Federal

Supporting Americans Wrongfully or Unlawfully Detained Abroad Act of 2023

Source: Congress.gov · 1,336 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill provides financial resources and support for Americans who are unlawfully or wrongfully detained in foreign countries. The bill amends an existing law to add travel assistance, mental health support, and reporting requirements to help these detainees and their families.

Who It Affects

- United States nationals unlawfully or wrongfully detained abroad - Family members of detained Americans - Approved individuals representing detained Americans (with Special Presidential Envoy approval) - The U.S. Secretary of State - Congressional committees on Foreign Relations and Appropriations - The Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs

Key Provisions

- The government will pay for family members to travel to Washington, D.C. to meet with government officials, including costs for air, train, or bus travel, limited to no more than 2 trips per fiscal year unless the Special Presidential Envoy approves a third trip (Sec. 2(2)(B)) - Trips are limited to no more than 2 family members at a time, and lodging cannot exceed 2 nights at the government rate, though the Special Presidential Envoy can approve additional family members in certain situations (Sec. 2(2)(B)) - The government will make operational psychologists and clinical social workers available to support the mental health of detained Americans and their families (Sec. 2(3)) - The government may provide financial assistance to help released detainees return to the United States if other government assistance is not available (Sec. 2(2)(C)) - The Secretary of State must report to Congress every 90 days after each fiscal year about spending, mental health support provided, and visits made by the Special Presidential Envoy to families (Sec. 2(5))

What Changes

The existing Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act is modified to add specific travel assistance for families, mental health support services, requirements to notify Congress when spending exceeds $250,000 in any fiscal year, and annual reporting requirements to Congress about these services.

Important Definitions

"Family member" means spouse, father, mother, child, brother, sister, grandparent, grandchild, aunt, uncle, nephew, niece, cousin, in-laws, step-relations, or half-relations (Sec. 2(7))

Effective Date

The travel assistance, mental health support, and reporting requirements end on December 31, 2027 (Sec. 2(6))

