[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1338 Reported in House (RH)]

<DOC>





                                                 Union Calendar No. 237
114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1338

                          [Report No. 114-312]

  To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a study on 
  matters relating to the burial of unclaimed remains of veterans in 
              national cemeteries, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 6, 2015

  Mr. Shuster (for himself, Mr. Farenthold, Ms. Hahn, Mr. Nadler, Ms. 
 Esty, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Mr. Thompson of Pennsylvania, Mr. Cook, 
  Mr. Marino, Ms. Bordallo, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Rigell, Mr. Rangel, Mr. 
Crenshaw, Mr. Neal, Mr. McDermott, Mr. Yoho, Mr. Brady of Pennsylvania, 
 Mr. Jones, Mr. King of New York, Mr. Thompson of California, and Mr. 
   Nugent) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Veterans' Affairs

                            October 26, 2015

   Additional sponsors: Mr. Ashford, Mr. Cartwright, Mr. Costello of 
  Pennsylvania, Mr. Fortenberry, Mr. Kline, Mr. Rothfus, Mr. Rice of 
 South Carolina, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Meehan, Mr. Stewart, Mr. Hunter, Mr. 
Stivers, Mr. Olson, Mrs. Miller of Michigan, Mrs. Comstock, Mr. Murphy 
    of Pennsylvania, Mr. Babin, Mr. Johnson of Ohio, Mr. Perry, Mr. 
     Barletta, Mr. Michael F. Doyle of Pennsylvania, Mr. Duncan of 
Tennessee, Mrs. Mimi Walters of California, Mr. Curbelo of Florida, Ms. 
 McSally, Mr. Wilson of South Carolina, Mrs. Bustos, Mr. LaMalfa, Mr. 
Kelly of Pennsylvania, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. Dent, Mr. Young of Alaska, 
   Mr. Rouzer, Mr. Pitts, Mr. LoBiondo, Mr. Lamborn, Mr. Fattah, Mr. 
     Brendan F. Boyle of Pennsylvania, Mr. Hanna, Ms. Norton, Mrs. 
     Napolitano, Mr. Nolan, Ms. Frankel of Florida, Mr. Meeks, Mr. 
Garamendi, Mr. Ross, Mr. Graves of Missouri, Mr. Gibbs, Mr. Sires, Mr. 
Franks of Arizona, Ms. Sinema, Mr. Walz, Mr. Latta, Mr. Rodney Davis of 
   Illinois, Mr. Capuano, Mr. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, Mr. 
Schweikert, Mr. Bishop of Utah, Mrs. Kirkpatrick, Mr. Issa, Mr. Graves 
 of Louisiana, Mr. Carson of Indiana, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Crawford, Mr. 
 Palazzo, Mr. DeFazio, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Gosar, Mrs. Dingell, Mr. Zeldin, 
Mr. Langevin, Mr. Veasey, Mr. Thornberry, Mr. Lipinski, Mrs. Walorski, 
                Mrs. Roby, and Mr. Larsen of Washington

                            October 26, 2015

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]
 [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 
                                6, 2015]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a study on 
  matters relating to the burial of unclaimed remains of veterans in 
              national cemeteries, and for other purposes.


 


    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Dignified Interment of Our Veterans 
Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS STUDY ON MATTERS RELATING TO 
              BURIAL OF UNCLAIMED REMAINS OF VETERANS IN NATIONAL 
              CEMETERIES.

    (a) Study and Report Required.--Not later than one year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall--
            (1) complete a study on matters relating to the interring 
        of unclaimed remains of veterans in national cemeteries under 
        the control of the National Cemetery Administration; and
            (2) submit to Congress a report on the findings of the 
        Secretary with respect to the study required under paragraph 
        (1).
    (b) Matters Studied.--The matters studied under subsection (a)(1) 
shall include the following:
            (1) Determining the scope of issues relating to unclaimed 
        remains of veterans, including an estimate of the number of 
        unclaimed remains of veterans.
            (2) Assessing the effectiveness of the procedures of the 
        Department of Veterans Affairs for working with persons or 
        entities having custody of unclaimed remains to facilitate 
        interment of unclaimed remains of veterans in national 
        cemeteries under the control of the National Cemetery 
        Administration.
            (3) Assessing State and local laws that affect the ability 
        of the Secretary to inter unclaimed remains of veterans in 
        national cemeteries under the control of the National Cemetery 
        Administration.
            (4) Developing recommendations for such legislative or 
        administrative action as the Secretary considers appropriate.
    (c) Methodology.--
            (1) Number of unclaimed remains.--In estimating the number 
        of unclaimed remains of veterans under subsection (b)(1), the 
        Secretary may review such subset of applicable entities as the 
        Secretary considers appropriate, including a subset of funeral 
        homes and coroner offices that possess unclaimed veterans 
        remains.
            (2) Assessment of state and local laws.--In assessing State 
        and local laws under subsection (b)(3), the Secretary may 
        assess such sample of applicable State and local laws as the 
        Secretary considers appropriate in lieu of reviewing all 
        applicable State and local laws.

SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON AWARDS AND BONUSES PAID TO SENIOR EXECUTIVE 
              EMPLOYEES OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

    Section 705 of the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act 
of 2014 (Public Law 113-146; 38 U.S.C. 703 note) is amended by striking 
the period at the end and inserting the following: ``, of which, during 
fiscal year 2016, not more than an aggregate amount of $2,000,000 may 
be paid to employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs who are 
members of the Senior Executive Service.''.
                                                 Union Calendar No. 237

114th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                               H. R. 1338

                          [Report No. 114-312]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

  To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a study on 
  matters relating to the burial of unclaimed remains of veterans in 
              national cemeteries, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                            October 26, 2015

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed