U.S. Sen. John Kennedy Files Legislation To Help People Claim $25 Billion In Unredeemed Savings Bonds

Statement

U.S. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) filed the Unclaimed Savings Bond Act (USB Act) today that will give states access to records on billions of dollars in matured, unredeemed savings bonds sitting in the U.S. Treasury. The records will allow states to reunite the bonds with bondholders by putting names and addresses into their Unclaimed Property databases. More than $25 billion in matured, unredeemed savings bonds are in the U.S. Treasury.

The legislation builds upon Sen. Kennedy's work involving unredeemed savings bonds. As state treasurer, he fought to get bonds dating from the 1940s and 1950s redeemed to the state so heirs could claim them. Cosponsors include U.S. Sens. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.).

"A lot of savings bonds were purchased over the years and lost. That doesn't mean they can't be redeemed. The federal government has the names, addresses and serial numbers for the bonds. The federal government just would rather use that money than release the information needed to redeem the bonds," said Sen. Kennedy. "Your grandmother didn't want the money to sit in the Treasury when she bought that savings bond for you. By allowing states access to the records, we can make it easy for people to search for unredeemed savings bonds."

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