Congress expands AMBER Alert for endangered youth under 18
H.R. 9236 — HAILEY Act of 2026 · Filed by Rudy Yakym (R-IN) · 10 cosponsors · Introduced Jun 10, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill amends the PROTECT Act to require the AMBER Alert system to issue alerts for missing persons under 18 whom law enforcement reasonably believes are high-risk, establishing minimum standards for when such alerts must be disseminated. It expands AMBER Alert eligibility beyond the current criteria to include a broader category of endangered youth.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is to expand AMBER Alert eligibility and mandate alert issuance for a defined category of endangered youth. It is a straightforward public-safety measure with no private carve-outs or narrow beneficiaries.
What the text implies
- The bill's effect depends entirely on how law enforcement interprets 'reasonably believes is a high-risk missing person'—no definition is provided in the bill text itself, leaving discretion to agencies and potentially creating inconsistency across jurisdictions.
- Expanded alert issuance may increase alert fatigue if 'high-risk' is interpreted broadly, potentially reducing public responsiveness to future alerts.
- The bill does not specify funding or resource allocation for law enforcement to implement the new standard, creating a potential unfunded mandate.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill expands a public safety tool (AMBER Alert) to cover more endangered children, giving law enforcement a clearer mandate to mobilize community resources for high-risk missing minors. Families of missing youth and the general public benefit from faster, more consistent alert dissemination.
Named in the bill
PROTECT Act, AMBER Alert Communication network, law enforcement, missing persons under 18
Where it stands
10 cosponsors: 8 Republicans, 2 Democrats.
- Jun 10, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jun 10, 2026 — 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 (637 characters) on Sep 23, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,784 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 2026-09-24.
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