[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 17]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 24564]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                       INTRODUCTION OF H.R. 3423

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, December 6, 2001

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I am introducing today a bill 
to make certain reservists eligible for burial at Arlington National 
Cemetery. I am joined by the Honorable Frank Wolf, Honorable Mike 
Bilirakis, Honorable Steve Buyer, Honorable Mike Simpson, Honorable 
Richard Baker, Honorable Rob Simmons and Honorable Tom Davis in 
introducing this measure. Our bill would allow burial at Arlington 
National Cemetery of (1) reserve members under age 60 who but for their 
age would have been eligible at the time of their death for retired pay 
under title 10; and (2) reserve component members who die in the line 
of duty while on active duty for training or inactive duty training. 
The bill would be effective for interments occurring after the date of 
enactment.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud that this Nation affords a final resting 
place for every veteran who has honorably served in its Armed Forces. 
The Department of Veterans Affairs administers 133 national cemeteries 
throughout the United States, and since 1980 has provided $82 million 
in grants to states to establish or expand 42 state veterans 
cemeteries. Last year, over 82,000 veterans and family members were 
interred in VA cemeteries and more than 14,000 veterans and family 
members were buried in state veterans cemeteries. In addition, 3,727 
veterans and family members were buried at Arlington National Cemetery 
(ANC), which is administered by the Department of the Army.
  I will not recite the storied history of this cemetery nor the famous 
Americans who are buried there. However, because there is limited space 
for in-ground burial at the cemetery, in 1967 the Army adopted rules 
restricting eligibility as to which veterans can be buried at ANC. (ANC 
will provide space for cremated remains in its columbaria for an 
honorably discharged veteran eligible for burial at any of the other 
national cemeteries.) In general, Army rules restrict in-ground burial 
at ANC to veterans who were wounded in combat, died on active duty, 
received one of the military services' highest awards for gallantry, 
were held as a prisoner of war, or retired from military service. In 
addition, veterans who do not meet these criteria but whose served in a 
high Federal office (e.g. cabinet secretary, Supreme Court justice, 
Member of the House or Senate) are also eligible, as are the immediate 
family members of all veterans buried there.
  Under the current Army rules, which few Americans are familiar with, 
a reservist who has retired from the Armed Forces but is not yet age 60 
is ineligible for in-ground burial at ANC. Similarly, members of the 
reserve components who die while performing training duty on a weekend 
or for a two-week period are not eligible for in-ground burial at ANC, 
even though servicemembers who die in similar circumstances while on 
active duty would be eligible for such burial.
  Given the increased responsibilities assigned to our Reserve and 
National Guard forces, I believe that a compassionate government should 
treat these reserve component members whose death is in the line of 
duty in the same manner as those active duty members whose death occurs 
in the line of duty. We should honor their service and the loss of 
their lives the same, even though their families may elect not to bury 
them at Arlington. That is the purpose of this legislation, and I urge 
Members to support it.

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