Following Griner's release, U.S. lawmakers want a "National Hostage" day

WASHINGTON, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Days after the release of U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner from imprisonment in Russia, Democratic and Republican U.S. lawmakers will introduce legislation on Tuesday to establish March 9 as an annual day to remember Americans detained abroad.

The bill, according to text seen by Reuters, seeks to make March 9 "National Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Day," to call increased attention to Americans unjustly held abroad and add urgency to the push to bring them home.

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The measure's sponsors also include Republican Senator Marco Rubio and Representatives Haley Stevens, a Democrat, and French Hill, a Republican.

The bill would establish an official "Hostage and Detainee" flag, similar to the black-and-white POW-MIA flag adopted in 1972 to draw attention to Americans held prisoner or missing in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War era.