Bring Our Heroes Home Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The bill establishes congressional findings that records about missing Armed Forces and civilian personnel should be preserved, carry a presumption of declassification, and be disclosed to enable full accounting for missing, establishes comprehensive definitions for key terms including missing Armed Forces and civilian personnel, missing Armed Forces and civilian personnel record, Executive agency, Government office, and public interest, and requires the Archivist to establish the Missing Armed Forces and Civilian Personnel Records Collection within 90 days, prepare a guidebook and index, and establish criteria for record transmission including metadata. It relies on compliance mandates, definition changes, exemptions, and reporting requirements. The main policy areas are National Security, Defense, and Science & Space.
Who Benefits and How
Congress oversight committees would be affected, Review Board and declassification operations could gain revenue opportunities, and Families of missing service members and civilians would be affected.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Federal taxpayers could face higher costs, National Archives and Records Administration would take on compliance duties, and Intelligence community agencies would take on compliance duties.
Key Provisions
- Establishes congressional findings that records about missing Armed Forces and civilian personnel should be preserved, carry a presumption of declassification, and be disclosed to enable full accounting for missing...
- Establishes comprehensive definitions for key terms including missing Armed Forces and civilian personnel, missing Armed Forces and civilian personnel record, Executive agency, Government office, and public interest.
- Requires the Archivist to establish the Missing Armed Forces and Civilian Personnel Records Collection within 90 days, prepare a guidebook and index, and establish criteria for record transmission including metadata...
- Requires all Government offices to identify, locate, and transmit missing personnel records to the Archivist within 270 days, with certification under penalty of perjury. Exempts Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency...
- Establishes narrow grounds for postponing disclosure including national security concerns, protection of intelligence sources and methods, and privacy protections, with different standards for records older and newer...
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
The bill establishes congressional findings that records about missing Armed Forces and civilian personnel should be preserved, carry a presumption of declassification, and be disclosed to enable full accounting for missing, establishes comprehensive definitions for key terms including missing Armed Forces and civilian personnel, missing Armed Forces and civilian personnel record, Executive agency, Government office, and public interest, and requires the Archivist to establish the Missing Armed Forces and Civilian Personnel Records Collection within 90 days, prepare a guidebook and index, and establish criteria for record transmission including metadata.
Key Policy Areas
National Security, Defense, Science & Space
Primary Purpose
The bill establishes congressional findings that records about missing Armed Forces and civilian personnel should be preserved, carry a presumption of declassification, and be disclosed to enable full accounting for missing, establishes comprehensive definitions for key terms including missing Armed Forces and civilian personnel, missing Armed Forces and civilian personnel record, Executive agency, Government office, and public interest, and requires the Archivist to establish the Missing Armed Forces and Civilian Personnel Records Collection within 90 days, prepare a guidebook and index, and establish criteria for record transmission including metadata.
Policy Domains
Sections 3-4 - Definitions and Collection Establishment
Identified Gains
- Congress oversight committees
- Review Board and declassification operations
- Families of missing service members and civilians
- Families of missing personnel
- Families and public seeking accountability
Identified Costs
- Federal taxpayers
- National Archives and Records Administration
- Intelligence community agencies
- Executive agencies subject to Review Board authority
- Department of Defense and military departments
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
ReportedCommittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Ordered to be …
Mr. Crapo (for himself, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Risch, Mr. Padilla, …
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security …
Introduced in Senate
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Agencies seeking to withhold records under other laws, Congress oversight committees, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Positive-direction: Congress oversight committees, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Executive Director and Review Board staff positions, Government offices facing compliance challenges, Intelligence agencies with sources to protect, Review Board and declassification operations, Review Board members (5 positions)
Negative-direction: Agencies seeking to withhold records under other laws, Department of Defense and military departments, Department of Justice, Executive agencies subject to Review Board authority, Executive agencies subject to disclosure requirements, Federal agencies holding classified records, Intelligence community agencies, National Archives and Records Administration, Review Board
Families and public seeking accountability, Families of missing personnel, Families of missing service members and civilians
Positive-direction: Families and public seeking accountability, Families of missing personnel, Families of missing service members and civilians, Families of personnel missing in Cold War conflicts, Public and researchers using FOIA, Public seeking government accountability, Public seeking information on postponed records
Negative-direction: Taxpayers
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "archivist"
- → Archivist of the United States
- "review_board"
- → Missing Armed Forces and Civilian Personnel Records Review Board
- "originating_body"
- → Government office or source that created a record
- "government_office"
- → Executive agencies, Library of Congress, or National Archives
- "president"
- → President of the United States
- "review_board"
- → Missing Armed Forces and Civilian Personnel Records Review Board
- "executive_director"
- → Executive Director of the Review Board
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
Missing persons as defined in 10 U.S.C. 1513, including federal civilian employees and contractors serving with the Armed Forces who are in missing status
A record relating directly or indirectly to the loss, fate, or status of missing personnel created by or in possession of any government office, relating to persons who became missing between December 7, 1941 and the date of enactment
The compelling interest in prompt public disclosure for historical purposes, public research, and informing families about the fate of missing personnel
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology