This bill would direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to set up a centralized system inside the Department of Veterans Affairs to store information about unclaimed human remains that might be veterans. The system must include records sent to the Department from coroners, State governments, and funeral homes. For remains the Department holds, the system should include the veteran's name and fingerprints if available, estimated age at death if determinable, and other identifiers the Secretary finds needed to try to confirm veteran status and find next-of-kin. The Secretary must use existing memoranda of understanding to request relevant information from the Social Security Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Department of Defense, and may seek new or modified memoranda. The Secretary must consider information from the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System when requesting FBI information. The system is set to expire on the last day of the third fiscal year after the bill becomes law. The Secretary must report to the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees one year after enactment and then annually for three years, describing implementation, outreach, and the total number of unclaimed remains identified using the system.
No publicly available information on projected costs, funding sources, or appropriations is included in the bill text or provided metadata.
No publicly available information on proponents' stated reasons, arguments, or official endorsements is included in the bill text or provided metadata.
No publicly available information on opponents' stated reasons, objections, or official opposition is included in the bill text or provided metadata.