[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2706 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2706

  To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide priority for the 
 establishment of new national cemeteries by the Secretary of Veterans 
                    Affairs, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 9, 2015

    Ms. Titus (for herself, Mr. Bishop of Utah, Mr. Cramer, and Mr. 
   Stewart) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide priority for the 
 establishment of new national cemeteries by the Secretary of Veterans 
                    Affairs, 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 ``Veterans National Remembrance Act''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW NATIONAL CEMETERIES BY THE SECRETARY OF 
              VETERANS AFFAIRS.

    (a) In General.--Section 2404 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(i)(1) In selecting a location for the establishment of a new 
national cemetery under this chapter, the Secretary shall--
            ``(A) give priority to a location in accordance with 
        paragraph (2); and
            ``(B) with respect to a location given such priority, 
        ensure that the location is within 10 miles of the location 
        that the Secretary determines likely to have a significant 
        amount of the population to be served by such national cemetery 
        during the 25-year period following such establishment.
    ``(2)(A) Except as provided by subparagraph (C), in selecting a 
location for the establishment of a new national cemetery under this 
chapter, the Secretary shall give priority to a State that does not 
have a national cemetery.
    ``(B) In determining priority among more than one State described 
in subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall give priority to the State 
that has the largest population of veterans.
    ``(C) After any time that the Secretary establishes two national 
cemeteries in accordance with the priority described in subparagraph 
(A), the Secretary may waive the requirements of such priority in 
establishing the national cemetery that immediately follows such two 
national cemeteries if the Secretary determines that such waiver will 
allow the Secretary to establish a national cemetery that will serve a 
larger population of veterans as compared to establishing a national 
cemetery in accordance with such priority.
    ``(3) In this subsection, the term `national cemetery'--
            ``(A) includes--
                    ``(i) the cemeteries described in section 2400(b) 
                of this title; and
                    ``(ii) any traditional or vaulted internments--
                            ``(I) located on land that is larger than 
                        20 acres; and
                            ``(II) administered and operated by 
                        employees of the Department; and
            ``(B) does not include facilities of the National Cemetery 
        Administration that are located in rural areas to serve small 
        populations of veterans (commonly known as `National Burial 
        Grounds').''.
    (b) Construction.--Subsection (i) of section 2404 of title 38, 
United States Code, as added by subsection (a), may not be construed as 
affecting the plans of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, as of the 
date of the enactment of this Act, to establish National Burial Grounds 
or National Columbaria.
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