(a) EstablishmentThere shall be a Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and shall report to the Secretary of State.
(b) RankThe Special Envoy shall have the rank and status of ambassador.
(c) ResponsibilitiesThe Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs shall—(1) lead diplomatic engagement on United States hostage policy;
(2) coordinate all diplomatic engagements and strategy in support of hostage recovery efforts, in coordination with the Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell and consistent with policy guidance communicated through the Hostage Response Group;
(3) in coordination with the Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell as appropriate, coordinate diplomatic engagements regarding cases in which a foreign government has detained a United States national and the United States Government regards such detention as unlawful or wrongful;
(4) provide senior representation from the Special Envoy’s office to the Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell established under section 1741b of this title and the Hostage Response Group established under section 1741c of this title; and
(5) ensure that families of United States nationals unlawfully or wrongly detained abroad receive updated information about developments in cases and government policy.
(d) Family Engagement CoordinatorThere shall be, in the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, a Family Engagement Coordinator, who shall ensure—(1) for a United States national unlawfully or wrongfully detained abroad, that—(A) any interaction by executive branch officials with any family member of such United States national occurs in a coordinated fashion;
(B) such family member receives consistent and accurate information from the United States Government; and
(C) appropriate coordination with the Family Engagement Coordinator described in section 1741b(c)(2) of this title; and
(2) for a United States national held hostage abroad, that any engagement with a family member is coordinated with, consistent with, and not duplicative of the efforts of the Family Engagement Coordinator described in section 1741b(c)(2) of this title.
(Pub. L. 116–260, div. FF, title III, § 303, Dec. 27, 2020, 134 Stat. 3093; Pub. L. 117–263, div. I, title XCI, § 9103, Dec. 23, 2022, 136 Stat. 3858.)
Editorial Notes
Amendments2022—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 117–263 added subsec. (d).