CONGRESSMAN VICENTE GONZALEZ’S AMENDMENT PASSES HOUSE FISCAL YEAR 2026 NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT TO HOLD MILITARY ACCOUNTABLE FOR HANDLING OF MISSING AND DECEASED SERVICE MEMBERS
This amendment comes as a response to the tragic passing of Brownsville native, Seaman Angelina Resendiz
Washington, D.C. - Congressman Vicente Gonzalez (TX-34) announced that his amendment was included in the House Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act.
The amendment requires the Secretary of Defense to submit a report to Congress on how many service members found deceased over the last 10 years were first designated as “Absent Without Leave (AWOL)” or “Unauthorized Absence (UA)” instead of “Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown (DUSTWUN).”
This amendment comes as a response to the tragic death of Seaman Angelina Resendiz. Despite early warnings from her colleagues, friends, and family of her disappearance, the U.S. Navy classified Resendiz as “Unauthorized Absence” instead of “Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown.”
This report is the first step to preventing the mislabeling of service members who go missing while serving.
“I am pleased to see that my amendment received overwhelming support. This report is an important step towards ensuring that any service member who goes missing receives the proper classification and investigatory response which can be the crossroads between life or death,” said Congressman Gonzalez. “This is not a partisan issue; we have a responsibility to protect our brave service members who take an oath to defend our country. I thank my colleagues for recognizing the critical need to build safeguards for our service members.”
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