President Barack Obama issued a directive Wednesday to allow U.S. officials to communicate directly with terrorists who hold American hostages, and said the government will not prosecute family members for paying ransom to such groups.
The measures are part of a broader set of changes announced by the White House as officials work to improve the government's response when Americans are taken captive abroad.
Relatives of hostages have expressed frustration about the way the government has handled the kidnapping of their loved ones — including the case of Warren Weinstein, the veteran aid worker from Rockville who was captured in Pakistan in 2011 and killed in a U.S. drone strike on a suspected terror compound on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in January.
"It is true that there have been times where our government, regardless of good intentions, has let them down," Obama said from the White House on Wednesday.
The administration began reviewing the government's policy on hostages in December, a month before the strike that killed Weinstein.
Family members have said they found dealing with the government frustrating as they sought to bring Weinstein home safely.
The new policies include steps to improve communications with relatives of hostages and create a new "fusion cell" to focus the government's rescue efforts.
Elaine Weinstein, Warren Weinstein's widow, said the creation of a fusion cell was a good idea, but she had questions about how it is to be set up.
"This review will not bring Warren back," she said in a statement. "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."
Sen. Ben Cardin introduced bipartisan legislation this week to create a powerful central official to coordinate the work of different agencies — an element his office said is lacking in the White House plans.
"Elaine Weinstein and her family experienced incredible heartache while their beloved Warren was abducted and held by terrorists," Cardin said in a statement. "There are no remedies to the pain the Weinsteins and other affected families have endured, but we must as a nation respond more effectively to these tragedies."
Rep. John Delaney, the Weinsteins' congressman, said he was "encouraged" by the White House announcement.
The Montgomery County Democrat has also introduced legislation to create a "hostage czar" to lead the government's work. Aides said he planned to introduce a new bill in the House that would mirror Cardin's proposal.
"Warren was held for over three years, suffering at the hands of terrorists," Delaney said in a statement. "Tragically, we weren't able to locate Warren, we weren't able to save him and weren't able to bring him home, and I think about that every day."
Obama said more than 80 Americans have been taken hostage by terrorists since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the challenge has become acute since the self-declared Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has begun to execute Americans and others.
The prohibition on paying ransom to terrorists has been one of the most controversial aspects of the United States' hostage policy.
Some European countries have been willing to help families hand over cash, but U.S. officials say the practice emboldens terrorists and gives them a significant source of revenue.
The new policy does not deviate from that view. But Obama said family members should not fear prosecution for providing aid to extremists.
"No family of an American hostage has ever been prosecuted for paying a ransom for the return of their loved ones," he said. "The last thing that we should ever do is add to a family's pain with threats like that."
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