Legislation from five senators — including those from the home states of murdered journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff — would authorize up to $10 million in rewards for information leading to the capture of their bloodthirsty killers, reports say.
The legislation, sponsored by Florida Sens. Marco Rubio, a Republican, and Democrat Bill Nelson; New Hampshire Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, and Republican Kelly Ayotte; and Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz would update the State Department’s Rewards for Justice Program to include the beheadings of the two journalists last month,
PJ Media reported.
The Hill noted the program is currently the major U.S. program against international terrorism, paying out more than $125 million in return for actionable intelligence since 1984.
Sotloff was from Florida. Foley was from New Hampshire.
The reward would cover details on anyone involved in "committing, conspiring or attempting to commit, or aiding or abetting in the commission of the kidnapping and murder" of the journalists,
The Huffington Post reports.
"James Foley and Steven Sotloff nobly risked their lives in the pursuit of truth, and the United States will not stand idly by after two of its own were brutally murdered at the hands of fundamentally evil and freedom-hating extremists,"
Rubio said.
"This bill is a symbol of our commitment to their parents that America will not rest until justice is served, and let it serve as a clear message to ISIL that we will stop at nothing to ensure the deaths of these beloved journalists do not go unpunished."
The killers represented the Islamic State, which is also known as ISIS or ISIL.
Shaheen said: "The world lost two courageous and inspiring journalists, James Foley and Steven Sotloff, as a result of the cowardly acts of a barbaric terrorist group, and their deaths must not go unanswered."
"James and Steven contributed greatly to the world through their reporting, and we must vigorously pursue those responsible for their murders."
Added Cruz: "The vicious murder of two innocent American journalists, James Foley and Steven Sotloff, by ISIS is a stark reminder of the radical Islamic terrorism that threatens the United States."
"There could be no better use for the Rewards for Justice program than the capturing or killing of these savage jihadists who will only keep trying to destroy Americans until we stop them."
Government officials have suggested they could consider operations in Syria to nab those involved in the beheadings, though it's not clear how long that would take,
The Blaze reported. It took the government nearly 10 years to find and kill Osama bin Laden, who was killed in a Navy SEALs operation in 2011.
Offering reward money is one possible way to speed up the process, the Blaze notes.
But British and U.S. intelligence officials say they may be "within days" of knowing the
identity of at least one masked ISIS executioner.
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