Congress·Passed Senate·S. 1038

TRACE Act

Missing Persons: Tracking on Federal Lands and Waters

Sep 4, 2025·View on Congress.gov·Read full text

This bill is one vehicle in a longer effort. See the full story across every version.View effort →

Next up: The HouseNo action in 10 months

The TRACE Act has passed the Senate and is currently waiting at the desk for further action. It is actively moving through the legislative process. There are no companion bills listed for this legislation at this time.

Legislative Progress

✓ Senate

House

President

Law

Very likely to pass

This bill has already passed the Senate and addresses a non-partisan safety issue, making it very likely to be approved by the House and signed into law.

How we got here

This bill’s path across every version that has carried it.

Reintroduced
Reintroduced from S. 2120 (118th), which died when its Congress ended.
S. 2120 (118th) →

Key Points

This bill requires the Department of Justice to add a specific data field to the national database for missing people. This new field will show if a person was last seen on federal land, like a national park or forest, or in U.S. coastal waters.
The goal is to help law enforcement and families better track people who disappear in areas managed by the government. Currently, it can be difficult to get a clear picture of how many people go missing in these specific locations.
The Attorney General must send a report to Congress every year starting soon after the law begins. This report will list the total number of cases where someone went missing on federal property or in the ocean during the previous year.
The rules apply to lands managed by the Forest Service, the Department of the Interior, and certain areas run by the Army Corps of Engineers. It does not include land held in trust for Native American tribes.

Impact Analysis

Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.

Milestones

6 milestones10 actions

Sep 4, 2025House

Held at the desk.

Sep 4, 2025House

Received in the House.

The House has received the Senate-passed bill and will decide whether to take it up.

Sep 4, 2025Senate

Message on Senate action sent to the House.

Sep 2, 2025Senate

Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S5987; text: CR S5987)

The Senate voted to approve this bill. If the House already passed it, it goes to the President.

Sep 2, 2025

Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent.

The Senate voted to approve this bill. If the House already passed it, it goes to the President.

No votes, news coverage, or related bills recorded for this bill yet.

Source Information

Document Type

Congressional Bill

Official Title

TRACE Act

Bill NumberS 1038

Congress119th Congress

ChamberSenate

Latest ActionHeld at the desk.

Data Sources

Congress.gov

Official legislative information

Read Full Bill Text

Sponsor

Cosponsors

(5)

D: 4R: 1

Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.