RELEASE: Crapo Bill to Help Expedite Recovery of Missing Servicemembers Moves Forward

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 6, 2026

CONTACT:
Kyra Smith (Crapo)

The Bring Our Heroes Home Act unanimously clears committee

Washington, D.C.–The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee unanimously advanced bipartisan legislation U.S. Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-New Hampshire) introduced to cut bureaucratic red tape to help locate missing American servicemembers and civilian personnel.

S. 3226, the Bring Our Heroes Home Act, would create a centralized records collection at the National Archives and establish a specialized review board to fast-track the declassification of relevant government files to provide long-overdue answers to the families and loved ones of American prisoners of war (POW) and personnel missing in action (MIA).

“We have a duty to our missing servicemembers and their families to make every effort to bring them home,” said 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, approximately 80,751 Americans–including 358 Idahoans–remain unaccounted for from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Cold War, the Gulf Wars and other conflicts.

Specifically, the Bring Our Heroes Home Act would:

• Require consolidation of all records related to missing personnel in a newly established Missing Armed Forces and Civilian Personnel Records Collection at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA);
• Require all government agencies to transmit any records related to missing servicemembers and civilians to NARA; and
• Establish an independent government office, the Missing Armed Forces and Civilian Personnel Records Review Board, to identify missing personnel records, facilitate the transmission and disclosure of these records and review federal agency decisions to postpone declassification.

The bill now awaits consideration by the full U.S. Senate.

Crapo and Shaheen previously introduced the legislation in the 116th and 117th Congresses and have long supported various efforts to identify and recover all missing and unaccounted-for American military personnel.

About Mike Crapo

Senator Mike Crapo has represented Idaho in the Senate since 1999, following three terms in the U.S. House and eight years in the Idaho State Senate. A lifelong Idahoan, he currently serves as Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.

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