[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 71 (Wednesday, May 2, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5502-S5504]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CRAIG:
  S. 1266. A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to increase 
assistance for veterans interred in cemeteries other than national 
cemeteries, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Veterans' 
Affairs.
  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, I have sought recognition to comment on 
legislation I am introducing that will improve the availability of 
dignified burials for those who have served our country. The Veterans' 
Dignified Burial Assistance Act of 2007 would make three improvements 
to programs designed to ensure that veterans are perpetually honored 
for their service. Let me start by describing the first improvement 
which had its genesis, I am proud to say, in my home State of Idaho.
  We have in Idaho a State veterans' cemetery located in Boise. The 
cemetery was established with the help of VA's State Cemetery Grants 
Program, a program which pays for 100 percent of

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the costs of establishing, expanding, and improving state cemeteries. 
Over one thousand veterans have been interred in the Idaho State 
Cemetery since it opened in 2004. I want to focus on 91 of those 
veterans who were interred through a program pioneered in Idaho called 
``Missing in America.''
  Through the Missing in America program Idaho cemetery officials, 
working with veterans' organizations and others, have actively sought 
to locate the unclaimed cremated remains of veterans throughout the 
State. They contacted funeral homes, county coroner offices, and any 
other place where those remains may have been located. Remarkably, they 
discovered the remains of 91 veterans. After verifying that they had 
eligibility, all 91 veterans were given a dignified burial.
  I suspect what was found in Idaho would be found in other States. My 
legislation would incentivize other States to develop Missing in 
America programs like Idaho's by allowing revenue from VA's plot 
allowance benefit to go to states which seek out and inter unclaimed 
remains.
  Under current law, State cemeteries may be reimbursed for the cost of 
interring eligible veterans. For each eligible veteran interred, a $300 
plot allowance may be paid by VA. Revenue from the plot allowance is 
used to operate and maintain the appearance of State cemeteries. 
However, plot allowance revenue is not payable to States when veterans 
are interred more than 2 years after the permanent burial or cremation 
of the veteran's body. Thus, since each of the 91 veterans interred in 
Idaho had been left sitting on shelves in an urn for a great deal 
longer than 2 years, no plot allowance is payable. This doesn't make 
sense. Just as our system of benefits does not abandon or give up on 
veterans who are homeless or chronically ill, so too should our burial 
benefits system be designed not to abandon or give up on veterans whose 
remains are unclaimed. To that end, my legislation would waive the 2-
year limit so that States could receive plot allowance revenue for 
interment of the unclaimed remains of veterans. The extra plot 
allowance revenue could be used to help states meet costs associated 
with running this program and other cemetery operation costs. Most 
importantly, my legislation would reward States for giving veterans 
what is long overdue: a fitting burial.
  The second way my legislation helps to ensure dignified burials is by 
increasing VA's plot allowance benefit from $300 to $400. As I 
mentioned earlier, the plot allowance can be paid directly to a State 
cemetery for the interment of eligible veterans. But it can also be 
paid to the survivors of veterans who purchase burial space on their 
own in the private market. Under current law, veterans who die in a VA 
facility, who are in receipt of disability compensation, or who have 
low incomes and are in receipt of VA pension are eligible to receive 
the $300 plot allowance benefit. The plot allowance, created in 1973, 
is designed to ensure that veterans are not buried in a pauper's grave. 
When the benefit was created, it covered 13 percent of the average cost 
of an adult funeral. Today, it only covers approximately 5 percent of 
the cost. An independent assessment of VA burial benefits directed by 
Congress and published in 2000 recommended, as an option, increasing 
the plot allowance to $670, which at the time of the assessment 
represented 13 percent of the average cost of an adult funeral. Since 
that assessment was published, the major veterans' organizations have 
persistently recommended that Congress increase this benefit. In its 
most recent budget submission, the authors of the Independent Budget 
recommended that the plot allowance be increased to $745. In 2001, 
Congress took a first step, raising the benefit from $150 to $300. My 
legislation would take yet another, measured step.
  Finally, my legislation would authorize $5 million per year under 
VA's State Cemetery Grant Program for VA to assist States in meeting 
operational and maintenance expenses. As I mentioned, the State 
Cemetery Grant Program finances the cost of establishing, expanding, or 
improving State cemeteries. States must agree to provide suitable land 
for a cemetery and they must meet administrative, operational, and 
maintenance costs.
  My purpose in introducing this aspect of the legislation is twofold. 
First, VA is in the midst of the largest national cemetery expansion 
since the Civil War. Guiding its cemetery expansion effort was a 
prospective look at where and how many veterans will be living 20 years 
from now. Based on that prospective analysis, national cemeteries are 
being built in those areas of the country that have veterans' 
populations of 170,000 or more and that are not residing within, or 
expected to reside within, 75 miles of an open State or national 
cemetery. It is therefore highly likely that after this expansion has 
concluded, no additional national cemeteries will be built for quite 
some time. Thus, in order to serve veterans' populations in less 
densely populated areas in the future, VA and the States will need to 
rely more on the State Cemetery Grant Program. Allowing reimbursement 
for some maintenance or operational expenses will serve to make the 
program more attractive to States, which may otherwise decline to 
participate in the program due to budget constraints. In fact, the 2000 
independent assessment I spoke about earlier made the same point, 
recommending Congressional consideration of amending the grant program 
to allow for reimbursement of the sort contemplated in my legislation.
  My second purpose behind this provision is a bit more parochial. 
There are eight States in the country without any national cemetery, 
including Idaho. These are States with small or scattered veterans' 
populations. VA's criteria for establishing national cemeteries makes 
it unlikely that veterans in these States will ever have access to a 
national cemetery within the borders of their home State. Yet their 
service was national in character, and the desire for recognition of 
that national service through interment in a national cemetery is real, 
if not practical. It is my opinion that the Federal obligation to 
veterans residing in States like my own is therefore heightened. And if 
the only way to heighten that obligation is by requiring reimbursement 
of a greater share of the expenses now borne by the States, so be it. 
To my mind, this would be an equitable outcome, and one that I hope VA 
factors into criteria it will develop should my legislation be enacted.
  Let me make one final and very important point. The cost of my 
legislation is in the $8 million per year range. Although I am 
convinced of the merits of the legislation, I am also committed to 
adhering to our budget rules which require that appropriate spending 
offsets be identified before new spending is advanced. I assure my 
colleagues that should my legislation be reported from the Veterans' 
Affairs Committee, it will be fully offset in accordance with our rules 
and my own principle of fiscal discipline.
  In summary, the Veterans' Dignified Burial Assistance Act of 2007 
will help us along in our collective goal of providing veterans with 
lasting resting places to honor their lives and service. This is good 
legislation, and I urge the support of my colleagues.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 1266

