[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 217 (Friday, December 26, 2025)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1247]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





              INTRODUCTION OF HAWAII NATIONAL CEMETARY ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. ED CASE

                               of hawaii

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, December 26, 2025

  Mr. CASE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce legislation to build 
a new national cemetery in Hawaii. I am joined by my Hawaii colleagues, 
Congresswoman Jill Tokuda, and Senator Mazie Hirono, who is introducing 
the companion bill in the Senate.
  Our Nation has a special responsibility to our veterans. They served 
with selfless service, courage and sacrifice to defend our Nation. As a 
fitting measure of respect for their service, our federal government 
provides a burial benefit for veterans who meet certain criteria. This 
benefit is a solemn national recognition of our veterans' service and a 
dignified final tribute.
  Veterans who qualify for burial benefits have a choice about their 
final resting place, including burial in a national cemetery. The 
national cemetery in Hawaii is the National Memorial Cemetery of the 
Pacific, often referred to as ``Punchbowl.''
  Few national cemeteries can compete with the natural beauty and calm 
of the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, which is nestled in a 
quiet 100,000-year-old volcanic crater at the foot of the Koolau 
Mountains. It's lush green lawns and sprawling banyan and monkeypod 
trees offering a serene and natural amphitheater that creates a 
peaceful place for solemn remembrance.
  With a rich history linking the site to the Native Hawaiian people 
and the defense of Honolulu during the Second World War, the cemetery 
opened to the public on July 19, 1949, with services for five who lost 
their lives in service to our Nation: an unknown serviceman, two 
Marines, an Army lieutenant and one civilian--noted war correspondent 
Ernie Pyle. Since then, it has become the final resting place for an 
estimated 53,000 veterans from World War I, the Second World War, the 
Korean War, the Vietnam War and the War on Terror.
  Sadly, we have begun to run out of room to bury our Nation's heroes 
at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. It became essentially 
closed to casketed burials in 1991 and will stop accepting cremated 
remains by 2036. This is a serious concern for the roughly 115,000 
veterans living in Hawaii, some 11% of the state's population.
  To maintain equitable access to burial benefits in a national 
cemetery for veterans residing in Hawaii, where the next closest 
national cemetery is over 2,500 miles way, our Nation must begin the 
construction of a new cemetery. The work should start immediately, as 
developing a new national cemetery involves many phases, including 
community consultation, which can take more than eight years to 
complete.
  I urge my colleagues to support me in this effort to ensure we can 
assure a fitting last resting place in a national cemetery for our 
Nation's veterans in Hawaii.

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