[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 47 (Wednesday, March 24, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E539]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  TO DIRECT THE SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS TO ESTABLISH A NATIONAL 
    CEMETERY FOR VETERANS IN THE ATLANTA, GEORGIA METROPOLITAN AREA

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. BOB BARR

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 24, 1999

  Mr. BARR of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to announce the 
introduction of a very important piece of legislation which is vital to 
all veterans in the state of Georgia. Through the bill I am introducing 
today, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs will develop a national 
cemetery for veterans in the Atlanta, Georgia metropolitan area. This 
bill is co-sponsored by the entire Georgia Delegation, and Senators 
Cleland and Coverdell have introduced a companion bill in the Senate.
  I want to thank the other Members of the Georgia delegation for their 
support of our efforts. Congressmen Collins, Norwood, Kingston, Linder, 
Chambliss, Deal, Lewis, Isakson, Bishop, and Congresswoman McKinney  
realize the importance of this issue to Georgia's veterans.
  I urge my colleagues in the House to support this effort not just on 
behalf of the veterans in Georgia but veterans across our nation.
  Our nation has a sacred obligation to fulfill the promises we made to 
our veterans when they agreed to risk and, in many cases, give their 
lives to protect the freedoms we all enjoy. One of those promises was a 
military burial in a national cemetery.
  In 1994, the Department of Veterans Affairs released its ``Report on 
the National Cemetery System.'' The Atlanta area was listed within the 
top 10 areas in the country with the greatest need for burial space. 
This need has only increased significantly in the past few years. 
Establishing a national cemetery in Georgia would provide veterans and 
their families accessibility and the recognition they deserve.
  Georgia currently has only one national cemetery, located in 
Marietta. However, this cemetery has been full since the 1970s. The 
nearest national cemeteries accepting burials are located in Alabama 
and Tennessee. In addition to meeting the needs of veterans living in 
Georgia, placing a new national cemetery in the Atlanta area will 
alleviate the increasing demands on the cemeteries in Tennessee and 
Alabama.
  Neither of these sites in Tennessee and Alabama is reasonably 
accessible to most of the more than 700,000 veterans living in Georgia, 
including some 450,000 veterans in the Atlanta metropolitan area.
  This legislation is supported by Pete Wheeler, Commissioner of the 
Georgia Veteran's Association, and by the Georgia Disabled American 
Veterans, the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and other 
veterans' groups. I ask all veterans groups to support this legislation 
because it is only appropriate for Georgia's heroes to be allowed to be 
laid to rest in their home state.
  This has been a long awaited process for Georgia veterans. These men 
and women deserve a proper resting place. The legislation we are 
introducing today is an important first step in creating a new national 
veterans cemetery.

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