A Republican congressman is expressing concern about an interagency office known as the hostage recovery fusion cell created this year to better respond when Americans are held hostage.
“My concern with the existing structure of the fusion cell is that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) remains in primary control,” Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) wrote in a letter to President Obama on Monday. “Given that the FBI is chiefly a law enforcement organization, it remains my belief [that the] FBI–despite its best intentions and efforts–is neither organized nor developed to lead hostage recovery in hostile areas.”
{mosads}Hunter’s letter comes on the heels of Obama signing into law this year’s National Defense Authorization Act, which includes a provision that requires Obama to appoint an interagency hostage recovery coordinator within 60 days.
To address his concerns, Hunter is requesting Obama appoint a coordinator from outside the FBI.
“My strong recommendation is to appoint a hostage recovery coordinator with direct control and oversight of the fusion cell–and someone without a direct relationship to the FBI,” Hunter wrote.
“Doing so will dramatically improve our long-term hostage recovery efforts in the post-9/11 world and provide the consistency and coherency that is needed,” he added.
In June, the fusion cell was created as part of policy changes that followed a wave of executions of American hostages by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Chief among the changes was to allow families of American hostages to offer ransom payments to their captors without the threat of prosecution.
In addition to the FBI, the fusion cell includes officials from the State Department, the Pentagon and the CIA.
In his letter, Hunter expressed concern that the FBI does not have the resources or experiences in hostile areas that other government agencies have.
“Retaining the FBI as the lead government entity in hostage recovery (in areas of conflict) is a disservice to those in captivity and their families, and it takes away from other issues of focus that demand the FBI’s expertise and resources,” he wrote.
“I was shocked,” he added, “to learn that a lead agent in one case had never stepped foot in Afghanistan.”