PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 476.
Congressional Research Service
Version 25 · Reported to Senate · Jun 4, 2020
Bridging Agency Data Gaps and Ensuring Safety for Native Communities Act or the BADGES for Native Communities Act
This bill modifies policies and procedures related to information sharing, reporting, and investigating cases of missing, unidentified, or murdered Indians.
Among other elements, the bill requires the Department of Justice to
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
share information, after receiving certain permission, with the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) on missing persons, unclaimed remains, and unidentified remains;
ensure that technical assistance and training are provided to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and tribal law enforcement agencies to utilize the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and other national databases;
establish the Tribal Civil and Criminal Information Access Program to enhance the ability of tribal governments to access, enter information into, and obtain information from federal criminal information databases;
establish a grant program for specified entities (e.g., tribes) to implement changes to enhance their responses to missing person cases and death investigations of interest to tribes; and
work with the Department of Health and Human Services to ensure that federal training resources and culturally appropriate mental health and wellness programs are available to tribal and BIA law enforcement officers experiencing occupational stress.
The bill expands access to (1) the national crime information database for NamUs, and (2) the NCIC for each tribal justice official.
Finally, the Department of the Interior must establish a five-year demonstration program for the purpose of conducting or adjudicating personnel background investigations for applicants for law enforcement positions in the BIA.
People & committees
Sen. Udall, Tom [D-NM] · D–NM
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 476.
Committee on Indian Affairs. Reported by Senator Hoeven with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 116-230.
Committee on Indian Affairs. Reported by Senator Hoeven with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 116-230.
Committee on Indian Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
Committee on Indian Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 116-67.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Dec 5, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze S.1853 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine S.1853 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine S.1853 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine S.1853 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.