ICYMI: U.S. News highlights Senator Coons’ efforts to support returned American hostages and wrongful detainees

WASHINGTON - In case you missed it, U.S. News & World Report's Olivier Knox devoted his "Decision Points" column to U.S. Senator Chris Coons' (D-Del.) package of legislation to make American hostages and wrongful detainees financially whole after their return home. The column focused primarily on his Stop Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act, which would end the IRS' practice of charging fines and late fees for non-payment of taxes on hostages and wrongful detainees while they are unjustly held abroad.

As Knox lays out, Senator Coons was inspired to take action after speaking with Jason Rezaian, a Washington Post reporter who was wrongfully detained for 544 days in Iran's Evin Prison. When Rezaian returned to the United States, he faced financial stressors - a tanked credit score and a $21,000 IRS bill - because the government's current system lacks provisions for those held hostage overseas.

In response, Senator Coons introduced his bipartisan Stop Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act with Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), which would stop the IRS from charging fines and late fees to hostages and wrongful detainees for failing to pay their federal taxes while being held unjustly abroad. Additionally, Senator Coons has also introduced the Fair Credit for American Hostages Act with Senator Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), which would empower former hostages and detainees to restore credit scores that may have been negatively impacted during their detention. His Retirement Security for American Hostages Act with Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.) would ensure that hostages and wrongful detainees aren't penalized in the calculation of their Social Security benefits.

Last month, Senator Coons also published an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal highlighting his work on these bills and his advocacy for American hostages and wrongful detainees.

U.S. News: A Different Kind of Crisis for Released American Hostages

Enter Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat who holds the seat filled for decades by President Joe Biden, and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Coons, who says he's been interested in the plight of Americans detained overseas since he was a Capitol Hill intern decades ago and met the parent of a young U.S. citizen imprisoned abroad, has introduced a suite of legislation aimed at helping wrongful detainees.

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"I started with a simple proposition that if you're released after wrongful detention, you shouldn't have to pay late fines and fees to the IRS," Coons says.

The senator credits Rezaian with the idea for the tax bill and Paul Whelan - the 54-year-old former U.S. Marine arrested in Russia in December 2018 and held until he was freed in a prisoner swap in August - with the Social Security idea. In addition to Whelan, Coons has met with Vladimir Kara-Murza and Evan Gershkovich, who were also freed in that exchange, and with other Americans unjustly held abroad.

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"There's some disagreement between the House and Senate about passing a clean bill," Coons says. "I really hope we'll just pass the clean bill on both sides and send it to the President's desk."