I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5269 

To provide for payment of proceeds from savings bonds to a State with 

title to such bonds pursuant to the judgment of a court. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 26, 2019 

Mr. ESTES (for himself, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. TIMMONS, Mr. 

MCADAMS, Mr. SMITH of Missouri, Mr. BEYER, Mr. LAHOOD, and Ms. 

SA ́NCHEZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To provide for payment of proceeds from savings bonds to 

a State with title to such bonds pursuant to the judgment of a court. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Unclaimed Savings 

5 Bond Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TRANSFER AND REDEMPTION OF ABANDONED SAV7 INGS BONDS. 

8 Section 3105 of title 31, United States Code, is 

9 amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(f)(1) Notwithstanding any other Federal law, the 

2 ownership of an applicable savings bond may be trans3 ferred pursuant to a valid judgment of escheatment vest4 ing a State with title to the bond. Nothing in this section, 

5 or in any regulation promulgated by the Secretary to im6 plement this section, may be construed to preempt State 

7 law providing for, or governing the escheatment of, appli8 cable savings bonds. 

9 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall recognize an order of a court 

10 of competent jurisdiction that vests title to an applicable 

11 savings bond with a State, regardless of whether the State 

12 has possession of such bond, if the State provides the Sec13 retary with a certified copy of such order. 

14 ‘‘(3)(A) If a State has title or is seeking to obtain 

15 title through a judicial proceeding to an applicable savings 

16 bond, the Secretary shall provide to the State, upon re17 quest, the serial number of such bond, and any reasonably 

18 available records or information— 

19 ‘‘(i) relating to the purchase or ownership of 

20 such bond, including any transactions involving such 

21 bond; or 

22 ‘‘(ii) which may provide other identifying infor23 mation relating to such bond. 

24 ‘‘(B) Any records or information provided to a State 

25 pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be considered suffiVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:44 Dec 06, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5269.IH H5269

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1 cient to enable the State to redeem the applicable savings 

2 bond for full value, regardless of whether the bond is lost, 

3 stolen, destroyed, mutilated, defaced, or otherwise not in 

4 the possession of the State. 

5 ‘‘(4)(A) Subject to subparagraph (C), a State may 

6 redeem and receive payment for an applicable savings 

7 bond for which the State has title pursuant to the same 

8 procedures established pursuant to regulations which are 

9 available for payment or redemption of a savings bond by 

10 any owner of such bond. 

11 ‘‘(B) The Secretary may not prescribe any regulation 

12 which prevents or prohibits a State from obtaining title 

13 to an applicable savings bond or redeeming such bond pur14 suant to the procedures described in subparagraph (A). 

15 ‘‘(C) In the case of an applicable savings bond which 

16 is lost, stolen, destroyed, mutilated, defaced, or otherwise 

17 not in the possession of the State, if the State has re18 quested records and information under paragraph (3)(A), 

19 any applicable period of limitation for payment or redemp20 tion of such bond shall not begin to run against the State 

21 until the date on which the Secretary has provided the 

22 State with the records and information described in such 

23 paragraph. 


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1 ‘‘(5)(A) If the United States Government makes pay2 ment to a State for an applicable savings bond pursuant 

3 to paragraph (4)(A)— 

4 ‘‘(i) the United States Government shall not re5 tain any further obligation or liability relating to 

6 such bond, including any obligation or liability with 

7 respect to the registered owner of such bond (as de8 scribed in paragraph (7)(B)); and 

9 ‘‘(ii) such bond shall not be redeemable by the 

10 Secretary or any paying agent authorized to make 

11 payments to redeem such bonds. 

12 ‘‘(6) This subsection shall apply to an applicable sav13 ings bond issued before, on, or after the date of the enact14 ment of this subsection. 

15 ‘‘(7) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘appli16 cable savings bond’ means a matured savings bond, and 

17 all payment of such bond, including interest, that— 

18 ‘‘(A) was originally in paper, paperless, or elec19 tronic form; 

20 ‘‘(B) is registered to an owner with a last 

21 known address within a State claiming title under a 

22 valid escheatment order entered after December 31, 

23 2012, and before January 2026; and 

24 ‘‘(C) has not been redeemed by such owner.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. APPLICATION TO PENDING ENFORCEMENT AC2 TIONS. 

3 Neither the Attorney General nor the Secretary of the 

4 Treasury may proceed in any civil action or other enforce5 ment proceeding that is pending on the date of the enact6 ment of this Act that arose out of the efforts of a State 

7 to redeem one or more applicable savings bonds if the posi8 tion of the Government is inconsistent with the amend9 ments made by this Act. 

Æ 


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