    [United States Statutes at Large, Volume 134, 116th Congress, 2nd Session]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    Public Law 116-277
    116th Congress

    An Act

    To the extent provided in advance in appropriations Act, the Attorney
    General is authorized to use funds appropriated for the
    operationalization, maintenance, and expansion of the National Missing
    and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) for the purpose of carrying out
    this Act. <>

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
    United States of America in Congress assembled, <>
    SECTION 1. <>  SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Missing Persons and Unidentified
    Remains Act of 2019''.
    SEC. 2. USE OF GRANT FUNDS.

    (a) Jennifer's Law.--Jennifer's Law (34 U.S.C. 40501 et seq.) is
    amended--
    (1) by striking section 202 (34 U.S.C. 40501) and inserting
    the following:
    ``SEC. 202. <>  PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

    ``(a) In General.--
    ``(1) Grants authorized.--The Attorney General may award
    grants to eligible entities described in paragraph (2) to enable
    the eligible entities to improve the transportation, processing,
    identification, and reporting of missing persons and
    unidentified remains, including migrants.
    ``(2) Eligible entities.--Eligible entities described in
    this paragraph are the following:
    ``(A) States and units of local government.
    ``(B) Accredited, publicly funded, Combined DNA
    Index System (commonly known as `CODIS') forensic
    laboratories, which demonstrate the grant funds will be
    used for DNA typing and uploading biological family DNA
    reference samples, including samples from foreign
    nationals, into CODIS, subject to the protocols for
    inclusion of such forensic DNA profiles into CODIS, and
    the privacy protections required under section 203(c).
    ``(C) Medical examiners offices.
    ``(D) Accredited, publicly funded toxicology
    laboratories.
    ``(E) Accredited, publicly funded crime
    laboratories.
    ``(F) Publicly funded university forensic
    anthropology laboratories.
    ``(G) Nonprofit organizations that have working
    collaborative agreements with State and county forensic
    offices, including medical examiners, coroners, and
    justices of the peace, for entry of data into CODIS or
    the National Missing

    [[Page 3369]]

    and Unidentified Persons System (commonly known as
    `NamUs'), or both.'';
    (2) in section 203 (34 U.S.C. 40502)--
    (A) in subsection (a), by striking ``a State'' and
    inserting ``an entity described in section 202'';
    (B) in subsection (b)--
    (i) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by
    striking ``State'' and inserting ``applicant'';
    (ii) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting
    the following:
    ``(1) <>  report to the National Crime
    Information Center and, when possible, to law enforcement
    authorities throughout the applicant's jurisdiction regarding
    every deceased unidentified person, regardless of age, found in
    the applicant's jurisdiction;'';
    (iii) in paragraph (3), by striking ``and'' at
    the end;
    (iv) in paragraph (4), by striking the period
    at the end and inserting ``; and''; and
    (v) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(5) <>  collect and report information to
    the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
    regarding missing persons and unidentified remains.''; and
    (C) by adding at the end the following:

    ``(c) Privacy Protections for Biological Family Reference Samples.--
    ``(1) In general.--Any suspected biological family DNA
    reference samples received from citizens of the United States or
    foreign nationals and uploaded into the Combined DNA Index
    System (commonly referred to as `CODIS') by an accredited,
    publicly funded CODIS forensic laboratory awarded a grant under
    this section may be used only for identifying missing persons
    and unidentified remains.
    ``(2) Limitation on use.--Any biological family DNA
    reference samples from citizens of the United States or foreign
    nationals entered into CODIS for purposes of identifying missing
    persons and unidentified remains may not be disclosed to a
    Federal or State law enforcement agency for law enforcement
    purposes.''; and
    (3) by striking section 204 (34 U.S.C. 40503) and inserting
    the following:
    ``SEC. 205. <>  USE OF FUNDS.

    ``An applicant receiving a grant award under this title may use such
    funds to--
    ``(1) pay for the costs incurred during or after fiscal year
    2017 for the transportation, processing, identification, and
    reporting of missing persons and unidentified remains, including
    migrants;
    ``(2) establish and expand programs developed to improve the
    reporting of unidentified persons in accordance with the
    assurances provided in the application submitted pursuant to
    section 203(b);
    ``(3) hire and maintain additional DNA case analysts and
    technicians, fingerprint examiners, forensic odontologists, and
    forensic anthropologists, needed to support such identification
    programs; and

    [[Page 3370]]

    ``(4) procure and maintain state of the art multi-modal,
    multi-purpose forensic and DNA-typing and analytical
    equipment.''.

    (b) Kristen's Act.--Section 102 of Kristen's Act (34 U.S.C. 40504
    note) is amended to read as follows:
    ``SEC. 102. AUTHORIZATION OF FUNDING.

    ``To the extent provided in advance in appropriations Acts, the
    Attorney General is authorized to use funds appropriated for the
    operationalization, maintenance, and expansion of the National Missing
    and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) for the purpose of carrying out
    this Act''.
    SEC. 3. RESCUE BEACONS.

