[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 200 (Thursday, December 22, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S10081]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                OMNIBUS

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, this bill, the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act of FY23, addresses an issue that I have been dealing 
with for well over a decade, since I was Louisiana State Treasurer. The 
U.S. Treasury Department is sitting on nearly $30 billion in mature, 
unredeemed savings bonds, issued years or decades ago to hard-working 
Americans who wanted to invest in America. States, who have long held 
the responsibility of holding and making available lost assets, have 
tried to subject these savings bonds to the time-honored, reliable 
escheatment and unclaimed property process. At every turn, their 
efforts have been opposed by Treasury, which has also rebuffed any 
offers from the States to use their vast capabilities to help reunite 
bondholders or their rightful heirs to these funds. Instead, Treasury 
has made its own attempts at digitizing and updating its voluminous 
bondholder records and creating a database for users--efforts which 
have failed to make any meaningful dent in the amounts of unredeemed 
debt, according to their own status report.
  This bill includes a provision that directs Treasury to provide 
States with information relating to bond purchases, including the name, 
applicable address, co-owners or beneficiaries, and the bond serial 
numbers which claimants often need to reclaim their funds. I understand 
that Treasury has said it may not have enough data in its records to 
match the serial numbers with the name and address of the bondholder; 
this is why the bill's language includes some flexibility, stating that 
the information Treasury must provide to States ``may'' include bond 
serial numbers. This wording allows Treasury to use its discretion in 
the limited instances when it is incapable of providing those numbers, 
but the overall language makes clear that Treasury is obligated to make 
every effort to locate relevant and necessary information and provide 
it to the correct States. I expect Treasury to issue regulations which 
will fulfill these responsibilities.
  The bill's definitions ensure that this will cover both paper and 
paperless bonds--and I want to clarify also includes bonds that were 
issued in paper but have been lost, stolen, or destroyed. Treasury's 
own 2021 report on mature unredeemed debt describes the process for 
bond owners who have the necessary information but not the paper 
document itself as lengthy, complex, and a hindrance that discourages 
claimants. The clear purpose of this legislation is to make this 
process simpler by opening it up to States, and Treasury should issue 
regulations reflecting this intent.

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