[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 74 (Monday, May 19, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6627-S6628]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. SPECTER (for himself and Mr. Santorum):
  S. 1077. A bill to direct the Secretary of Veterans' Affairs to 
establish a national cemetery for veterans in southeastern 
Pennsylvania; to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I am introducing legislation today to 
direct the Department of Veterans Affairs, VA, to construct a national 
cemetery in southeastern Pennsylvania. In order to facilitate the 
construction of a cemetery, as mandated, this bill would also require 
VA to consult with Federal State, and local government entities, and 
with Pennsylvania's veterans' service organizations, to locate land for 
a new cemetery in the Philadelphia area--a process of stakeholder 
collaboration that worked well to identify a site for a cemetery in 
southwestern Pennsylvania that is currently under construction--and 
require VA to report, no later than six months after enactment, on the 
status of its efforts to construct the cemetery.
  It is clear to a number of observers--including, as I will discuss in 
a moment, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs--that Southeastern 
Pennsylvania needs a national cemetery. The Philadelphia area has one 
of the largest veterans' populations in the Nation, currently estimated 
at over 350,000. The fact that Pennsylvania has the second oldest 
veterans' population in the country makes the need for a new cemetery 
particularly acute. Yet the closest existing VA cemetery--the 
Philadelphia National Cemetery--has been closed to in-ground, casket 
burials since 1962 and, by 2005, will even lose the capacity to inurn 
or inter cremated remains, leaving area veterans with only one 
alternative: burial at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery, as a site as 
much as two hours removed, by car, from their loved ones' homes. This 
is not acceptable.
  The VA is currently reassessing its needs for cemetery construction 
nationwide, and I have every expectation that VA will conclude that the 
Philadelphia area is a site that should be at, or near, the top if its 
listing of priorities. I draw this expectation from a statement made by 
VA Secretary Anthony J. Principi who testified at a hearing before the 
Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, which I chair, on February 26, 
2003, that ``there is clearly a need'' for a national cemetery in the 
Philadelphia area. He stated further ``that a national cemetery is 
necessary in that area to meet the interment needs of the veterans of 
Pennsylvania.'' Why, then, the need for legislation? This legislation 
is needed to assure that the Secretary's personal commitment becomes VA 
policy.
  VA has compiled a list of areas where national cemeteries will be 
built over the next 20 years using a methodology which I, and the 
entire southeastern Pennsylvania delegation in Congress, believe is 
seriously flawed. The first flaw of VA's methodology is its assumption 
that a locality has a ``need'' for a cemetery if a veterans' population 
of more than 170,000 resides more than 75 miles from an open State or 
national cemetery. This assumption gives no consideration to the fact 
that heavily-congested areas, like southeastern Pennsylvania, may have 
thousands, or even ten of thousands, of veterans residing just under 75 
miles from the nearest cemetery. The second flaw of VA's methodology is 
its assumption that veterans are adequately provided a burial option if 
a national cemetery is close proximity offers the option of inurning or 
interring cremated remains. For many reasons, cremation is not an 
option. Indeed, while cremation is growing in popularity, it is not yet 
the preferred burial method among most Americans.
  The entire southeastern Pennsylvania delegation to Congress has 
expressed these objections to Secretary Principi by a letter dated July 
26, 2002, which I ask be printed in the Record. It is these 
objectionable VA policy impediments which cause me to introduce this 
bill despite Secretary Principi's statements of agreement on the need 
for a Philadelphia area cemetery. I hope--and I expect--that the 
mandate of this legislation will not need to be triggered, though I do 
anticipate that the consultation procedures specified in my bill will, 
in any case, be useful in identifying a proper site for a Philadelphia 
area cemetery.
  One final note on the issue of proper siting of a cemetery. During 
the 107th Congress, I introduced a bill, S. 618, that would have 
designate lands within the boundaries of Valley Forge National Park as 
a national cemetery. In a development that was surprising to me, some 
argued that Valley Forge lands would be an inappropriate resting place 
for veterans. I believed then--and I believe now--that the sensitive 
designation of Valley Forge lands in areas, for example, north of the 
Schuylkill River that were not encampments for Washington's Army, would 
be entirely appropriate. In any case, the legislation I have introduced 
today would allow for--but not compel--the location of a national 
cemetery in Valley Forge.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:


