Text of Senate Amendment 6026

On 2026-06-24, Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) delivered a floor speech titled "Text Of Senate Amendment 6026" in the Senate.

Text of Senate Amendment 6026

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 106 (Wednesday, June 24, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 106 (Wednesday, June 24, 2026)] [Senate] [Pages S3233-S3238] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] SA 6026. Mr. CRAPO (for himself and Mrs. Shaheen) submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 4784, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2027 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows: At the end of title X, add the following: Subtitle H--Bring Our Heroes Home Act SEC. 1096. SHORT TITLE. This subtitle may be cited as the ``Bring Our Heroes Home Act''. SEC. 1097. DEFINITIONS. In this subtitle: (1) Archivist.--The term ``Archivist'' means the Archivist of the United States. (2) Collection.--The term ``Collection'' means the Missing Armed Forces and Civilian Personnel Records Collection established under section 1098(a). (3) Executive agency.--The term ``Executive agency''-- (A) means an agency, as defined in section 552(f) of title 5, United States Code; (B) includes any Executive department, military department, Government corporation, Government controlled corporation, or other establishment in the executive branch of the Federal Government, including the Executive Office of the President, any branch of the Armed Forces, and any independent regulatory agency; and (C) does not include any non-appropriated agency, department, corporation, or establishment. (4) Executive director.--The term ``Executive Director'' means the Executive Director of the Review Board. (5) Government office.--The term ``Government office'' means an Executive agency, the Library of Congress, or the National Archives. (6) Missing armed forces and civilian personnel.--The term ``missing Armed Forces and civilian personnel''-- (A) means 1 or more missing persons; and (B) includes an individual who was a missing person and whose status was later changed to ``missing and presumed dead''. (7) Missing armed forces and civilian personnel record.-- The term ``missing Armed Forces and civilian personnel record'' means a record that relates, directly or indirectly, to the loss, fate, or status of missing Armed Forces and civilian personnel that-- (A) was created or made available for use by, obtained by, or otherwise came into the custody, possession, or control of-- (i) any Government office; (ii) any Presidential library; or (iii) any of the Armed Forces; and (B) relates to 1 or more missing Armed Forces and civilian personnel who became missing persons during the period-- (i) beginning on December 7, 1941; and (ii) ending on the date of enactment of this Act. (8) Missing person.--The term ``missing person'' means-- (A) a person described in paragraph (1) of section 1513 of title 10, United States Code; and (B) any other civilian employee of the Federal Government or an employee of a contractor of the Federal Government who serves in direct support of, or accompanies, the Armed Forces in the field under orders and who is in a missing status (as that term is defined in paragraph (2) of such section 1513). (9) National archives.--The term ``National Archives''-- (A) means the National Archives and Records Administration; and (B) includes any component of the National Archives and Records Administration (including Presidential archival depositories established under section 2112 of title 44, United States Code). (10) Official investigation.--The term ``official investigation'' means a review, briefing, inquiry, or hearing relating to missing Armed Forces and civilian personnel conducted by a Presidential commission, committee of Congress, or agency, regardless of whether it is conducted independently, at the request of any Presidential commission or committee of Congress, or at the request of any official of the Federal Government. (11) Originating body.--The term ``originating body'' means the Government office or other initial source that created a record or particular information within a record. (12) Public interest.--The term ``public interest'' means the compelling interest in the prompt public disclosure of missing Armed Forces and civilian personnel records for historical and governmental purposes, for public research, and for the purpose of fully informing the people of the United States, most importantly families of missing Armed Forces and civilian personnel, about the fate of the missing Armed Forces and civilian personnel and the process by which the Federal Government has sought to account for them. (13) Record.--The term ``record'' has the meaning given the term ``records'' in section 3301 of title 44, United States Code. (14) Review board.--The term ``Review Board'' means the Missing Armed Forces and Civilian Personnel Records Review Board established under section 1099B. SEC. 1098. MISSING ARMED FORCES AND CIVILIAN PERSONNEL RECORDS COLLECTION AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES. (a) Establishment of Collection.--Not later than 90 days after a quorum of the Missing Armed Forces and Civilian Personnel Records Review Board has been established under section 1099B, the Archivist shall-- (1) commence establishment of a collection of records to be known as the ``Missing Armed Forces and Civilian Personnel Records Collection''; (2) commence preparing the subject guidebook and index to the Collection; and (3) establish criteria and acceptable formats for Executive agencies to follow when transmitting copies of missing Armed Forces and civilian personnel records to the Archivist, to include required metadata, including applicable information privacy safeguards. (b) Regulations.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the swearing in of the Review Board members, the Review Board shall promulgate rules to establish guidelines and processes for the disclosure of records contained in the Collection, including applicable information privacy safeguards. (c) Oversight.-- (1) Senate.--The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate shall have continuing jurisdiction, including legislative oversight jurisdiction, in the Senate with respect to the Collection. (2) House of representatives.--The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Representatives shall have continuing jurisdiction, including legislative oversight jurisdiction, in the House of Representatives with respect to the Collection. SEC. 1099. REVIEW, IDENTIFICATION, TRANSMISSION TO THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES, AND PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF MISSING ARMED FORCES AND CIVILIAN PERSONNEL RECORDS BY GOVERNMENT OFFICES. (a) In General.-- (1) Preparation.--As soon as practicable after the date of enactment of this Act, and sufficiently in advance of the deadlines established under this subtitle, each Government office shall-- (A) identify and locate any missing Armed Forces and civilian personnel records in the custody, possession, or control of the Government office, including intelligence reports, congressional inquiries, memoranda to or from the White House and other Federal departments and agencies, Prisoner of War (POW) debriefings, live sighting reports, documents relating to POW camps, movement of POWs, exploitation of POWs, experimentation on POWs, or status changes from Missing in Action (MIA) to Killed in Action (KIA); and (B) prepare for transmission to the Archivist in accordance with the criteria and acceptable formats established by the Archivist a copy of any missing Armed Forces and civilian personnel records that have not previously been transmitted to the Archivist by the Government office. (2) Certification.--Each Government office shall submit to the Archivist, under penalty of perjury, a certification indicating-- (A) whether the Government office has conducted a thorough search for all missing Armed Forces and civilian personnel records in the custody, possession, or control of the Government office; and (B) whether a copy of any missing Armed Forces and civilian personnel record has not been transmitted to the Archivist. (3) Preservation.--No missing Armed Forces and civilian personnel record shall be destroyed, altered, or mutilated in any way. (4) Effect of previous disclosure.--Information that was made available or disclosed to the public before the date of enactment of this Act in a missing Armed Forces and civilian personnel record may not be withheld, redacted, postponed for public disclosure, or reclassified. (5) Withheld and substantially redacted records.-- (A) In general.--For any missing Armed Forces and civilian personnel record that is transmitted to the Archivist which a Government office proposes to substantially redact or withhold in full from public access, the head of the Government office shall submit an unclassified and publicly releasable report to the Archivist, the Review Board, and each appropriate committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives justifying the decision of the Government office to substantially redact or withhold the record by demonstrating that the release of information would clearly and demonstrably be expected to cause an articulated harm, and that the harm would be of such gravity as to outweigh the public interest in access to the information. (B) Rulemaking.--The Archivist shall promulgate regulations to define the term ``substantially redacted record'' for purposes of subparagraph (A). (b) Review.-- (1) In general.--Except as provided under paragraph (5), not later than 270 days after a quorum of the Review Board has been established under section 1099B, each Government office shall, in accordance with the criteria and acceptable formats established by the Archivist-- [[Page S3234]] (A) identify, locate, copy, and review each missing Armed Forces and civilian personnel r