US Navy SEAL SCPO Tyrone Snowden Woods Ceremony Invitee Act of 2019

US Navy SEAL SCPO Tyrone Snowden Woods Ceremony Invitee Act of 2019

This bill directs the Department of State to establish policies allowing a member of a diplomatic mission to designate next-of-kin who will be invited to and entitled to attend the member's memorial service in the event of the member's death while in service of the United States. If no such designation is made, then all of the member's next-of-kin shall be invited to the memorial service.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5054 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5054

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

                           November 12, 2019

 Mr. Schrader (for himself, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Walden, 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.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``US Navy SEAL SCPO Tyrone Snowden 
Woods Ceremony Invitee Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. INVITATION OF DESIGNATED NEXT-OF-KIN TO CEREMONIES HONORING 
              UNITED STATES DIPLOMATIC MISSION PERSONNEL WHO DIE IN 
              SERVICE TO THE UNITED STATES.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Diplomatic mission.--The term ``diplomatic mission'' 
        means any United States diplomatic or consular post or other 
        mission under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of State.
            (2) Member.--The term ``member of a diplomatic mission'' 
        means any Government official or employee, any member of the 
        Armed Forces, or any United States citizen employed as a 
        contractor, who is serving at, or is notified of imminent 
        assignment to, a diplomatic mission.
            (3) Memorial service.--The term ``memorial service'' means 
        an official event sponsored or held by a Federal agency to 
        which members of the public are invited to honor the life of a 
        member of a diplomatic mission who died in service to the 
        United States.
            (4) Next-of-kin.--The term ``next-of-kin'', with respect to 
        a deceased member of a diplomatic mission, means the following 
        individuals:
                    (A) The surviving spouse of the deceased member.
                    (B) The child or children of the deceased member 
                (including stepchildren, adopted children, and 
                illegitimate children).
                    (C) The parent or parents of the deceased member 
                (including a natural parent, a stepparent, a parent of 
                the member by adoption, a parent, stepparent, or 
                adopted parent of the surviving spouse, and any other 
                person who has stood in loco parentis to the member at 
                any time for a continuous period of at least five years 
                before the member became 21 years of age).
                    (D) The sibling or siblings of the deceased member 
                (including stepsiblings and siblings by adoption).
                    (E) The person authorized to direct the disposition 
                of the remains of the deceased member.
    (b) Policy for Designation of Next-of-Kin.--Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State 
shall--
            (1) prescribe a policy by which a member of a diplomatic 
        mission may designate those next-of-kin who will be invited to, 
        and be entitled to attend, any memorial service held to honor 
        the life of the member of a diplomatic mission in the event of 
        the death of the member in service to the United States;
            (2) publicize the existence of the policy to each member of 
        a diplomatic mission; and
            (3) make forms reasonably available to each member of a 
        diplomatic mission by which the designation of such next-of-kin 
        may be made.
    (c) Consultation.--The Secretary of State shall carry out this 
section in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, the Director of 
the Central Intelligence Agency, and the head of any other Federal 
agency that assign persons to serve as a member of a diplomatic 
mission.
    (d) Effect of Failure To Make Designation.--If a member of a 
diplomatic mission fails to complete the form described in subsection 
(b)(3) before the death of the member, the member shall be deemed to 
have designated all next-of-kin of the member for invitation to any 
memorial service held to honor the life of the member in the event of 
the death of the member in service to the United States.
    (e) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section or the policy 
required by this section may be construed to authorized a private cause 
of action or legal claim against the United States Government, a 
Department or agency thereof, or any private individual.
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