    Section 411(o) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C.
    211(o)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(3) Rescue beacons. <> --Beginning
    in fiscal year 2019, in carrying out subsection (c)(8), the
    Commissioner shall purchase, deploy, and maintain not more than
    170 self-powering, 9-1-1 cellular relay rescue beacons along the
    southern border of the United States at locations determined
    appropriate by the Commissioner to mitigate migrant deaths.''.
    SEC. 4. <>  REPORTING ON NATIONAL MISSING AND
    UNIDENTIFIED PERSONS SYSTEM (NAMUS) PROGRAM.

    Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this act,
    and every year thereafter, the Attorney General shall submit a report to
    the appropriate committees of Congress regarding--
    (1) the number of unidentified person cases processed;
    (2) CODIS associations and identifications;
    (3) the number of anthropology cases processed;
    (4) the number of suspected border crossing cases and
    associations made;
    (5) the number of trials supported with expert testimony;
    (6) the number of students trained and professions of those
    students; and
    (7) the turnaround time and backlog.
    SEC. 5. <>  OTHER REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Unidentified Remains.--
    (1) Reporting requirement.--Not later than 1 year after the
    date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the
    Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall submit
    a report to the appropriate committees of Congress regarding all
    unidentified remains discovered, during the reporting period, on
    or near the border between the United States and Mexico,
    including--
    (A) for each deceased person--
    (i) the cause and manner of death, if known;
    (ii) the sex, age (at time of death), and
    country of origin (if such information is
    determinable); and
    (iii) the location of each unidentified
    remain;
    (B) the total number of deceased people whose
    unidentified remains were discovered by U.S. Customs and
    Border Protection during the reporting period;
    (C) to the extent such information is available to
    U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the total number of

    [[Page 3371]]

    deceased people whose unidentified remains were
    discovered by Federal, State, local or Tribal law
    enforcement officers, military personnel, or medical
    examiners offices;
    (D) the efforts of U.S. Customs and Border
    Protection to engage with nongovernmental organizations,
    institutions of higher education, medical examiners and
    coroners, and law enforcement agencies--
    (i) to identify and map the locations at which
    migrant deaths occur; and
    (ii) to count the number of deaths that occur
    at such locations; and
    (E) a detailed description of U.S. Customs and
    Border Protection's Missing Migrant Program, including
    how the program helps mitigate migrant deaths while
    maintaining border security.
    (2) <>  Public disclosure.--Not later
    than 30 days after each report required under paragraph (1) is
    submitted, the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border
    Protection shall publish on the website of the agency the
    information described in subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of
    paragraph (1) during each reporting period.

    (b) <>  Rescue Beacons.--Not later than 1 year after
    the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the
    Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall submit a report
    to the appropriate committees of Congress regarding the use of rescue
    beacons along the border between the United States and Mexico,
    including, for the reporting period--
    (1) the number of rescue beacons in each border patrol
    sector;
    (2) the specific location of each rescue beacon;
    (3) the frequency with which each rescue beacon was
    activated by a person in distress;
    (4) a description of the nature of the distress that
    resulted in each rescue beacon activation (if such information
    is determinable); and
    (5) <>  an assessment, in
    consultation with local stakeholders, including elected
    officials, nongovernmental organizations, and landowners, of
    necessary additional rescue beacons and recommendations for
    locations for deployment to reduce migrant deaths.

    (c) GAO Report.--Not later than 6 months after the report required
    under subsection (a) is submitted to the appropriate committees of
    Congress, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit a
    report to the same committees that describes--
    (1) how U.S. Customs and Border Protection collects and
    records border-crossing death data;
    (2) the differences (if any) in U.S. Customs and Border
    Protection border-crossing death data collection methodology
    across its sectors;
    (3) how U.S. Customs and Border Protection's data and
    statistical analysis on trends in the numbers, locations,
    causes, and characteristics of border-crossing deaths compare to
    other sources of data on these deaths, including border county
    medical examiners and coroners and the Centers for Disease
    Control and Prevention;

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    (4) how U.S. Customs and Border Protection measures the
    effectiveness of its programs to mitigate migrant deaths; and
    (5) the extent to which U.S. Customs and Border Protection
    engages Federal, State, local, and Tribal governments, foreign
    diplomatic and consular posts, and nongovernmental
    organizations--
    (A) to accurately identify deceased individuals;
    (B) to resolve cases involving unidentified remains;
    (C) to resolve cases involving unidentified persons;
    and
    (D) to share information on missing persons and
    unidentified remains, specifically with the National
    Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs).

    Approved December 31, 2020.

    LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--S. 2174:
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 166 (2020):
    Nov. 16, considered and passed Senate.
    Dec. 16, considered and passed House, amended.
    Dec. 18, Senate concurred in House amendments.