2026年9月17日，美国东部时间早上5:00 / 美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）
作者：詹妮弗·汉斯勒
8月5日在底特律选举之夜派对上，众议员黑利·史蒂文斯（左）与保罗·惠兰合影。
朱恩夫·汉/《今日美国报》图片社/图像通讯社
众议员黑利·史蒂文斯预计将于周四公布一项新法案，旨在帮助海外被扣押人员返回美国后获得援助。
对于在俄罗斯被关押五年多的保罗·惠兰而言，这项公告可谓酝酿多年。
惠兰曾公开讲述自己返回密歇根州家乡后面临的种种困境，而史蒂文斯正是他所在选区的联邦众议员。
“像我这样被关押了五年半才回国的人，真的一无所有。房子没了，车子没了，工作没了，也没有医疗保险，”他在2025年获释一年后告诉CNN记者。
此后多年来，他与史蒂文斯一直共同推动这项以惠兰命名的法案。
该法案将向在海外被错误扣押的人员提供一次性现金补偿。
惠兰称这项立法“是向前迈出的一大步，确保所有过去、现在和未来被错误扣押的美国公民回国后都能得到妥善安置”。
史蒂文斯在一份声明中表示，“这项立法将确保经历过这种难以想象的磨难的美国人获得所需的支持和资源，帮助他们重新站稳脚跟、回归社区并重整生活”。
保罗·惠兰2019年2月在莫斯科关于延长羁押期限的裁决后，站在法庭囚笼内。
沙米尔·朱马托夫/路透社
“经历数月乃至数年的错误扣押后，美国人回国时不该再面临补缴税款、滞纳金、收入损失和经济不稳定的困境，”这位密歇根州民主党议员说道，“保罗·惠兰的经历让我们国家认识到，错误扣押造成的沉重代价不仅存在于被囚禁期间，更会在人员回国后长期延续。”
根据法案文本，相关资金将从“美国司法部资产没收基金的未支配余额”中拨付。
法案规定，前往美国国务院列为“4级：请勿前往”国家或带有D标识旅行警告（即该国公民面临被扣押风险）地区的人员，原则上无权获得补偿。因公出行或作为记者身份前往的人员除外。
同样在俄罗斯被错误扣押近三年的特雷弗·里德也对这项立法表示欢迎。里德与惠兰均是在俄罗斯被列为“请勿前往”国家前前往该国的。
“我回国后有很长一段时间都在恐慌，绞尽脑汁想办法重建我的积蓄，直到现在也没能挽回所有损失，”他告诉CNN记者。里德还提到，他的父母掏空了退休账户来帮他。
“这种处境下的人们处境艰难，这项法案能让这些美国人有时间重新振作起来，”他说。
2020年3月11日，美国前海军陆战队队员特雷弗·里德因袭击警察罪名受审，被警察押解进入莫斯科法庭。
亚历山大·涅门诺夫/法新社/盖蒂图片社
惠兰与里德均表示，他们认为这项立法或将起到威慑作用。惠兰指出，“如果我国公民明知国务院警告不要前往流氓国家仍执意前往，并被劫持为人质，国务院仍会全力将他们接回国，但根据本法案，他们将无权获得补偿”。
史蒂文斯的发言人表示，其办公室与惠兰以及“与海外被错误扣押的美国公民及其家属密切合作的领先组织展开合作，包括福利基金会和人质援助美国组织”。
“两家组织都对这项立法表示支持，”该发言人说道，并补充称法案起草过程中，他们曾与美国国务院和总统人质事务特使办公室进行沟通。
美国国务院不对待审议的立法置评。
目前尚不清楚众议院提出的这项法案何时将进行投票。
“史蒂文斯众议员的首要目标是争取两党支持，并尽快推动该法案走完立法程序，”该发言人表示，“她正与同僚合作，争取更多对法案的支持，并寻找推进该法案的机会。”
Paul Whelan helps craft bill to compensate Americans wrongly detained abroad
Sep 17, 2026, 5:00 AM ET / CNN
By Jennifer Hansler
Rep. Haley Stevens, left, with Paul Whelan during an election night party in Detroit on August 5..
Junfu Han/USA Today Network/Imagn Images
Rep. Haley Stevens on Thursday is expected to announce a new bill meant to help Americans detained abroad when they return to the United States.
For Paul Whelan, who was detained for more than five years in Russia, it is an announcement that has been years in the making.
Whelan has spoken out about the challenges he faced when he got back home to Michigan, where Stevens is his congresswoman.
“For people like me who have come home after five-and-a-half years, we really don’t have very much. House is gone. Cars are gone. Employment’s gone. No health insurance,” he told CNN in 2025, a year after he was freed from Russia.
He and Stevens have been working on the bill, named in Whelan’s honor, in the years since.
The bill would provide compensation, in the form of a lump sum of money, to those who had been wrongfully detained abroad.
Whelan called the legislation “a huge step forward in ensuring that all American citizens who are wrongfully detained in the past, present, and future will be properly taken care of once they return home.”
Stevens said in a statement that the “legislation will make sure Americans who endure this unimaginable ordeal have the support and resources they need to regain their footing, reunite with their communities, and rebuild their lives.”
Paul Whelan stands in the courtroom cage after a ruling regarding extension of his detention in Moscow, in February 2019.
Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters
“After enduring months or even years of wrongful detention, Americans shouldn’t have to face back taxes, late fees, lost income, and financial instability when they come home,” the Michigan Democrat said. “Paul Whelan’s experience showed our country the extraordinary toll wrongful detention takes not only during captivity, but long after someone returns home.”
According to the legislation, the funds would be paid from “unobligated balances of the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund.”
Individuals who travel to countries that the State Department has listed as “Level 4: Do Not Travel” or have a travel advisory with the D indicator, meaning citizens are at risk of being detained if they go there, will broadly not be eligible for compensation, the text of the bill says. There are exceptions for those who were there on official travel or in the capacity of a journalist.
Trevor Reed, who was wrongfully detained in Russia for nearly three years, also celebrates the legislation. Both Reed and Whelan traveled to Russia before it was listed as a Level 4: Do Not Travel country.
“When I came home, I really panicked for a while trying to find out how I was going to rebuild my life savings and I still haven’t recouped those losses,” he told CNN. Reed also said his parents emptied their retirement accounts to try to help him.
“It’s very difficult for people in that situation and this bill allows those Americans time to get back on their feet,” he said.
Police officers escort US ex-marine Trevor Reed, charged with attacking police, into a courtroom prior to a hearing in Moscow on March 11, 2020.
Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images
Both Whelan and Reed said they think the legislation could have a deterrent effect, with Whelan noting that “if our citizens knowingly visit a rogue nation the State Department warns against us visiting and they are taken hostage, State will work diligently to bring them home, but they would not be eligible for compensation under the Act.”
A spokesperson for Stevens said her office worked on the legislation with both Whelan and “leading organizations that work closely with Americans who have been wrongfully detained and their families, including the Foley Foundation and Hostage US.”
“Both organizations are supporting the legislation,” the spokesperson said, adding that they engaged with the State Department and the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs as the legislation was being developed.
The State Department does not comment on pending legislation.
It is unclear when the bill being introduced in the House will come to a vote.
“Congresswoman Stevens’ priority is building bipartisan support and moving the legislation through the legislative process as quickly as possible,” the spokesperson said. “She is working with colleagues to build support for the bill and identify opportunities to advance it.”
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