[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 161 (Monday, November 2, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H12168-H12170]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL VETERANS CEMETERY IN SOUTHERN COLORADO REGION

  Mr. WALZ. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 174) to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a 
national cemetery for veterans in the southern Colorado region.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                H.R. 174

       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 SOUTHERN 
                   COLORADO REGION.

       (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 El Paso County, Colorado, 
     to serve the needs of veterans and their families in the 
     southern Colorado region.
       (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 Colorado and 
     local officials in the southern Colorado region; and
       (2) appropriate officials of the United States, including 
     the Administrator of General Services, with respect to land 
     belonging to the United States in El Paso County, Colorado, 
     that would be suitable to establish the national cemetery 
     under subsection (a).
       (c) Authority To Accept Donation of Parcel of Land.--
       (1) In general.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs may 
     accept on behalf of the United States the gift of an 
     appropriate parcel of real property. The Secretary shall have 
     administrative jurisdiction over such parcel of real 
     property, and shall use such parcel to establish the national 
     cemetery under subsection (a).
       (2) Income tax treatment of gift.--For purposes of Federal 
     income, estate, and gift taxes, the real property accepted 
     under paragraph (1) shall be considered as a gift to the 
     United States.
       (d) Report.--As soon as practicable 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 
     such establishment and an estimate of the costs associated 
     with such establishment.
       (e) Relationship to Construction and Five Year Capital 
     Plan.--The requirement to establish a national cemetery under 
     subsection (a) shall be added to the current list of priority 
     projects, but should not take priority over existing projects 
     listed on the National Cemetery Administration's construction 
     and five-year capital plan for fiscal year 2008.
       (f) Southern Colorado Region Defined.--In this Act, the 
     term ``southern Colorado region'' means the geographic region 
     consisting of the following Colorado counties:
       (1) El Paso.
       (2) Pueblo.
       (3) Teller.
       (4) Fremont.
       (5) Las Animas.
       (6) Huerfano.
       (7) Custer.
       (8) Costilla.
       (9) Alamosa.
       (10) Saguache.
       (11) Conejos.
       (12) Mineral.
       (13) Archuleta.
       (14) Hinsdale.
       (15) Gunnison.
       (16) Pitkin.
       (17) La Plata.
       (18) Montezuma.
       (19) San Juan.
       (20) Ouray.
       (21) San Miguel.
       (22) Dolores.
       (23) Montrose.
       (24) Delta.
       (25) Mesa.
       (26) Crowley.
       (27) Kiowa.
       (28) Bent.
       (29) Baca.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Minnesota (Mr. Walz) and the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Boozman) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Minnesota.
  Mr. WALZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, while I am pleased to be here today to bring H.R. 174, I 
think it's probably too light to say sponsored by our former colleague 
on the committee, Mr. Salazar, to the floor today. This bill will 
establish a national veterans cemetery in El Paso County, Colorado.

[[Page H12169]]

  Just for background note, Mr. Salazar, who has moved on to another 
committee, has been a tireless advocate of our veterans, and this was a 
piece of legislation that I watched him advocate for with great passion 
because of the need. Southern Colorado, including El Paso County and 
the city of Colorado Springs, has the second highest concentration of 
veterans living in the entire United States.
  Currently, those veterans in southern Colorado and their families who 
wish to either visit a veterans cemetery or have their loved ones 
interred must travel into the Denver metropolitan area to Fort Logan 
National Cemetery in often treacherous weather conditions. Not only is 
this an undue burden, but the Fort Logan National Cemetery is quickly 
running out of spaces.
  To alleviate this problem, H.R. 174 directs the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs to establish a national cemetery for veterans in El Paso 
County, Colorado.
  H.R. 174 reflects a fitting tribute to those Americans who have 
served our Nation with honor. The veterans' national cemeteries of the 
United States demonstrate the desire of a grateful Nation to 
appropriately commemorate those who served in our Armed Forces.
  Since 1862, more than 3 million burials have occurred in VA national 
cemeteries. The National Cemetery Administration of the Department of 
Veterans Affairs manages 130 national cemeteries nationwide for our 
veterans. Of the 130 cemeteries, 60 of them are no longer accepting in-
ground interments, which results in millions of veterans and survivors 
being unserved and turned away from our national cemeteries.
  While the State Cemetery Grants Program has met with success, the 
need to build new national cemeteries with a strategic vision is really 
still quite urgent. This is why Mr. Salazar introduced this bill and a 
related bill, the National Cemeteries Expansion Act of 2009, H.R. 3544, 
which would require the VA to reexamine its entire national cemetery 
establishment policy standard of 170,000 veterans in a 75-mile radius. 
This policy clearly has outlived its usefulness and should be revised 
immediately.
  I want to thank Chairman Filner and Ranking Member Buyer for pushing 
this bill forward. As we lose more of our Greatest Generation of 
veterans and face the unfortunate prospect of additional fatalities, we 
need to make certain that veterans are provided a dignified, 
accessible, and well-maintained final resting place. H.R. 174 helps to 
ensure that this happens for the many veterans and survivors of the 
region of southern Colorado.
  Also, I would like to add that in the past this bill enjoyed the 
support of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, the American Legion, 
the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Disabled American Veterans, and the 
Paralyzed Veterans of America.
  Finally, I again want to applaud the leadership of Mr. Salazar on 
this bill, the bipartisan manner of the VA Committee understanding how 
important this is. Mr. Lamborn, from Colorado Springs, has been 
intricate in making this happen.
  I can tell you this is one of the most moving and passionate 
discussions we have in the VA. The commitment to making sure national 
cemeteries are accessible to our veterans is a key priority.
  I urge the passage of H.R. 174.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 174, which would direct 
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to construct a new national cemetery 
in southern Colorado. Providing our veterans with a place of honor and 
repose is one of the most sacred missions of the Veterans' Affairs 
Committee, and we have given this mission our unstinting support over 
the years.
  The National Cemetery Administration's record of high satisfaction 
among the families of its beneficiaries is the envy of the Federal 
Government and is a reflection of sound administration and strong 
congressional support, free of political influence. The Department of 
Veterans Affairs has a well-established and proven method that uses 
distance and demographics to select new cemetery sites.
  While I believe that the VA process has its flaws and could use 
revision, it is the established process. Congress has long deferred to 
this process, which is essentially free from political pressure. Since 
1999, Congress has authorized 12 new national cemeteries, all of which 
went through this process. A recent program evaluation of this policy 
revealed that there are some weaknesses in this policy and made several 
recommendations on how to better serve veterans and their families.
  One such recommendation was to reduce the population threshold so 
that each cemetery would serve a population to as little as 120,000 
veterans. The current population level is 170,000 veterans. VA is 
continuing to review the evaluation.
  It is because of this process that Mr. Stearns of Florida offered an 
amendment that was accepted for H.R. 1660, which is the predecessor of 
H.R. 174 from the 110th Congress. The amendment was intended to ensure 
that any new cemetery authorized by this bill would not displace 
cemetery projects in areas previously identified as priorities. This 
language preserves the integrity of the cemetery planning process.
  I thank the original sponsors of the bill, Mr. Salazar and Mr. 
Lamborn, for including this language in this year's bill, and I am very 
pleased to support it.
  Having no further speakers, again, I just want to echo what Mr. Walz 
said earlier, that this is one of the most important functions that the 
Veterans' Affairs Committee does and has done it very, very well 
through the years. This is a very bipartisan bill.
  I urge all of our Members to support this very, very important bill 
as it goes forward.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.


