One Missing Person is Too Many

Floor Speech

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Mr. BURCHETT. Mr. Speaker, this May is National Missing Persons Month. Over 600,000 people go missing in the United States every year. Tens of thousands of these folks remain missing every year.

Law enforcement officers work hard to solve these cases as quickly as possible. I thank them for all they do to find these people and try to ensure their safety.

Congress should do everything it can, though, to help the men and women in law enforcement do their jobs and bring these people home.

That is why I joined Congressman Joe Neguse in leading a bipartisan bill to improve reporting requirements for individuals who go missing on public lands.

This bill, called the TRACE Act, enhances reporting requirements of the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System so investigators across multiple agencies have access to all the important information to catch criminals behind people's disappearances.

No missing persons case should go unsolved just because investigators couldn't easily access the information they need. Improving the way our agencies record and share case details could save lives.

Mr. Speaker, 600,000 missing persons is too many. One missing person is too many. We should do all we can to find them and help them get home safely.

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