S. 2174 · 116th Congress
Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains Act of 2019
Law · 116-277 · Dec 31, 2020Key: what the circles and colors mean
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Became law without a recorded vote. It passed by voice vote or unanimous consent, which don't record how each member voted.
R
CornynSponsor3 cosponsors · 2 D, 1 R
3 signed on when it was introduced; the rest joined later. Cosponsors who withdrew aren't shown.
- Senate Introduced Jul 18, 2019
- Senate Passed Nov 16, 2020
- House Passed Dec 16, 2020
- Senate Changes resolved Dec 18, 2020
- President To the President Dec 21, 2020
- President Signed Dec 31, 2020
- Law Dec 31, 2020
This bill revises the authority for state grants to improve the reporting of unidentified and missing persons.
What it does: CRS summary · Public Law · Dec 31, 2020
Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains Act of 2019
This bill revises the authority for state grants to improve the reporting of unidentified and missing persons.
The bill authorizes grants to be used for additional activities. In particular, grants may be used to improve the transportation, processing, and identification of missing persons and unidentified remains, including with respect to migrants. Further, the bill expands eligible entities to include local governments, medical examiners' offices, certain accredited and publicly funded laboratories, and certain nonprofit organizations.
In addition, the bill expands the allowable uses of grant funds to include costs related to transportation, hiring, and procuring forensic equipment.
The bill requires any DNA reference sample that is received from a suspected biological family member and uploaded into the Combined DNA Index System to be used only for identifying missing persons and unidentified remains.
Next, the bill requires the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to purchase, deploy, and maintain no more than 170 rescue beacons along the southern border to mitigate migrant deaths.
The bill also requires the CBP, the Department of Justice, and the Government Accountability Office to submit specified reports to Congress.
Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov
About this bill and sources
Official title: Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains Act of 2019
Latest action (Dec 31, 2020): Became Public Law No: 116-277.
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement · Origin: Senate · Introduced: Jul 18, 2019
Official page on Congress.gov · Bill text (GovInfo) · Status record (XML)
- Senate Introduced Jul 18, 2019
- Senate Passed Nov 16, 2020
- House Passed Dec 16, 2020
- Senate Changes resolved Dec 18, 2020
- President To the President Dec 21, 2020
- President Signed Dec 31, 2020
- Law Dec 31, 2020
No recorded floor vote found.