Sponsors (14)
Official title: Provide for the creation of the missing Armed Forces and civilian personnel Records Collection at the National Archives, to require the expeditious public transmission to the Archivist and public disclosure of missing Armed Forces and civilian personnel records, and for other purposes.
Introduced November 19, 2025 by Michael Dean Crapo · Last progress November 19, 2025
The bill substantially expands transparency and creates a time‑bounded, empowered Review Board and centralized archives to help families find missing personnel records, but it does so with significant cost, implementation burdens, privacy and national‑security risks, and preserved executive override authority.
Families of missing service members and civilian claimants will get faster, clearer, and legally defined access to records about the fate or status of loved ones through new deadlines, defined processes, and the Board's authority to compel records.
The public, researchers, and taxpayers will gain greater government transparency and accountability because the Act presumes declassification for many historical personnel records, requires transmission to the Archivist, and mandates public postings, reports, and congressional briefings.
Veterans, former service members, and historians will benefit from a centralized National Archives collection, indexed subject guides, and metadata/format standards that make it easier to locate, preserve, and research missing personnel records.
Military personnel, intelligence sources, and national security interests face heightened risk because broader disclosure and pressure to release records could expose classified operational details, sources, or methods.
Taxpayers and federal agencies will face substantial administrative costs and resource burdens—searching, redacting, transferring, staffing a Review Board, and frequent reporting—which could increase spending and divert agency capacity.
Individuals and third parties could see reduced judicial oversight and privacy protections because the Act can override other disclosure-limiting statutes, expand exemptions, and treat Board requests as satisfying certain legal requirements.
Based on analysis of 15 sections of legislative text.
Creates a Review Board and National Archives Collection that requires federal entities to find, certify, transmit, and (unless narrowly excepted) publicly disclose records about missing Armed Forces and civilian personnel.
Requires creation of a federal review board and a central archival collection to locate, review, and publicly release U.S. Government records about missing Armed Forces and civilian personnel dating from December 7, 1941 to the date of enactment. It orders agencies to search for, preserve, certify, transmit, and not destroy such records; directs the Archivist to maintain a public Collection and guide; and sets standards and narrow exceptions for postponing public release of classified or sensitive information. Creates an independent five‑member Missing Armed Forces and Civilian Personnel Records Review Board with staff and an Executive Director to oversee review, to require agencies to supply records, to request DOJ petitions to unseal grand‑jury or otherwise sealed materials, and to publish disclosure decisions and justifications while providing narrow national‑security and privacy exceptions. The Act authorizes necessary funding and sets processes for deadlines, oversight, and judicial review of Board actions and agency certifications.