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 Com-
mittee 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 judg-
ment of a court. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Unclaimed Savings 
Bond Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. TRANSFER AND REDEMPTION OF ABANDONED SAV-
INGS BONDS. 
Section 3105 of title 31, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘(f)(1) Notwithstanding any other Federal law, the 
ownership of an applicable savings bond may be trans-
ferred pursuant to a valid judgment of escheatment vest-
ing a State with title to the bond. Nothing in this section, 
or in any regulation promulgated by the Secretary to im-
plement this section, may be construed to preempt State 
law providing for, or governing the escheatment of, appli-
cable savings bonds. 
‘‘(2) The Secretary shall recognize an order of a court 
of competent jurisdiction that vests title to an applicable 
savings bond with a State, regardless of whether the State 
has possession of such bond, if the State provides the Sec-
retary with a certified copy of such order. 
‘‘(3)(A) If a State has title or is seeking to obtain 
title through a judicial proceeding to an applicable savings 
bond, the Secretary shall provide to the State, upon re-
quest, the serial number of such bond, and any reasonably 
available records or information— 
‘‘(i) relating to the purchase or ownership of 
such bond, including any transactions involving such 
bond; or 
‘‘(ii) which may provide other identifying infor-
mation relating to such bond. 
‘‘(B) Any records or information provided to a State 
pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be considered suffi-
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cient to enable the State to redeem the applicable savings 
bond for full value, regardless of whether the bond is lost, 
stolen, destroyed, mutilated, defaced, or otherwise not in 
the possession of the State. 
‘‘(4)(A) Subject to subparagraph (C), a State may 
redeem and receive payment for an applicable savings 
bond for which the State has title pursuant to the same 
procedures established pursuant to regulations which are 
available for payment or redemption of a savings bond by 
any owner of such bond. 
‘‘(B) The Secretary may not prescribe any regulation 
which prevents or prohibits a State from obtaining title 
to an applicable savings bond or redeeming such bond pur-
suant to the procedures described in subparagraph (A). 
‘‘(C) In the case of an applicable savings bond which 
is lost, stolen, destroyed, mutilated, defaced, or otherwise 
not in the possession of the State, if the State has re-
quested records and information under paragraph (3)(A), 
any applicable period of limitation for payment or redemp-
tion of such bond shall not begin to run against the State 
until the date on which the Secretary has provided the 
State with the records and information described in such 
paragraph. 
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‘‘(5)(A) If the United States Government makes pay-
ment to a State for an applicable savings bond pursuant 
to paragraph (4)(A)— 
‘‘(i) the United States Government shall not re-
tain any further obligation or liability relating to 
such bond, including any obligation or liability with 
respect to the registered owner of such bond (as de-
scribed in paragraph (7)(B)); and 
‘‘(ii) such bond shall not be redeemable by the 
Secretary or any paying agent authorized to make 
payments to redeem such bonds. 
‘‘(6) This subsection shall apply to an applicable sav-
ings bond issued before, on, or after the date of the enact-
ment of this subsection. 
‘‘(7) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘appli-
cable savings bond’ means a matured savings bond, and 
all payment of such bond, including interest, that— 
‘‘(A) was originally in paper, paperless, or elec-
tronic form; 
‘‘(B) is registered to an owner with a last 
known address within a State claiming title under a 
valid escheatment order entered after December 31, 
2012, and before January 2026; and 
‘‘(C) has not been redeemed by such owner.’’. 
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SEC. 3. APPLICATION TO PENDING ENFORCEMENT AC-
TIONS. 
Neither the Attorney General nor the Secretary of the 
Treasury may proceed in any civil action or other enforce-
ment proceeding that is pending on the date of the enact-
ment of this Act that arose out of the efforts of a State 
to redeem one or more applicable savings bonds if the posi-
tion of the Government is inconsistent with the amend-
ments made by this Act. 
Æ 
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