--- title: White House Will Release Review of Hostage Policies description: According to reports, the president will also make it easier for the federal government to communicate with families of hostage victims canonical: https://time.com/3932477/us-hostage-policy/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-23T17:44:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T08:27:31.222Z article:section: Politics og:title: White House to Release Review of Hostage Policies og:description: It could help families communicate with hostages better. og:url: https://time.com/3932477/us-hostage-policy/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4748f31df8eaebc1/6988581d3c1639f47d458889/diane-foley.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: US-IRAQ-SYRIA-CONFLICT-FOLEY og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: White House to Release Review of Hostage Policies twitter:description: It could help families communicate with hostages better. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4748f31df8eaebc1/6988581d3c1639f47d458889/diane-foley.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # White House to Release Review of Hostage Policies > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=8398e541-a380-4df7-a8da-77b082d335a1&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jun 23, 2015 5:44 PM UTC  Diane Foley, mother of James Foley, pauses for a moment during an interview at her home in Rochester, N.H. in 2014. Diane Foley, mother of James Foley, pauses for a moment during an interview at her home in Rochester, N.H. in 2014. Dominick Reuter—AFP/Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jun 23, 2015 5:44 PM UTC The White House will release a long-awaited review of U.S. hostage policy on Wednesday, spokesman Josh Earnest confirmed Tuesday. Earnest said the report would include a policy directive and an executive order from President Obama, months after the White House [ordered the review](http://time.com/3591703/obama-us-hostage-policy/) in response to several brutal murders of Western hostages by the terror group the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria, or ISIS. At Tuesday’s press briefing, Earnest confirmed several media outlets’ reporting that the report would be released, but refused to offer details on what it does—and does not—specifically change. Families of some citizens held hostage, Earnest said, would be meeting with members of the Obama Administration who had worked on the report on Tuesday in an effort to “give them the opportunity to see for themselves the contents of the report.” “Our goals entering into this process was to both better integrate the variety of federal government resources dedicated to securing the safe return of American hostages,” Earnest said Tuesday. “And also to improve communication with families of those held captive overseas.” Though Earnest wouldn’t go into detail, several media outlets have already reported details of the coming directive and report. According to [_Foreign Policy_](https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/06/22/hostage-review-will-make-it-easier-for-families-to-pay-ransoms/), which reported the story on Monday, the new policy would make it clear that families should not fear prosecution for paying ransoms. The Wall Street [_Journal_](http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-administration-creating-new-office-to-aid-families-of-hostages-1435069936) says the White House will also establish an office to ease communication between the government and families of American hostages based at the Federal Bureau of Investigations known as thr “hostage recovery fusion cell.” The New York _Times_ [reports](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/24/world/obama-ordering-changes-in-us-hostage-policies.html) that though the directive will not backtrack on the U.S.’s long-held “no-concessions” policy to keep funds out of the hands of terror groups like Al-Qaeda and ISIS, it will clarify that family members and the government can communicate and negotiate with groups holding Americans hostage. Elaine Weinstein, whose husband Warren was taken hostage by Al-Qeada and killed in an American drone strike, released a statement Tuesday calling their interactions with the government while Warren was held hostage “inconsistent at best and utterly disappointing.” “This review will not bring Warren back, she said. “It is our most sincere hope that it was conducted fully and frankly so the U.S. Government can have an honest conversation about the areas where it falls short. Our benchmark for this review’s success will be the actions arising from it more than its specific findings.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3932477/us-hostage-policy/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3932477/us-hostage-policy/"},"headline":"White House to Release Review of Hostage Policies","datePublished":"2015-06-23T17:44:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T08:27:31.222Z","description":"According to reports, the president will also make it easier for the federal government to communicate with families of hostage victims","url":"https://time.com/3932477/us-hostage-policy/","keywords":["Foreign Policy","Barack Obama","White House","Obama","New York Times","wall street journal"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4748f31df8eaebc1/6988581d3c1639f47d458889/diane-foley.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4748f31df8eaebc1/6988581d3c1639f47d458889/diane-foley.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-IRAQ-SYRIA-CONFLICT-FOLEY","caption":"US-IRAQ-SYRIA-CONFLICT-FOLEY","creditText":"Dominick Reuter—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/foreign-policy/","name":"Foreign Policy"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3932477/us-hostage-policy/","name":"White House to Release Review of Hostage Policies"}}]}] ```