Shaheen Applauds Advancement of Her Bipartisan Bill to Bring Missing Service Members Home

(Washington, DC) – Today, U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a senior member of the Armed Services Committee , and Mike Crapo (R-ID) applauded the advancement of their bipartisan bill to strengthen efforts to bring home missing service members by a unanimous, bipartisan vote in the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. The Bring Our Heroes Home Act would eliminate obstacles preventing families from accessing records needed to learn more about the fates of service members and civilian personnel who went missing. “Military families often wait years, sometimes even decades, to access information about their lost loved ones who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country,” said Senator Shaheen. “I’m pleased the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee unanimously cleared our legislation to ensure the records of service members are properly collected and shared so that our lost soldiers’ loved ones can get the closure they need to heal.” “We have a duty to our missing servicemembers and their families to make every effort to bring them home,” said Senator Crapo. “Government bureaucracy cannot stand in the way of fulfilling this promise or providing closure to families who, in some cases, have waited decades for answers about their loved ones. The Committee’s action today is an important step forward, and I will continue working to get this bill signed into law.” According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, more than 81,500 Americans remain unaccounted for from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Cold War, the Gulf Wars and other conflicts. Shaheen secured a provision based on the Bring Our Heroes Home Act in the Committee-approved Fiscal Year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to eliminate obstacles preventing families and caseworkers from accessing the records needed for recovering America’s POWs and MIA. Throughout her time in Congress, Shaheen has worked diligently on behalf of Granite State families to return the remains of their loved ones lost in war. In 2016, Shaheen successfully added an amendment to North Korea Sanctions legislation , which was signed into law, to protect efforts to recover the remains of American service members in North Korea. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 government funding legislation that was signed into law , Shaheen supported efforts to increase funding of an additional $30 million for the Defense Personnel Accounting Agency (DPAA), which is the agency responsible for identifying remains of POWs and MIAs from conflicts around the world. ###