Obama: 'Changing how we do business' on hostages
The government must do a better job coordinating the recovery of American hostages, President Barack Obama said Wednesday as he announced major shifts in policy and acknowledged that relatives of captives have felt ignored and victimized by the U.S. response.
As one of the changes, Obama opened the door for families to pay ransoms to foreign captors — an act that some families have said they stopped pursuing after being warned they could be prosecuted.
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Though the government will continue to follow an official ban on concessions to terrorists, Obama said, "No family of an American hostage has ever been prosecuted for paying a ransom for the return of their loved ones. The last thing we should ever do is add to families' pain with threats like that."
Obama said a central office for hostage recovery, staffed with representatives across federal agencies, has been created at the FBI, and families will now have a special representative to advocate for them. He said two dozen changes will be made to hostage policies, outlined in an executive order and a presidential policy directive, after a review that he ordered late last year.
"When it comes to how our government works to recover Americans held hostage and how we work with their families, we are changing how we do business," Obama said.
At his brief announcement in the Roosevelt Room at the White House, the president noted Arizonan Kayla Mueller, who was kidnapped in Syria in 2013 and died early this year as a prisoner of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS. Though the exact circumstances of Mueller's death are unclear, ISIS captors had publicized their killing of three other American hostages over the preceding months.
PREVIOUSLY:How Mueller's life led her to globe's most dangerous spot
"As a government and as a nation we can learn from ... the kind of strength we've seen in all these held hostages, including Kayla Mueller. Kayla devoted her life to serving those in need around the world. To refugees in Syria who had lost everything, she was a source of comfort and hope," Obama said. "Kayla managed to smuggle a letter to her family. She said ...'I will not give in no matter how long it takes.' "
Obama noted that other Americans remain in similar circumstances.
PREVIOUSLY:During her captivity, Mueller's family guarded tragic secret
"At this very moment," Obama said, "Americans continue to be held by terrorist groups or detained unjustly by foreign governments. For them, the nightmare goes on. And so does our work day and night to reunite them with their loved ones."
There are at least 30 Americans currently held hostage overseas by criminal gangs, cartels and terrorist groups, according to Lisa Monaco, the president's chief counterterrorism adviser, who oversaw the review.
Obama made his remarks after meeting with Mueller's parents, former hostages and other hostages' family members. Many had participated in the review.
Through a spokeswoman, the Muellers and parents of two captives executed by ISIS — Abdul Rahman (Peter Kassig) and Steven Sotloff — showed general support for the move, while not commenting on specific changes to the ransom policy.
"We are grateful they gave us the opportunity to participate and voice our concerns and recommendations," the families' statement read. "The changes are a step in the right direction....We have faith that the changes announced today will lead to increased success in bringing our citizens home. When we see evidence of this occurring, it will further our healing."
U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., joined efforts to secure Mueller after her parents, who live in Gosar's district, turned to them for help.
Gosar was critical of the White House's new directives.
While he praised the goal of streamlining communication between the government and families, the small-government conservative said forming a "whole new bureaucracy" is the wrong idea.
KAYLA MUELLER
He criticized Obama's "inconsistencies" on ransoms, noting the administration negotiated the release of a military prisoner, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, from the Taliban last year by handing over detainees from the Guantanamo Bay prison. .
"Until today, federal agencies threatened to prosecute families who attempted to pay a ransom on their own, but not anymore," Gosar said in a statement. "I'm genuinely concerned about how our allies and enemies alike are receiving these mixed signals."
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Tuesday the Bergdahl situation was different because he is a member of the U.S. military, and the president pledged not to leave a service member behind.
McCain, who met with the Muellers on Wednesday, took a different view.
The senator said the policy changes should go further to protect families who pay ransoms.
"The fact that there is no clear-cut, written policy on whether those who assist in paying a ransom would be prosecuted leaves a troubling lack of clarity for families trying to get their loved ones home," McCain said in a statement.
The White House report simply says: "The United States Department of Justice does not intend to add to families' pain in such cases by suggesting that they could face criminal prosecution."
McCain also expressed concern the centralized hostage office would not have enough authority to help families.
The report says that officials must provide more information more quickly to families and view them as active partners. "Simply assuring a family 'we are doing everything we can' is not enough," the report states.
Another major clarification: Government officials may communicate with anyone necessary to secure a hostage, including terrorist captors and third parties, such as private advisers hired by families, to negotiate a release.
" 'No concessions' does not mean 'no communication,' " according to the report.
Republic reporter Karina Bland contributed to this article.