Dedicated to Bringing American Hostages Home

As chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, I am dedicated to bringing American hostages home to their families safely. This week, the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Accountability held a roundtable with family members of Americans detained and held hostage around the globe. 

One American hostage is too many. Right now we have Americans wrongfully detained all over the world, including in Russia, China, Iran, Syria, and Afghanistan. My wife Linda and I think of them and their families often. 

Every hostage brought home is a success story, but I have strong concerns about the Biden administration's tactics. They traded Victor Bout, one of the world's most notorious arms dealers – the Merchant of Death – for only one American hostage. They also traded five Iranian criminals and gave Iran access to $6 billion in exchange for give Americans. And shortly after they gave Iran access to $6 billion, Hamas took 241 hostages from Israel, including American citizens.

The administration has projected weaknesses on the world stage, which only incentivizes further hostage-taking.

I will continue fighting until each one of them is brought home. Click here to watch my opening remarks at this moving event.