{"format":1,"id":"119-hr-2978","congress":119,"number":"H.R. 2978","kind":"bill","group":"bills","title":"GUARD Act","title_source":"Short Title(s) as Passed House","official_title":"To permit State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies that receive eligible Federal grant funds to use such funds for investigating elder financial fraud, pig butchering, and general financial fraud, and to clarify that Federal law enforcement agencies may assist State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies in the use of tracing tools for blockchain and related technology, and for other purposes.","titles":[{"type":"Official Title as Introduced","title":"To permit State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies that receive eligible Federal grant funds to use such funds for investigating elder financial fraud, pig butchering, and general financial fraud, and to clarify that Federal law enforcement agencies may assist State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies in the use of tracing tools for blockchain and related technology, and for other purposes."},{"type":"Short Title(s) from PCS (Placed on Senate Calendar) bill text","title":"Guarding Unprotected Aging Retirees from Deception Act of 2026"},{"type":"Short Title(s) from PCS (Placed on Senate Calendar) bill text","title":"GUARD Act of 2026"},{"type":"Display Title","title":"GUARD Act"},{"type":"Official Title from EH (Engrossed in House) bill text","title":"To permit State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies that receive eligible Federal grant funds to use such funds for investigating elder financial fraud, pig butchering, and general financial fraud, and to clarify that Federal law enforcement agencies may assist State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies in the use of tracing tools for blockchain and related technology, and for other purposes."},{"type":"Short Title(s) as Passed House","title":"GUARD Act"},{"type":"Short Title(s) as Passed House","title":"Guarding Unprotected Aging Retirees from Deception Act"},{"type":"Short Title(s) as Introduced","title":"Guarding Unprotected Aging Retirees from Deception Act"},{"type":"Short Title(s) as Introduced","title":"GUARD Act"}],"outcome":"passed_house","law_number":null,"introduced":"2025-04-21","chambers":{"house":{"status":"roll_call","date":"2026-09-15","vote":{"id":"119-2026-h301","question":"On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended","title":"GUARD Act","result":"Passed","yea":414,"nay":7,"present":0,"not_voting":12,"source":"https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2026/roll301.xml"}},"senate":{"status":"pending","date":null,"vote":null}},"president":{"status":"not_yet","date":null},"vice_president_tie_breaker":null,"latest_action":{"text":"Received in the Senate. Read twice. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 627.","date":"2026-09-16"},"nominees":null,"amendments":[],"other_votes":[],"crs_summary":{"date":"2026-06-24","stage":"Reported to House","blocks":[{"k":"h","t":"Guarding Unprotected Aging Retirees from Deception Act of 2026 or the GUARD Act of 2026"},{"k":"p","t":"This bill allows state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies and grantees that receive funds from certain law enforcement grant programs to use the funds to investigate general financial fraud, elder financial fraud, and pig butchering. Pig butchering refers to a confidence and investment fraud in which a victim is gradually lured into transferring increasing amounts of money, generally in the form of cryptocurrency, into a fake virtual investment."},{"k":"p","t":"The bill allows federal law enforcement agencies to assist state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies and fusion centers in the use of tracing tools for blockchain and related technology tools."},{"k":"p","t":"Finally, the bill requires the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to report on efforts to combat general financial fraud, elder financial fraud, pig butchering, and scams, including an evaluation of any legislative recommendations to improve the efforts. The bill also requires FinCEN to report on the state of general financial fraud, elder financial fraud, pig butchering, and scams in the United States, including trends in the crimes."}],"words":182},"summary":{"main_subject":{"text":"Allows State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies and grantees to use certain Federal grant funds to investigate elder financial fraud, pig butchering, and general financial fraud, and allows Federal law enforcement agencies to assist them with blockchain tracing tools.","cites":[{"label":"Sec. 3","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/2978/text/eh#H6D7CD9B83D46437BB69859CE53E39DB7"},{"label":"Sec. 7","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/2978/text/eh#H8C5461C70EE24106A5941F0CA02C28F6"}]},"core_areas":["Use of Federal law enforcement grant funds for financial fraud investigations","Grantee reporting on use of grant funds","Federal law enforcement assistance with blockchain tracing tools","Financial Crimes Enforcement Network reports on fraud and scams"],"what_it_does":[{"text":"Allows State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies and grantees that receive eligible Federal grant funds to use them for investigating elder financial fraud, pig butchering, and general financial fraud.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 3","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/2978/text/eh#H6D7CD9B83D46437BB69859CE53E39DB7"}},{"text":"Lists permitted uses of the funds, including hiring personnel, training on complex financial investigations, obtaining software and technical tools, and designating a financial sector liaison.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 3","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/2978/text/eh#H6D7CD9B83D46437BB69859CE53E39DB7"}},{"text":"Requires each agency or grantee that uses the funds for these purposes to report to the Federal agency that provided them within 1 year, covering the amount and purpose of the funds used, fraud statistics, and an assessment of its ability to deter fraud.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 3","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/2978/text/eh#H6D7CD9B83D46437BB69859CE53E39DB7"}},{"text":"Requires the Secretary of the Treasury, acting through the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, to submit a report to Congress within a year of enactment on efforts to combat financial fraud, pig butchering, elder financial fraud, and scams, including an evaluation and any legislative recommendations.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 4","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/2978/text/eh#H4A4CDA22795F4E5B801CEB71C12F966F"}},{"text":"Requires the Secretary of the Treasury, acting through the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, to report to Congress on the state of financial fraud and scams, beginning not later than 2 years after enactment and every two years after that.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 5","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/2978/text/eh#HCA2FAE0F89A54E22A3AD2150E33F40CD"}},{"text":"States that Federal law enforcement agencies may assist State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies and fusion centers in the use of tracing tools for blockchain and related technology tools.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 7","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/2978/text/eh#H8C5461C70EE24106A5941F0CA02C28F6"}}],"unexpected":[],"version":{"type":"Engrossed in House","date":"2026-09-15","rule":"passed","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/2978/text/eh"},"current":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","approved":"2026-10-12","approved_by":"checks"},"sources":{"congress_gov":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/2978","text":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/2978/text"},"card":{"image":"card/item/119-hr-2978.png","v":"6e5499c01cf4","alt":"Votes on Record. H.R. 2978, 119th Congress: GUARD Act. House: 414 Yea, 7 Nay. Senate: not yet considered. Outcome: Passed House, 15 Sep 2026."}}