Freeing Americans Detained Abroad Act
Everywhere this bill has been
2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Jul 6, 2023
Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Jul 6, 2023
Introduced in House
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Plain-English summary
Freeing Americans Detained Abroad Act
This bill requires the Department of State to dedicate resources to assist U.S. citizens detained or kidnapped overseas. The State Department must
- display, on a public website, a list of resources (including legal services offered pro bono or with payment) that U.S. citizens detained or kidnapped overseas may be eligible to receive;
- train all Foreign Service officers posted overseas on identifying and assisting detained and arbitrarily detained U.S. citizens; and
- designate at least one Foreign Service officer at each overseas diplomatic or consular post as a hostage affairs officer.
What's happening now
Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Bill text
1 version
- Introduced in House Formatted Text PDF Formatted XML
Committees of jurisdiction
1
Cosponsors
5
Cite this page
U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 4478: Freeing Americans Detained Abroad Act. 118th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/118-HR-4478/
"H.R. 4478: Freeing Americans Detained Abroad Act." 118th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/118-HR-4478/.
H.R. 4478, 118th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/118-HR-4478/.
[H.R. 4478: Freeing Americans Detained Abroad Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/118-HR-4478/)