (2) The Committee shall consist of the following members (or designees): (A) An individual who is appointed by the President to serve as chair of the Committee. (B) The Secretary of State. (C) The Secretary of the Treasury. (D) The Secretary of Defense. (E) The Attorney General. (F) The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. (G) The Director of National Intelligence. (H) The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. (I) The Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. (3) The functions of the Committee shall include— (A) coordinating among the departments and agencies of the Federal Government and coordinating among the United States and the allies of the United States regarding retrieval of United States person hostages; (B) coordinating with the Interagency Fusion Cell on Hostage Recovery; (C) developing strategies and guidelines for hostage retrieval and analyzing all options and methods of rescue; (D) developing policies and procedures to effectively share information between departments and agencies of the Federal Government responsible for activities relating to hostage rescue; and (E) developing a strategy to keep family members of United States person hostages informed of the status of such hostages and inform such family members of updates, procedures, and policies that do not compromise the national security of the United States. (4) The chair of the Committee may not have duties or responsibilities in the Federal Government other than such duties or responsibilities relating to serving as the chair of the Committee. (5) (A) On a quarterly basis, the Committee shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees and the members of Congress described in subparagraph (B) a report that includes a summary of— (i) the general activities of the Committee and the Interagency Fusion Cell on Hostage Recovery during the period covered by the report; and (ii) specific actions conducted during such period by the Committee and the Interagency Fusion Cell on Hostage Recovery with respect to United States person hostages. (B) The members of Congress described in this subparagraph are, with respect to a United States person hostage covered by a report under subparagraph (A), the Senators representing the State, and the Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner of the House of Representatives representing the district, that includes the United States person hostage. (C) Each report under subparagraph (A) may be submitted in classified form. (6) In this subsection: (A) The term Interagency Fusion Cell on Hostage Recovery means the Interagency Fusion Cell on Hostage Recovery established by section 119C of this Act. (B) The term United States person hostage means a citizen of the United States or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence (as defined in section 101(a)(20) of the Immigration and Nationality Act) who has been abducted or is suspected of having been abducted outside of the United States or is being held outside of the United States. . (b) Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that the President should appoint a Special Advisor on Hostage Affairs who— (1) serves as the chair of the Committee on Hostage Recovery of the National Security Council; (2) has extensive experience in foreign policy, counterterrorism, and hostage recovery; and (3) serves (or the designee of the Special Advisor serves) as a primary liaison between the Federal Government and the family of a United States person hostage (as defined in subsection (m) of section 101 of the National Security Act of 1947 ( 50 U.S.C. 3021 ), as added by subsection (a) of this section). (c) Rule of construction Nothing in this section, or the amendment made by this section, shall be construed as authorizing the Federal Government to negotiate with a state sponsor of terrorism or an organization that the Secretary of State has designated as a foreign terrorist organization pursuant to section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1189 ). 3. Interagency group on hostages (a) Establishment Title I of the National Security Act of 1947 ( 50 U.S.C. 3021 et seq. ) is amended by adding at the end the following: 119C. Interagency group on hostages (a) Establishment There is established an interagency group on hostages to be known as the Interagency Fusion Cell on Hostage Recovery . (b) Director The chair of the Committee on Hostage Recovery established by section 101(m) of this Act shall serve as the director of the Interagency Fusion Cell on Hostage Recovery. (c) Duties The Interagency Fusion Cell on Hostage Recovery shall execute the strategies regarding hostage retrieval of the Committee on Hostage Recovery. (d) Elements The Interagency Fusion Cell on Hostage Recovery shall be composed of officials of the following departments or agencies of the Federal Government who are proficient in hostage recovery strategy: (1) The Department of State. (2) The Department of the Treasury. (3) The Department of Defense. (4) The Federal Bureau of Investigation. (5) The Office of the Director of National Intelligence. (e) Reporting The Interagency Fusion Cell on Hostage Recovery shall report to the Committee on Hostage Recovery. . (b) Clerical amendment The table of contents for such Act is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 119B the following new item: Sec. 119C. Interagency group on hostages. .