§1741b Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell

Summary

The President must create an interagency Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell to help bring U.S. nationals held hostage abroad back home. The President will order the heads of the Department of State, Department of the Treasury, Department of Defense, Department of Justice, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the FBI, the CIA, and any other agencies the President names to provide staff for the Cell. The Cell must have a full-time Director (a senior U.S. government officer), a Family Engagement Coordinator who makes sure families get coordinated, accurate information (and can do the same for unlawfully or wrongfully detained U.S. nationals if asked), and other staff the President thinks are needed. The Cell must coordinate participating agencies so all useful information, expertise, and resources are used to recover U.S. nationals. If directed, it must also handle other hostage situations or wrongful detentions of interest. Under National Security Council policy, the Cell will identify and recommend recovery options to the President, share information across agencies (including with families and outside partners), track and report hostage cases to the President and Congress, help share intelligence and declassify material with the Director of National Intelligence, support hostages and families, suggest ways to reduce hostage risks, and manage responses to congressional, media, and public questions. For administrative purposes, the Cell will be based in the FBI.