Texas Border Business
Texas Border Business
Congressman Vicente Gonzalez (TX-34) announced that his amendment has been included in the House Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The measure directs the Secretary of Defense to submit a report to Congress detailing how many service members found deceased over the last decade were initially designated as “Absent Without Leave (AWOL)” or “Unauthorized Absence (UA)” instead of “Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown (DUSTWUN).”
According to Gonzalez, the amendment was introduced in response to the death of Seaman Angelina Resendiz, a Brownsville native. Despite repeated concerns raised by her colleagues, friends, and family about her disappearance, the U.S. Navy classified her as “Unauthorized Absence” rather than “Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown.”
The congressman said this misclassification highlights systemic issues in how the military responds when service members go missing. “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,” Gonzalez stated.
The measure gained strong bipartisan support in the House. Gonzalez emphasized the importance of accountability in such cases, noting, “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.”
The report requirement marks what Gonzalez described as the “first step to preventing the mislabeling of service members who go missing while serving.” Lawmakers expect that the findings will help guide future reforms to ensure that proper classifications and timely investigations are carried out in cases of missing personnel.
