[Congressional Bills 103th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H. Con. Res. 44 Introduced in House (IH)] 103d CONGRESS 1st Session H. CON. RES. 44 Expressing the sense of the Congress that medical examiners and coroners should make reasonable, good faith efforts to locate the next of kin of deceased individuals. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES February 18, 1993 Mr. Goodling (for himself and Mr. Hyde) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Government Operations _______________________________________________________________________ CONCURRENT RESOLUTION Expressing the sense of the Congress that medical examiners and coroners should make reasonable, good faith efforts to locate the next of kin of deceased individuals. Whereas often times families lose contact with family members, making it difficult to locate a deceased family member who has not let records regarding next of kin; Whereas some families search for years to locate a family member, only to discover they had died and the family was never notified; and Whereas there is not a consistent procedure used by medical examiners and coroners in the United States to follow in attempting to locate the next of kin of a deceased individual: Now, therefore, be it Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that-- (1) the States should develop procedures that require medical examiners and coroners to make reasonable, good faith efforts to locate and notify the next of kin of deceased persons in situations where the identity of the deceased is unknown or is known but the identity of next of kin is unknown; and (2) the reasonable, good faith efforts referred to in paragraph (1) should include, at a minimum, requirements that medical examiners and coroners contact the Social Security Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs to obtain information on the background of deceased persons along with-- (A) checking for personal papers, phone lists, letters, and other documents at the place of death and current residence of the deceased; (B) checking for a will or insurance policies; (C) checking local hospitals for previous admissions of the deceased; (D) checking the listings in local telephone directories; (E) checking city directories; (F) checking law enforcement agencies; (G) checking local financial institutions for possible accounts of the deceased with beneficiaries; (H) checking with neighbors of the deceased; (I) placing notices in local newspapers and electronic media; (J) sending fingerprints of the deceased to the Federal Bureau of Investigation; (K) contacting the place of employment of the deceased; (L) checking with records registrar for deaths of individuals with the same name as the deceased; (M) if the place of birth of the deceased is known, contacting the registrar, law enforcement agencies, and hospitals in that area; (N) using the police telenetwork; and (O) checking with the Secretary of State in the State where the deceased died. <all>