[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 10168 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 10168
To amend the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking
Accountability Act to require the Secretary of State to provide
additional information to Congress regarding United States nationals
detained abroad, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 19, 2024
Mr. Hill (for himself and Ms. Stevens) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking
Accountability Act to require the Secretary of State to provide
additional information to Congress regarding United States nationals
detained abroad, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``American Detainee Transparency and
Recovery Act''.
SEC. 2. TIMELINE FOR UNLAWFUL OR WRONGFUL DETENTION DETERMINATIONS.
Section 302 of the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-
Taking Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 1741) is amended by adding at the
end the following:
``(e) Timeline for Unlawful or Wrongful Detention Determinations.--
``(1) Credible information determinations.--
``(A) In general.--Not less frequently than every
180 days, the Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of
Consular Affairs and the Special Presidential Envoy for
Hostage Affairs shall review the cases where there is
potential credible information that any United States
national is being detained wrongfully and which has
been identified through official government channels to
both bureaus.
``(B) Report of findings.--Not later than 30 days
after each review under subparagraph (A), the Assistant
Secretary of State for Consular Affairs and the Special
Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs shall jointly
submit to Congress a classified report identifying the
United States nationals identified as a result of the
review in subparagraph (A) detained overseas who have
not, as of the date of the report, been determined by
the Secretary to be unlawfully or wrongfully detained.
``(C) Notification to family members.--In the case
of a United States national detained overseas
identified in the report under subparagraph (B), the
Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs shall
notify a family member (as that term is defined in
subsection (d)(8)) or the legal representative of the
United States national not later than 30 days after the
transmittal of the report required by subparagraph (B).
``(2) Status determinations.--
``(A) In general.--Except as provided in
subparagraph (B) and to the extent practicable, not
later than 180 days after the date on which the
Secretary of State receives an assessment from the
Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs or the
head of any other relevant bureau of the Department of
State that credible information exists that a United
States national is being detained unlawfully or
wrongfully, the Secretary shall determine whether the
United States national is in fact being unlawfully or
wrongfully detained.
``(B) Waiver.--
``(i) In general.--The Secretary may waive
the requirement under subparagraph (A) to make
an unlawful or wrongful detention determination
if the Secretary--
``(I) determines that making such a
determination may jeopardize the safety
or interests of the United States
national being detained abroad or the
national security interests of the
United States; and
``(II) submits to Congress a
classified report describing the
reasons for the waiver.
``(ii) Timing.--A waiver under clause (i)
shall expire on the date that is 180 days after
the date on which the Secretary submits the
report on the waiver to Congress pursuant to
clause (i)(II).
``(iii) Renewal.--The Secretary may renew a
waiver granted pursuant to clause (i) in the
manner provided under such clause.''.
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