I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3257 

To ensure that United States Government personnel, including members of 

the Armed Forces and contractors, assigned to United States diplomatic 

missions are given the opportunity to designate next-of-kin for certain 

purposes in the event of the death of the personnel. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 14, 2021 

Mr. SCHRADER (for himself, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. BENTZ, Mr. BLUMENAUER, 

and Mr. DEFAZIO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To ensure that United States Government personnel, including members of the Armed Forces and contractors, assigned to United States diplomatic missions are given 

the opportunity to designate next-of-kin for certain purposes in the event of the death of the personnel. 

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 ‘‘US Navy SEAL SCPO 

5 Tyrone Snowden Woods Ceremony Invitee Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INVITATION OF DESIGNATED NEXT-OF-KIN TO 

2 CEREMONIES HONORING UNITED STATES 

3 DIPLOMATIC MISSION PERSONNEL WHO DIE 

4 IN SERVICE TO THE UNITED STATES. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) DIPLOMATIC MISSION.—The term ‘‘diplo7 matic mission’’ means any United States diplomatic 

8 or consular post or other mission under the jurisdic9 tion of the Secretary of State. 

10 (2) MEMBER.—The term ‘‘member of a diplo11 matic mission’’ means any Government official or 

12 employee, any member of the Armed Forces, or any 

13 United States citizen employed as a contractor, who 

14 is serving at, or is notified of imminent assignment 

15 to, a diplomatic mission. 

16 (3) MEMORIAL SERVICE.—The term ‘‘memorial 

17 service’’ means an official event sponsored or held by 

18 a Federal agency to which members of the public are 

19 invited to honor the life of a member of a diplomatic 

20 mission who died in service to the United States. 

21 (4) NEXT-OF-KIN.—The term ‘‘next-of-kin’’, 

22 with respect to a deceased member of a diplomatic 

23 mission, means the following individuals: 

24 (A) The surviving spouse of the deceased 

25 member. 


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1 (B) The child or children of the deceased 

2 member (including stepchildren, adopted chil3 dren, and illegitimate children). 

4 (C) The parent or parents of the deceased 

5 member (including a natural parent, a step6 parent, a parent of the member by adoption, a 

7 parent, stepparent, or adopted parent of the 

8 surviving spouse, and any other person who has 

9 stood in loco parentis to the member at any 

10 time for a continuous period of at least five 

11 years before the member became 21 years of 

12 age). 

13 (D) The sibling or siblings of the deceased 

14 member (including stepsiblings and siblings by 

15 adoption). 

16 (E) The person authorized to direct the 

17 disposition of the remains of the deceased mem18 ber. 

19 (b) POLICY FOR DESIGNATION OF NEXT-OF-KIN.— 

20 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 

21 of this Act, the Secretary of State shall— 

22 (1) prescribe a policy by which a member of a 

23 diplomatic mission may designate those next-of-kin 

24 who will be invited to, and be entitled to attend, any 

25 memorial service held to honor the life of the memVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:03 Jul 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3257.IH H3257

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1 ber of a diplomatic mission in the event of the death 

2 of the member in service to the United States; 

3 (2) publicize the existence of the policy to each 

4 member of a diplomatic mission; and 

5 (3) make forms reasonably available to each 

6 member of a diplomatic mission by which the des7 ignation of such next-of-kin may be made. 

8 (c) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary of State shall 

9 carry out this section in consultation with the Secretary 

10 of Defense, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agen11 cy, and the head of any other Federal agency that assign 

12 persons to serve as a member of a diplomatic mission. 

13 (d) EFFECT OF FAILURE TO MAKE DESIGNATION.— 

14 If a member of a diplomatic mission fails to complete the 

15 form described in subsection (b)(3) before the death of the 

16 member, the member shall be deemed to have designated 

17 all next-of-kin of the member for invitation to any memo18 rial service held to honor the life of the member in the 

19 event of the death of the member in service to the United 

20 States. 

21 (e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec22 tion or the policy required by this section may be con23 strued to authorized a private cause of action or legal 


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1 claim against the United States Government, a Depart2 ment or agency thereof, or any private individual. 

Æ 


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