Image Source: ABC

BY CHRISTIE NICKS

You're watching multisource politics video news analysis from Newsy.

Up to $50 million - and no one to spend it? The money hung over Osama bin Laden’s head as an incentive for his demise, but now that he’s dead, who gets the money?

“What about giving it to the Navy Seals?”

“If you really wanna get technical about it, didn’t those Guantanimo Bay prisoners provide information to help catch bin Laden?”

More than a few suggestions from the media. And two New York congressmen have their own idea of what to do with it…

REP. ANTHONY WEINER (D-NY): “We would make families, groups, organizations that help deal with the survivors of September 11, help them benefit.”
REP. JERRY NADLER (D-NY): “We stand here with some unmet needs, and an opportunity.”

Congressmen Anthony Weiner and Jerry Nadler want to add a clause to current legislation, which would allow the secretary of state to distribute the $50 million to 9/11 first responders, survivors and their families.

The reward was originally set up as 25 million then upped to 50 -- and now no one is sure just how much would actually be awarded. A writer for Gather News says- Weiner and Nadler’s idea seems like a feel-good concept, but might not be practical.

“Beyond determining if the actual reward is $50 million, there are a slew of questions... How will the money be divvied up? Will certain families get more than others? ... Do the taxpayers foot the bill when the money runs out? There are too many holes and not enough money to fill them…”

And with bin Laden intelligence coming from a variety of informants, deciding where the reward money should go is another dilemma. A writer for the International Business Times reports- it might not go very far at all…

“What makes the situation complex is that it was essentially the U.S. intelligence network, not any single tipster, who blazed the trail to the terror fugitive's den… It is possible that the reward amount may never be granted to anyone.”

The Rewards for Justice program defines an informant as someone who provided quote- “actionable information that put terrorists behind bars or prevented acts of international terrorism worldwide.” But in the case of bin Laden, a Washington Post blogger points out- some of those informants were, well, terrorists behind bars.

“Another reason bin Laden’s bounty may go unclaimed? Unidentified detainees, some of whom were exposed to interrogation tactics, gave a key piece of the information leading the U.S. to bin Laden. It’s doubtful the government is eager to make a detainee a millionaire any time soon.”

The legislation proposed by Weiner and Nadler is expected to be discussed later this week. More than $100 million have been given away since the Rewards for Justice program was created in 1984.

 

'Like' Newsy on Facebook for updates in your newsfeed.

Get more multisource video news analysis from Newsy.

Transcript by Newsy