Natural State News

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) is sponsoring a bill that would require the president to impose mandatory sanctions on foreign government officials responsible for taking Americans hostage.

The Global Hostage Act is being co-sponsored by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Todd Young (R-Indiana) and Rick Scott (R-Florida).

"If you take an American hostage – it won’t only be the hostage that will suffer," Cotton wrote in an April 16 Facebook post. "America must never accept extortion by hostage-taking as the cost of doing business. It warrants severe consequences, and that’s what this bill delivers."

The bill would deny U.S. visas to sanctioned hostage-takers and their family members, and establish a process for Congress to require that the executive branch review specific foreign government officials for sanction eligibility.

Legislation would state explicitly that it is U.S. policy to not pay ransoms to secure the release of U.S. citizens or aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence who are taken hostage abroad, and express a sense of Congress that the United States must take all measures to prevent foreign governments or non-state actors from engaging in hostage-taking, including prosecuting and extraditing those responsible and encouraging allies and partners to do the same.

The full text of the Global Hostage Act can be viewed here.