                             General Leave

  Mr. WALZ. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on H.R. 174.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Minnesota?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. WALZ. Mr. Speaker, I, too, want to thank Mr. Boozman for his 
eloquent words and his passion on this issue. This is truly an issue 
that unites every Member of this House and every member of this 
country, the care and the dignity that we lay our veterans to rest.
  I want to thank Mr. Salazar and Mr. Lamborn again for their 
unwavering commitment to getting this done.
  I urge my colleagues to unanimously support H.R. 174.
  Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, H.R. 
174, directing the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a 
national cemetery south of Colorado Springs, to serve the veterans and 
families of southern Colorado.
  Mr. Speaker, Coloradans take great pride in serving our nation.
  As a veteran myself, I am proud to represent a district that is home 
to 70,000 of Colorado's almost 427,000 veterans.
  Generations of Coloradans have stood in the service of our nation 
with pride.
  In sharing that pride, our nation must also show its gratitude when 
our veterans pass away.
  During this difficult time, it eases a family's burden when seeing 
their loved one interred at a veteran's cemetery and to witness their 
sacrifices being remembered by the nation they served.
  However, we are faced with a situation where current standards place 
many VA cemeteries closer to large metropolitan areas.
  In my home state alone, there are 150,000 veterans in the 29 
designated southern Colorado counties that are waiting for an 
accessible veteran's cemetery.
  Such policies punish our veterans for choosing to be buried in the 
small towns where they chose to live and raise their families.
  It is wrong to force families to travel many hours and hundreds of 
miles to visit the final resting place of their loved ones.
  As it stands, veterans and their families living in southern Colorado 
have the option of either making the difficult journey north to Ft. 
Logan in Denver or east to Ft. Lyons in Las Animas.
  With these facilities, families have found themselves forced to 
travel extreme distances over rough terrain in unpredictable weather.
  Since 1862, more than three million burials have been made in VA 
national cemeteries.
  National cemeteries are the testimony of a grateful nation to 
appropriately commemorate the Americans who have served our nation in 
the armed forces.

[[Page H12170]]

  Of the 120 cemeteries the VA National Cemetery Administration 
manages, 58 of them are no longer accepting interments. In anticipation 
of this, a cemetery in southern Colorado would extend the life of Ft. 
Logan and Ft. Lyon.
  Families would no longer have to travel to these distant locations 
and instead could bury their loved ones closer to home.
  In doing so, space that would otherwise be used at Ft. Logan and Ft. 
Lyon would remain available for families closer to Denver and Las 
Animas.
  On May 2, 2008 the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Disability 
and Memorial Affairs held a field hearing in Colorado Springs, Colorado 
to review the need for a cemetery in southern Colorado.
  The hearing was presided over by Chairman John Hall, Representative 
Doug Lamborn and myself.
  Veterans Advocates, VSO's and widows with Gold Star Wives gave 
testimony in support of the legislation and reinforced the need for 
such a cemetery.
  After hearing testimony and having experienced the difficult driving 
conditions and an abrupt snow storm, particularly over Monument Hill, 
then Under Secretary Tuerk committed to bringing a national veterans 
cemetery to the southern Colorado region.
  The cemetery is supported by national VSO's, local veteran's 
advocates and most importantly the veterans and their families living 
in Colorado.
  With such overwhelming support by the Colorado delegation and 
Congress, the VA would be acting on the intent of Congress in 
establishing a cemetery in southern Colorado.
  I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support our 
rural veterans and support this bill.
  Mr. WALZ. I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the 
balance of our time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Walz) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 174.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________