Congress moves to track missing persons on federal land
H.R. 2150 — TRACE Act · Filed by Joe Neguse (D-CO) · 14 cosponsors · Introduced Mar 14, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill requires the Attorney General to add a data field to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) to track whether missing persons were last seen on federal land or whether unidentified remains were found on federal land. It also mandates annual reports to Congress breaking down these cases by which federal agency manages the land. The bill aims to improve data collection and transparency around disappearances and remains on federal property.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is a data-collection and reporting mandate. It creates no new enforcement powers, restrictions, or financial transfers—only a requirement to track and report information about missing persons cases on federal land.
What the text implies
- Annual reporting may reveal patterns in disappearances on specific federal lands (national parks, forests, military installations), potentially prompting policy changes or increased search resources in high-risk areas.
- Disaggregation by federal land management agency (USDA, Interior, Army Corps) may expose disparities in search-and-rescue capacity or responsiveness across agencies, creating pressure for resource reallocation.
- The data field may help identify serial disappearances or clusters on particular federal properties, assisting law enforcement in pattern detection and prevention.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill creates a transparency and accountability mechanism for missing persons cases on federal land without restricting any citizen rights or imposing costs. It improves data visibility for families of missing persons, law enforcement, and the public by centralizing information that may help locate missing people or identify remains.
Named in the bill
Attorney General, National Institute of Justice, National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of Defense, Army Corps of Engineers, House Committee on the Judiciary, Senate Committee on the Judiciary
Where it stands
14 cosponsors: 8 Republicans, 5 Democrats, 1 Independents.
- Mar 14, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Mar 14, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (2,062 characters) on Aug 21, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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