[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3278 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3278

To amend title 38, United States Code, to ensure that the Secretary of 
  Veterans Affairs is informed of the interment of unclaimed deceased 
                   veterans, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 29, 2015

Mr. Royce (for himself, Mr. Cook, Ms. Hahn, Mr. Rangel, and Mr. Peters) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                           Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to ensure that the Secretary of 
  Veterans Affairs is informed of the interment of unclaimed deceased 
                   veterans, 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 Dignified Burial Act''.

SEC. 2. INFORMATION CONCERNING INTERMENTS OF UNCLAIMED DECEASED 
              VETERANS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 24 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 2415. Information concerning interments of unclaimed deceased 
              veterans
    ``(a) Scheduled Interment.--At the same time that the Secretary 
confirms to a covered entity the eligibility of an unclaimed deceased 
veteran to burial benefits, the Secretary shall request from the 
covered entity the scheduled date of the interment of the unclaimed 
deceased veteran. If the covered entity does not provide to the 
Secretary such a scheduled date, the Secretary shall repeat such 
request during each period not exceeding 30 days, as determined 
appropriate by the Secretary, beginning on the date on which the 
Secretary makes such initial request and ending on the date on which 
the Secretary confirms either such scheduled date or the date on which 
the veteran was interred.
    ``(b) Annual Report.--Not later than March 1 of each year, the 
Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the 
House of Representatives and the Senate a report on unclaimed deceased 
veterans who were interred after the 30-day period following the date 
on which the Secretary made an initial request regarding such veteran 
under subsection (a). Such report shall include--
            ``(1) during the year prior to the year in which the report 
        is submitted, the number of unclaimed deceased veterans in each 
        State covered by a request made under subsection (a); and
            ``(2) of the number of veterans described in paragraph 
        (1)--
                    ``(A) the number of veterans who were not interred 
                during such 30-day period; and
                    ``(B) the number of veterans for whom a scheduled 
                interment date was provided by the covered entity to 
                the Secretary but the interment did not occur as so 
                scheduled.
    ``(c) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) The term `burial benefits' means benefits provided by 
        the Secretary under chapter 23 of this title with respect to 
        funeral expenses, the furnishing of a casket or urn, or 
        transportation.
            ``(2) The term `covered entity' means a local coroner, 
        medical examiner, public administrator, funeral director, 
        county veterans service officer, veterans service organization, 
        or other entity who take responsibility for burial arrangements 
        of an unclaimed deceased veteran.
            ``(3) The term `unclaimed deceased veteran' means a 
        deceased veteran with respect to whom the Secretary determines 
        that there is no next of kin or other person claiming the body 
        of the deceased veteran.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 
2414 the following new item:

``2415. Information concerning interments of unclaimed deceased 
                            veterans.''.
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