This bill would block U.S. State Department funding for Afghanistan unless the Secretary of State certifies that all American citizens being unlawfully or wrongfully detained there have been released. The legislation applies to any Americans held by the Afghan government or by groups and individuals operating within Afghanistan. The President retains the ability to waive this funding restriction if necessary to negotiate the release of detained Americans, but must provide detailed justification to Congress explaining the waiver and what steps are being taken to free other detained citizens. Starting within 30 days of the law's enactment and every 90 days thereafter, the State Department must report to Congress on the status of detained Americans and efforts to secure their release. The bill uses the existing framework from the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act to determine what constitutes unlawful or wrongful detention.
Take Action
Your position
Add a comment
to comment on this bill.
Annotate the text
Highlight any passage on the Summary or Full Text tab to attach a note. Annotations appear on the Annotations tab.