New Act Mandates Disclosure of All Missing Personnel Records Since WWII, Sets 10-Year Declassification Deadline

The Bring Our Heroes Home Act is a major attempt to finally get answers about U.S. military and civilian personnel who went missing during conflicts dating back to December 7, 1941. At its core, this bill says the default position for all federal records about these missing individuals—from intelligence reports to White House memos—is public disclosure.

This isn't just a suggestion; it’s a mandate. The bill creates the Missing Armed Forces and Civilian Personnel Records Collection at the National Archives and requires every government office to immediately search for, preserve, and eventually transmit copies of all relevant records. The goal is to achieve the “fullest possible accounting” for these heroes, providing historical truth and, critically, closure for their families. If an agency tries to hold back a record, they have to submit a public report justifying why the harm of releasing it outweighs the public interest, which the bill defines as a "compelling interest" in prompt disclosure.

The Independent Fact-Checker: The Review Board

To make sure this doesn't just become another bureaucratic paper shuffle, the bill establishes a powerful, independent Missing Armed Forces and Civilian Personnel Records Review Board. This five-member board, appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, is the ultimate referee. Think of them as the people who actually read the fine print and decide if an agency’s claim of secrecy holds up.

This Board has real teeth. It can subpoena documents, compel testimony from private citizens, and demand government offices account for any destroyed records. For families who have spent decades hitting brick walls, this independent oversight means they finally have someone outside the defense and intelligence agencies fighting for transparency. The Board’s primary job is to review every single request from an agency to postpone a record’s release, ensuring the government isn't just hiding information because it's inconvenient.

The 10-Year Clock: When Secrecy Expires

The most significant provision for historical transparency is the hard deadline: all missing personnel records must be fully and publicly disclosed within 10 years after the Review Board is established. This is a massive shift from the current system, which often allows records to remain classified indefinitely through rolling extensions.

There is only one way to stop that 10-year clock: the President must personally certify that continued postponement is necessary. This requires "clear and convincing evidence" that releasing the information would cause a harm so "grave" that it outweighs the public interest. This high bar ensures that historical truth is the default setting, and only the most serious threats—like revealing a living confidential source—can justify continued secrecy.

Who Carries the Burden?

While the benefit here is huge for historians and the families of the missing, the administrative cost falls squarely on the government. Every executive agency, from the Department of Defense to the CIA, now has a mandatory task: search, identify, copy, and review every single record related to missing personnel since 1941. This is a massive, costly undertaking that requires agencies to prioritize historical disclosure over other duties, and they have tight deadlines (270 days after the Board is established) to start transmitting these records.

There are a few narrow exemptions where agencies can temporarily delay transmitting records. For example, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency can hold onto documents it is actively using in a current investigation to locate, identify, or disinter remains. Similarly, the Department of Defense and State Department casualty offices can delay release for individual cases where they are actively supporting a family. This makes sense—you don't want to accidentally jeopardize a live recovery operation or blind a team actively working on a case—but it does mean some specific case files might face initial delays.

Overall, this bill is a huge step toward transparency, forcing the government to open up its archives on a sensitive topic that has been shrouded in secrecy for decades. It puts an independent body in charge and sets a firm expiration date on most of that secrecy.