Bounty Bill for ISIS/ISIL Killers Reintroduced

A bipartisan group of senators has reintroduced a bill that would put a big price on the heads of the terrorists who killed American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and aide workers Abdul-Rahman (Peter) Kassig and Kayla Mueller.

The bill was first offered up last September, but then it was only targeted to the killers of Sotloff and Foley. The new bill, which sites the two new names added to that list since then, would offer rewards of up to $5 million for information leading to the capture and conviction of the murderer(s) and, in a chilling recognition that other Americans could be at risk from ISIS/ISIL, would also ask for another $5 million "for information on the kidnap and murder of any other U.S. citizen by a foreign terrorist organization" in "unknown future circumstances."

“The fight against ISIL hit home for Floridians when Steven Sotloff, an American journalist from Florida, was brutally murdered at the hands of these radical Islamic extremists,” said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). “We must ensure that the barbaric murders of Steven, James Foley, Abdul-Rahman Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller do not go unanswered. This bill is a clear message to ISIL and terrorists everywhere that America will not rest until justice is served.”

Also sponsoring the bill are Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Dan Coats (R-Ind.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

“This bipartisan legislation rightfully honors the lives of James Foley, Steven Sotloff, Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller,” Shaheen said in a statement. “Our message to ISIL is clear: their brutal and barbaric murders will not go unanswered.”

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.