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 In recent months, Islamic State militants have beheaded three
Americans, including Peter Kassig, an aid worker and former U.S.
Army Ranger, whose death was announced in a video released by the
group on Sunday.
"The administration’s goal has always been to use every appropriate
resource within the bounds of the law to assist families to bring
their loved ones home," White House National Security Council
spokesman Alistair Baskey said in a statement.
"In light of the increasing number of U.S. citizens taken hostage by
terrorist groups overseas and the extraordinary nature of recent
hostage cases," added Baskey, "this summer President Obama directed
relevant departments and agencies, including the Departments of
Defense and State, the FBI, and the Intelligence Community, to
conduct a comprehensive review of how the U.S. government addresses
these matters."
 The administration could not detail all the steps it was taking to
free U.S. hostages, but Baskey said "we will continue to bring all
appropriate military, intelligence, law enforcement, and diplomatic
capabilities to bear to recover American hostages. Those efforts
continue every day.”
ABC News reported that a Pentagon official wrote last week to U.S.
Representative Duncan Hunter that the review would include an
emphasis "on examining family engagement, intelligence collection,
and diplomatic engagement policies."
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It added that a Nov. 11 letter to Hunter from Christine Wormuth,
undersecretary of defense for policy, did not explicitly address the
issue of ransom payments, which it is U.S. policy not to pay.
ABC News said Hunter wrote the White House in August after the
beheading of U.S. journalist James Foley by Islamic State, urging
Obama "to guarantee we are maximizing our recovery efforts."
Islamic State previously killed U.S. journalist, Steven Sotloff and
British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning.
(Reporting by Roberta Rampton and Peter Cooney; Editing by Alan
Crosby)
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