Biden-Harris Administration Ignores Bipartisan Call by U.S. Senators Katie Britt, Ted Budd, Colleagues to Authorize Reward for Info Bringing Hamas Leaders to Justice
WASHINGTON, D.C., October 7, 2024 – U.S. Senators Katie Britt (R-Ala.) and Ted Budd (R-N.C.) with ten of their colleagues are requesting the Biden-Harris Administration authorize a reward of up to $25 million for information that brings justice to leaders of Hamas.
The Senators on September 26 requested a response by October 7 to their bipartisan call for the reward authorization. The Administration has not responded.
“We write requesting the immediate authorization of a reward of up to $25 million under the State Department’s Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program for information that leads to the arrest of, locates, or disrupts the financial support for Yahya Sinwar and other Hamas leaders or operatives responsible for the murder and kidnapping of Americans on October 7, 2023. The United States must use every tool and resource at its disposal as leverage to secure the release of hostages, including seven Americans, still being held in Gaza and to bring those terrorists responsible to justice,” wrote the Senators.
“As you know, Congress established the RFJ program when it passed the 1984 Act to Combat International Terrorism. We can think of no better way to fulfill congressional intent than to offer rewards for those Hamas leaders identified in the recently unsealed federal criminal complaint charging Yahya Sinwar, Mohammad Al-Masri, Khaled Meshaal, Ali Baraka, and others with terrorism, murder conspiracy, and sanctions-evasion charges related to October 7th,” continued the Senators.
The letter is available here.
One year ago today, Hamas barbarically murdered more than 1,200 innocent children, women, and men in Israel, including more than 40 American citizens. Several Americans continue to be held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.
Hamas has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States since 1997.
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