II Calendar No. 27 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 MARCH 9, 2023 Reported by Mr. MENENDEZ, without amendment A BILL To provide resources for United States nationals unlawfully or wrongfully detained abroad, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Supporting Americans 4 Wrongfully or Unlawfully Detained Abroad Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:29 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S509.RS S509 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 509 RS SEC. 2. RESOURCES FOR UNITED STATES NATIONALS UN- 1 LAWFULLY OR WRONGFULLY DETAINED 2 ABROAD. 3 Section 302(d) of the Robert Levinson Hostage Re- 4 covery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 5 1741(d)) is amended— 6 (1) in the subsection heading, by striking ‘‘RE- 7 SOURCE GUIDANCE’’ and inserting ‘‘RESOURCES 8 FOR UNITED STATES NATIONALS UNLAWFULLY OR 9 WRONGFULLY DETAINED ABROAD’’; 10 (2) in paragraph (1), by striking the paragraph 11 heading and all that follows through ‘‘Not later 12 than’’ and inserting the following: 13 ‘‘(1) RESOURCE GUIDANCE.— 14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than’’; 15 (3) in paragraph (2), by redesignating subpara- 16 graphs (A), (B), (C), (D), and (E) and clauses (i), 17 (ii), (iii), (iv), and (v), respectively, and moving such 18 clauses (as so redesignated) 2 ems to the right; 19 (4) by redesignating paragraph (2) as subpara- 20 graph (B) and moving such subparagraph (as so re- 21 designated) 2 ems to the right; 22 (5) in subparagraph (B), as redesignated by 23 paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘paragraph (1)’’ and in- 24 serting ‘‘subparagraph (A)’’; and 25 (6) by adding at the end the following: 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:29 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S509.RS S509 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 509 RS ‘‘(2) TRAVEL ASSISTANCE.— 1 ‘‘(A) FAMILY ADVOCACY.—For the purpose 2 of facilitating meetings between the United 3 States Government and the family members of 4 United States nationals unlawfully or wrong- 5 fully detained abroad, the Secretary shall pro- 6 vide financial assistance to cover the costs of 7 travel to Washington, D.C., including travel by 8 air, train, bus, or other transit as appropriate, 9 to any individual who— 10 ‘‘(i) is— 11 ‘‘(I) a family member of a United 12 States national unlawfully or wrong- 13 fully detained abroad as determined 14 by the Secretary under subsection (a); 15 or 16 ‘‘(II) an appropriate individual 17 who— 18 ‘‘(aa) is approved by the 19 Special Presidential Envoy for 20 Hostage Affairs; and 21 ‘‘(bb) does not represent in 22 any legal capacity a United 23 States national unlawfully or 24 wrongfully detained abroad or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:29 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S509.RS S509 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 509 RS the family of such United States 1 national; 2 ‘‘(ii) has a permanent address that is 3 more than 50 miles from Washington, 4 D.C.; and 5 ‘‘(iii) requests such assistance. 6 ‘‘(B) TRAVEL AND LODGING.— 7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For each such 8 United States national unlawfully or 9 wrongfully detained abroad, the financial 10 assistance described in subparagraph (A) 11 shall be provided for not more than 2 trips 12 per fiscal year, unless the Special Presi- 13 dential Envoy for Hostage Affairs deter- 14 mines that a third trip is warranted. 15 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATIONS.—Any trip de- 16 scribed in clause (i) shall— 17 ‘‘(I) consist of not more than 2 18 family members or other individuals 19 approved in accordance with subpara- 20 graph (A)(i)(II), unless the Special 21 Presidential Envoy for Hostage Af- 22 fairs determines that circumstances 23 warrant an additional family member 24 or other individual approved in ac- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:29 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S509.RS S509 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 509 RS cordance with subparagraph (A)(i)(II) 1 and approves assistance to such third 2 family member or other individual; 3 and 4 ‘‘(II) not exceed more than 2 5 nights lodging, which shall not exceed 6 the applicable government rate. 7 ‘‘(C) RETURN TRAVEL.—If other United 8 States Government assistance is unavailable, 9 the Secretary may provide to a United States 10 national unlawfully or wrongfully detained 11 abroad as determined by the Secretary under 12 subsection (a), compensation and assistance, as 13 necessary, for return travel to the United 14 States upon release of such United States na- 15 tional. 16 ‘‘(3) SUPPORT.—The Secretary shall seek to 17 make available operational psychologists and clinical 18 social workers, to support the mental health and 19 well-being of— 20 ‘‘(A) any United States national unlawfully 21 or wrongfully detained abroad; and 22 ‘‘(B) any family member of such United 23 States national, with regard to the psycho- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:29 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S509.RS S509 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 509 RS logical, social, and mental health effects of such 1 unlawful or wrongful detention. 2 ‘‘(4) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—The Sec- 3 retary shall notify the Committee on Foreign Rela- 4 tions of the Senate, the Committee on Foreign Af- 5 fairs of the House of Representatives, and the Com- 6 mittees on Appropriations of the Senate and the 7 House of Representatives of any amount spent above 8 $250,000 for any fiscal year to carry out paragraphs 9 (2) and (3). 10 ‘‘(5) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after 11 the end of each fiscal year, the Secretary shall sub- 12 mit to the Committees on Foreign Relations and Ap- 13 propriations of the Senate and the Committee on 14 Foreign Affairs and Appropriations of the House of 15 Representatives a report that includes— 16 ‘‘(A) a detailed description of expenditures 17 made pursuant to paragraphs (2) and (3); 18 ‘‘(B) a detailed description of support pro- 19 vided pursuant to paragraph (3) and the indi- 20 viduals providing such support; and 21 ‘‘(C) the number and location of visits out- 22 side of Washington, D.C., during the prior fis- 23 cal year made by the Special Presidential Envoy 24 for Hostage Affairs to family members of each 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:29 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S509.RS S509 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 509 RS United States national unlawfully or wrongfully 1 detained abroad. 2 ‘‘(6) SUNSET.—The authority and requirements 3 under paragraphs (2), (3), (4), and (5) shall termi- 4 nate on December 31, 2027. 5 ‘‘(7) FAMILY MEMBER DEFINED.—In this sub- 6 section, the term ‘family member’ means a spouse, 7 father, mother, child, brother, sister, grandparent, 8 grandchild, aunt, uncle, nephew, niece, cousin, fa- 9 ther-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in- 10 law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, stepfather, step- 11 mother, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother, step- 12 sister, half brother, or half sister.’’. 13 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:29 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S509.RS S509 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB Calendar No. 27 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 509 A BILL To provide resources for United States nationals unlawfully or wrongfully detained abroad, and for other purposes. MARCH 9, 2023 Reported without amendment VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:29 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\S509.RS S509 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB

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