[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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