Shaheen Statement on Sentencing of ISIS Terrorist, Murderer of NH Journalist James Foley

(Manchester, NH) - U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) - a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee - issued the following statement after one of the ISIS terrorists charged with murdering New Hampshire journalist James Foley was sentenced to life in prison:

"Today marks another milestone on the long road to justice for James Foley, Peter Kassig, Steven Sotloff and Kayla Mueller. Seeing this terrorist - and the other terrorists culpable in the kidnapping and murder of Americans, including New Hampshire's James Foley - face the full weight of the U.S. justice system sends a message to those who target or threaten Americans at home or abroad that they will pay for their crimes. Most importantly, it responds to the wishes of family members, who for years advocated on behalf of their loved ones. Today, my thoughts are with them - the Foleys, Kassigs, Sotloffs and Muellers," said Shaheen. "I've long worked with the Foley family, especially James' mother Diane, to seek justice for him. I'm in awe of her strength to see this process through to the very end. I'll continue to stand beside her in that effort, and I'll keep working with all of the impacted families as the other terrorists are similarly held accountable. I will continue to raise the cases of other Americans detained abroad, and fight day and night to bring them home."

Shaheen has worked closely with the family of James Foley, an American journalist and Granite Stater who was viciously murdered by ISIS jihadists. Shaheen has fought to ensure that ISIS terrorists culpable in Foley's murder, as well as other U.S. citizens, are brought to trial in the United States. Shaheen has led calls for this on behalf of the family members of James Foley, Peter Kassig, Steven Sotloff and Kayla Mueller, four Americans killed at the hands of ISIS jihadists.

Shaheen successfully included language in the fiscal year (FY) 2020 defense authorization legislation to establish a senior coordinator position within the Executive Branch for all ISIS detainee issues. This position will lead all diplomatic engagements and planning regarding the future of ISIS detainees. In 2018, Senator Shaheen visited northeast Syria to view the detention facilities housing ISIS terrorists. The creation of this role was originally a recommendation of the Syria Study Group's (SSG) interim report. The final report was released in 2019. Shaheen established the Syria Study Group in the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill that was signed into law in 2018. The Syria Study Group was a bipartisan panel created with the purpose of completing a comprehensive strategic review of America's policy in Syria.