[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 40 (Monday, March 7, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S1013]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
BURIAL EQUITY FOR GUARDS AND RESERVES ACT OF 2021
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 288, S. 2089.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (S. 2089) to amend title 38, United States Code, to
ensure that grants provided by the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs for State veterans' cemeteries do not restrict States
from authorizing the interment of certain deceased members of
the reserve components of the Armed Forces in such
cemeteries, and for other purposes.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill,
which had been reported from the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, with
an amendment to strike all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu
thereof the following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Burial Equity for Guards
and Reserves Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITIONS ON RESTRICTING INTERMENT OF CERTAIN
INDIVIDUALS IN CERTAIN STATE VETERANS'
CEMETERIES.
(a) Grants.--Section 2408 of title 38, United States
Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (d)(2), by striking ``The Secretary
may'' and inserting ``Except as provided in subsection (i),
the Secretary may'';
(2) by redesignating subsection (i) as subsection (k);
and
(3) by inserting after subsection (h) the following new
subsections:
``(i)(1) The Secretary may not establish a condition for
a grant under this section that restricts the ability of a
State receiving such a grant to inter in a veterans' cemetery
owned by that State any individual described in paragraph (2)
solely by reason of the ineligibility of such individual for
burial in an open national cemetery under the control of the
National Cemetery Administration under section 2402(a) of
this title.
``(2) An individual described in this paragraph is the
following:
``(A) Any member of a reserve component of the Armed
Forces who was discharged or released from service under
conditions other than dishonorable or whose death occurs
under conditions other than dishonorable while a member of
such a reserve component.
``(B) Any member of the Army National Guard or the Air
National Guard who was discharged or released from service
under conditions other than dishonorable or whose death
occurs under conditions other than dishonorable while a
member of the Army National Guard or the Air National Guard.
``(C) Any member of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps
of the Army, Navy, or Air Force whose death occurs under
conditions other than dishonorable while a member of the
Reserve Officers' Training Corps of the Army, Navy, or Air
Force.
``(D) Any spouse of any member described in subparagraphs
(A) through (C).
``(E) Any minor child or unmarried adult child (as such
terms are defined in section 2402(a) of this title) of any
member described in subparagraphs (A) through (C).
``(j) The Secretary may not deny an application for a
grant under this section solely on the basis that the State
receiving such grant may use funds from such grant to expand,
improve, operate, or maintain a veterans' cemetery in which
interment of individuals described in subsection (i)(2) is
allowed.''.
(b) Prohibition on Enforcing Certain Conditions on Grants
for State Veterans' Cemeteries.--The Secretary of Veterans
Affairs may not enforce a condition on a grant described in
subsection (i)(1) of section 2408 of title 38, United States
Code, as added by subsection (a), that was established before
the date of the enactment of this Act.
(c) Plot Allowances.--Section 2303 of title 38, United
States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (b)--
(A) by amending paragraph (1) to read as follows:
``(1) the Secretary shall pay to the relevant State,
agency, political subdivision, or tribal organization, as the
case may be, the sum of $700 (as increased from time to time
under subsection (c)) as a plot or interment allowance for
such veteran if the veteran is buried (without charge for the
cost of a plot or interment) in a cemetery, or a section of a
cemetery, that--
``(A) is used solely for the interment of persons who
are--
``(i) eligible for burial in a national cemetery;
``(ii) members of a reserve component of the Armed Forces
not otherwise eligible for such burial or former members of
such a reserve component not otherwise eligible for such
burial who are discharged or released from service under
conditions other than dishonorable; or
``(iii) described in section 2408(i)(2) of this title;
and
``(B) is--
``(i) owned by a State or by an agency or political
subdivision of a State; or
``(ii) on trust land owned by, or held in trust for, a
tribal organization.''; and
(B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``tribal
organization,'' after ``of a State,''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(e) In this section, the terms `tribal organization'
and `trust land' have the meanings given those terms in
section 3765 of this title.''.
Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported
substitute amendment be agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be
considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to
reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The committee-reported amendment in the nature of a substitute was
agreed to.
The bill (S. 2089), as amended, was ordered to be engrossed for a
third reading, was read the third time, and passed.
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