       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 
     Assistance Act of 2007''.

     SEC. 2. INCREASE IN ASSISTANCE FOR VETERANS INTERRED IN 
                   CEMETERIES OTHER THAN NATIONAL CEMETERIES.

       (a) Increase in Plot or Interment Allowance.--Section 
     2303(b) of title 38, United States Code, is amended by 
     striking ``$300'' each place it appears and inserting 
     ``$400''.
       (b) Repeal of Time Limitation for State Filing for 
     Reimbursement for Interment Costs.--
       (1) In general.--The second sentence of section 
     3.1604(d)(2) of title 38, Code of Federal Regulations, shall 
     have no further force or effect as it pertains to unclaimed 
     remains of a deceased veteran.
       (2) Retroactive application.--The provision of paragraph 
     (1) shall take effect as of October 1, 2006.
       (c) Grants for Operation and Maintenance of State Veterans' 
     Cemeteries.--
       (1) In general.--Subsection (a) of section 2408 of such 
     title is amended--
       (A) by inserting ``(1)'' before ``Subject to'';
       (B) by designating the second sentence as paragraph (2) and 
     indenting the margin of such paragraph, as so designated, two 
     ems from the left margin; and

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       (C) in paragraph (1), as designated by subparagraph (A) of 
     this paragraph, by striking ``assist such State in 
     establishing, expanding, or improving veterans' cemeteries 
     owned by such State.'' and inserting ``assist such State in 
     the following:
       ``(A) Establishing, expanding, or improving veterans' 
     cemeteries owned by such State.
       ``(B) Operating and maintaining such cemeteries.''.
       (2) Limitation on amounts awarded.--Subsection (e) of such 
     section is amended--
       (A) by inserting ``(1)'' before ``Amounts''; and
       (B) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
       ``(2) In any fiscal year, the aggregate amount of grants 
     awarded under this section for the purposes specified in 
     subsection (a)(1)(B) may not exceed $5,000,000.''.
       (3) Conforming amendments.--(A) Subsection (b) of such 
     section is amended--
       (i) by striking ``Grants under this section'' and inserting 
     ``Grants under this section for the purposes described in 
     subsection (a)(1)(A)''; and
       (ii) by striking ``a grant under this section'' each place 
     it appears and inserting ``such a grant''.
       (B) Subsection (d) of such section is amended by inserting 
     ``, or in operating and maintaining a veterans' cemetery,'' 
     after ``veterans' cemetery''.
       (C) Subsection (f)(1) of such section is amended by 
     inserting ``, or in operating and maintaining veterans' 
     cemeteries,'' after ``veterans' cemeteries''.
       (4) Regulations.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
     shall prescribe regulations to carry out the amendments made 
     by this subsection.
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