Thank you very much.
Thank you all for being here today and for answering our questions.
I have a few questions that I want to make sure I am very clear on so that I can understand the legislation better.
First of all, families of hostages have expressed the need for greater flexibility in paying ransoms without facing prosecution. This issue came up in a study this committee did on consular services several years ago.
Since that time, how has the government addressed the concerns of worried families about paying ransoms without fear of prosecution? Does this bill address those concerns, or does it, in the government's opinion, create new concerns, including the possibility—I think we've gone over this, but I'd like you to comment—of incentivizing hostage-taking through the compensation mechanism?