II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2854 

To allow for the transfer and redemption of abandoned savings bonds. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 27, 2021 

Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mr. MORAN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. 

BROWN, Mr. CASSIDY, Ms. SMITH, Mr. BRAUN, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. RISCH, 

and Mr. KING) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To allow for the transfer and redemption of abandoned 

savings bonds. 

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 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Tens of billions of dollars’ worth of savings 

9 bonds have never been redeemed by their owners, in10 cluding millions of bonds that matured years and 


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1 even decades ago. The Department of the Treasury 

2 refers to these bonds as Matured Unredeemed Debt 

3 (‘‘MUD’’). 

4 (2) The United States savings bond program 

5 was created to fund critical government operations 

6 during times of national need while guaranteeing to 

7 citizens the promise of a safe return. 

8 (3) The States are the traditional custodians of 

9 abandoned property and are best positioned to help 

10 owners of abandoned bonds recover the proceeds of 

11 their investment. 

12 (4) Until abandoned property is claimed, the 

13 States are able to devote unclaimed funds to the 

14 health and welfare of their citizens. 

15 (5) Allowing States to utilize the proceeds of 

16 abandoned savings bonds provides them with liquid17 ity and the ability to serve their citizens without in18 creasing the Federal deficit. 

19 SEC. 3. TRANSFER AND REDEMPTION OF ABANDONED SAV20 INGS BONDS. 

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

22 amended by adding at the end the following: 

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

24 ownership of an applicable savings bond may be trans25 ferred pursuant to a valid judgment of escheatment vestVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Sep 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2854.IS S2854

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1 ing a State with title to the bond. Nothing in this section, 

2 or in any regulation promulgated by the Secretary to im3 plement this section, may be construed to preempt State 

4 law providing for, or governing the escheatment of, appli5 cable savings bonds. 

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

7 of competent jurisdiction that vests title to an applicable 

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

9 has possession of such bond if the State provides the Sec10 retary with a certified copy of such order. 

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

12 title through a judicial proceeding to an applicable savings 

13 bond, the Secretary shall provide to the State, upon re14 quest, the serial number of such bond, and any reasonably 

15 available records or information— 

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

17 such bond, including any transactions involving such 

18 bond; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) which may provide other identifying infor20 mation relating to such bond. 

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

22 pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be considered suffi23 cient to enable the State to redeem the applicable savings 

24 bond for full value, regardless whether the bond is lost, 


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

2 the State’s possession. 

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

4 redeem and receive payment for an applicable savings 

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

6 procedures established pursuant to regulations which are 

7 available for payment or redemption of a savings bond by 

8 any owner of such bond. 

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

10 which prevents or prohibits a State from obtaining title 

11 to an applicable savings bond or redeeming such bond pur12 suant to the procedures described in subparagraph (A). 

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

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

15 not in the possession of the State, if the State has re16 quested records and information under paragraph (3)(A), 

17 any applicable period of limitation for payment or redemp18 tion of such bond shall not begin to run against the State 

19 until the date on which the Secretary has provided the 

20 State with the records and information described in such 

21 paragraph. 

22 ‘‘(5) If the United States Government makes pay23 ment to a State for an applicable savings bond pursuant 

24 to paragraph (4)— 


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1 ‘‘(A) that State shall attempt to locate the 

2 original owner of each such bond registered with an 

3 address in that State pursuant to the same stand4 ards and requirements as exist under that State’s 

5 abandoned property rules and regulations; 

6 ‘‘(B) except as provided in subparagraph (C), 

7 the United States Government shall not retain any 

8 further obligation or liability relating to such bond, 

9 including any obligation or liability with respect to 

10 the registered owner of such bond (as described in 

11 paragraph (6)); 

12 ‘‘(C) should a State that receives payment for 

13 an applicable savings bond pursuant to paragraph 

14 (4) fail to make payment to a registered owner of 

15 such bond (as described in paragraph (6)(B)) after 

16 presentment of a valid claim of ownership pursuant 

17 to that State’s abandoned property rules and regula18 tions, such owner may then seek redemption of their 

19 bond through the Secretary or any paying agent au20 thorized by the United States Government to make 

21 payments to redeem such bonds, and it shall be 

22 paid; and 

23 ‘‘(D) where the United States Government has 

24 made payment of an applicable savings bond under 

25 subparagraph (C), the respective State shall indemVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Sep 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2854.IS S2854

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1 nify the United States for payments made on such 

2 bond. 

3 ‘‘(6) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘appli4 cable savings bond’ means any United States savings bond 

5 that— 

6 ‘‘(A) matured on or before December 31, 2017; 

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

8 known address within a State claiming title under a 

9 valid escheatment order entered after December 31, 

10 2012, and before January 2026; and 

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

Æ 


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