S.Amdt. 1979

SA 1979. Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mr. Cornyn, Ms. Mikulski, Mrs.
Shaheen, and Mr. Rubio) submitted an amendment intended to be proposed
to amendment SA 1463 proposed by Mr. McCain to the bill H.R. 1735, to
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2016 for military activities
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for
defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which
was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of subtitle G of title X, add the following:

SEC. 1085. INTERAGENCY HOSTAGE RECOVERY COORDINATOR.

(a) Interagency Hostage Recovery Coordinator.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 60 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the President shall designate an
existing Federal officer to coordinate efforts to secure the
release of United States persons who are hostages of hostile
groups or state sponsors of terrorism. For purposes of
carrying out the duties described in paragraph (2), such
officer shall have the title of ``Interagency Hostage
Recovery Coordinator''.
(2) Duties.--The Interagency Hostage Recovery Coordinator
shall have the following duties:
(A) Coordinate and direct all activities of the Federal
Government relating to each hostage situation described in
paragraph (1) to ensure efforts to secure the release of all
hostages in a hostage situation are properly resourced and
correct lines of authority are established and maintained.
(B) Establish and direct a fusion cell consisting of
appropriate personnel of the Federal Government with purview
over each hostage situation described in paragraph (1).
(C) Develop a strategy to keep family members of hostages
described in paragraph (1) informed of the status of such
hostages and inform such family members of updates,
procedures, and policies that do not compromise the national
security of the United States.
(b) Limitation on Authority.--The authority of the
Interagency Hostage Recovery Coordinator shall be limited to
hostage cases outside the United States.
(c) Quarterly Report.--
(1) In general.--On a quarterly basis, the Interagency
Hostage Recovery Coordinator shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees and the members of Congress
described in paragraph (2) a report that includes a summary
of each hostage situation described in subsection (a)(1) and
efforts to secure the release of all hostages in such hostage
situation.
(2) Members of congress described.--The members of Congress
described in this paragraph are, with respect to a United
States person hostage covered by a report under paragraph
(1), the Senators representing the State, and the Member,
Delegate, or Resident Commissioner of the House of
Representatives representing the district, where a hostage
described in subsection (a)(1) resides.
(3) Form of report.--Each report under this subsection may
be submitted in classified or unclassified form.
(d) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be
construed as authorizing the Federal Government to negotiate
with a state sponsor of terrorism or an organization that the
Secretary of State has designated as a foreign terrorist
organization pursuant to section 219 of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189) or any other hostage-takers.
(e) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Hostile group.--The term ``hostile group'' means--
(A) a group that is designated as a foreign terrorist
organization under section 219(a) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189(a));
(B) a group that is engaged in armed conflict with the
United States; or
(C) any other group that the President determines to be a
hostile group for purposes of this paragraph.
(2) State sponsor of terrorism.--The term ``state sponsor
of terrorism''--
(A) means a country the government of which the Secretary
of State has determined, for purposes of section 6(j) of the
Export Administration Act of 1979, section 620A of the
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, section 40 of the Arms Export
Control Act, or any other provision of law, to be a
government that has repeatedly provided support for acts of
international terrorism; and
(B) includes North Korea.
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