                                Congress of the United States,

                                    Washington, DC, July 26, 2002.
     Hon. Anthony J. Principi,
     Secretary of Veterans Affairs,
     Washington DC.
       Dear Mr. Secretary: We recently received volume one of VA's 
     contractor-prepared ``Study on Improvements to Veterans 
     Cemeteries,'' a publication designed to guide VA and the 
     Congress in identifying where national cemeteries should be 
     constructed over the next 20 years. We understand that you 
     have directed that National Cemetery Administration 
     construction planning be guided by the study's underlying 
     assumption that locales with an ``unserved'' veterans' 
     population of 170,000 or more be given priority. The use of 
     that assumption, it appears to us, might leave Philadelphia 
     out of VA's plans. By this letter, we seek to point out flaws 
     in the study, and to inform you of the unique circumstances 
     in which Philadelphia veterans find themselves. We also seek 
     to show you why exclusion of Philadelphia from national 
     cemetery construction planning would be a mistake.
       The study concludes--we think erroneously--that the need 
     for cemetery space in the Philadelphia area is not imminent. 
     It bases this conclusion on the observation that, until 2010, 
     space will be available in two Philadelphia-area veterans 
     cemeteries for the interment or inurnment of cremated 
     remains. We understand that cremation is

[[Page S6628]]

     increasingly popular. But traditional, in-ground burial 
     remains the preferred option--and it is an option that 
     Philadelphia-area veterans do not now have. Moreover, 
     Philadelphia has large Roman Catholic and Jewish populations 
     whose respective faiths, at minimum, strongly encourage 
     traditional burials. To state that Philadelphia-area veterans 
     are now served by a burial option due to availability of 
     cremation services is to disregard the preferences of most 
     veterans--and the religious guidance respected by many 
     veterans.
       The study also underestimates the size of the Philadelphia-
     area population which is, in fact, ``unserved.'' It adopts 
     the assumption that those who live within 75 miles of an open 
     national cemetery--in this case, the Indiantown Gap National 
     Cemetery--are ``served'' without taking into account local 
     circumstances. While it may be true that some portions of 
     Phildelphia--though not the Center City--are within 75 miles 
     of Indiantown Gap, anyone who has driven from the Center City 
     though the sprawl west of Philadelphia will tell you that the 
     distance, in practical terms, far exceeds a ``normal'' 75 
     mile drive. More fundamentally, while it may be true (as VA's 
     contractor concludes) that ``only'' 152,000 Philadelphia-area 
     veterans will be outside that 75 mile radius in 2010, over 
     173,000 veterans are outside that radius now--an it is those 
     21,000 veterans who Philadelphia will ``lose'' who will need 
     to be buried. Further, given the fact that the five PA 
     counties that comprise metropolitan Philadelphia alone 
     contain over 340,000 veterans, you will not be surprised to 
     learn that the number of currently ``unserved'' Philadelphia-
     area veterans swells to almost 290,000 if one measures by 
     reference to a 65 mile radius from Indiantown Gap. And it is 
     wholly reasonable to assume that had a radius of 73 or 74 
     miles from Indiantown Gap been adopted as the reference line, 
     Philadelphia would have made the arbitrary ``170,000-
     veterans-in-2010'' cut.
       We recognize that VA must have some standard by which to 
     measure the need for national cemeteries. But we also believe 
     that a rigid-based standard is inherently arbitrary if local 
     circumstances and population patterns are not taken into 
     account by the decision maker. We who know you understand 
     that you do not inflexibly place form over substance when it 
     would yield an absurd result. We ask that in assessing the 
     need for national cemetery space, you maintain a degree of 
     flexibility. If you do, we trust that you will conclude that, 
     whatever the merits of the VA contractor's methodology, 
     Philadelphia needs a new national cemetery.
           Sincerely,
         Joe Hoeffel, Chaka Fattah, Rob A. Brady, Tim Holden, 
           James Greenwood, Pat Toomey, Arlen Specter, Joseph R. 
           Pitts, Curt Weldon, John P. Murtha, Robert A. Borski, 
           Rick Santorum.

                                S. 1077

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

     SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL CEMETERY IN SOUTHEASTERN 
                   PENNSYLVANIA.

       (a) In General.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 
     establish, in accordance with chapter 24 of title 38, United 
     States Code, a national cemetery in southeastern Pennsylvania 
     to serve the needs of veterans and their families.
       (b) Consultation in Selection of Site.--Before selecting 
     the site for the national cemetery established under 
     subsection (a), the Secretary shall consult with--
       (1) appropriate officials of the State of Pennsylvania and 
     local officials of southeastern Pennsylvania,
       (2) appropriate officials of the United States, including 
     the Administrator of General Services, with respect to land 
     belonging to the United States in that area that would be 
     suitable for the purpose of establishing the national 
     cemetery under subsection (a); and
       (3) representatives of veterans service organizations.
       (c) Report.--Not later than six months after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to 
     Congress a report on the establishment of the national 
     cemetery under subsection (a). The report shall set forth a 
     schedule for the establishment of such cemetery and an 
     estimate of the costs associated with the establishment of 
     such cemetery.
                                 ______