[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 695 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 695

  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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 10, 2015

  Mr. Toomey introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
             referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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.
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