United States Statutes at Large, Volume 127, 113th Congress, 1st Session

[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 127, 113th Congress, 1st Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


Public Law 113-65
113th Congress

An Act


 
To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of the
Army to reconsider decisions to inter or honor the memory of a person in
a national cemetery, and for other purposes. <>

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, <>
SECTION 1. <>  SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Alicia Dawn Koehl Respect for
National Cemeteries Act''.
SEC. 2. AUTHORITY TO RECONSIDER DECISIONS OF SECRETARY OF VETERANS
AFFAIRS OR SECRETARY OF THE ARMY TO INTER THE
REMAINS OR HONOR THE MEMORY OF A PERSON IN A
NATIONAL CEMETERY.

(a) Authority To Reconsider Prior Decisions.--Section 2411 of title
38, United States Code, is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (f); and
(2) by inserting after subsection (c) the following new
subsections:

``(d)(1) In a case described in subsection (e), the appropriate
Federal official may reconsider a decision to--
``(A) inter the remains of a person in a cemetery in the
National Cemetery Administration or in Arlington National
Cemetery; or
``(B) honor the memory of a person in a memorial area in a
cemetery in the National Cemetery Administration (described in
section 2403(a) of this title) or in such an area in Arlington
National Cemetery (described in section 2409(a) of this title).

``(2)(A)(i) <>  In a case described in subsection
(e)(1)(A), the appropriate Federal official shall provide notice to the
deceased person's next of kin or other person authorized to arrange
burial or memorialization of the deceased person of the decision of the
appropriate Federal official to disinter the remains of the deceased
person or to remove a memorial headstone or marker memorializing the
deceased person.

``(ii) In a case described in subsection (e)(1)(B), if the
appropriate Federal official finds, based upon a showing of clear and
convincing evidence and after an opportunity for a hearing in a manner
prescribed by the appropriate Federal official, that the person had
committed a Federal capital crime or a State capital crime but had not
been convicted of such crime by reason of such person not being
available for trial due to death or flight to avoid prosecution, the
appropriate Federal official shall provide notice to the

[[Page 670]]

deceased person's next of kin or other person authorized to arrange
burial or memorialization of the deceased person of the decision of the
appropriate Federal official to disinter the remains of the deceased
person or to remove a memorial headstone or marker memorializing the
deceased person.
``(B) Notice under subparagraph (A) shall be provided by the
appropriate Federal official as follows:
``(i) By the Secretary in accordance with section 5104 of
this title.
``(ii) <>  By the Secretary of Defense
in accordance with such regulations as the Secretary of Defense
shall prescribe for purposes of this subsection.

``(3)(A) <>  Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, the next of kin or other person authorized to arrange
burial or memorialization of the deceased person shall be allowed a
period of 60 days from the date of the notice required by paragraph (2)
to file a notice of disagreement with the Federal official that provided
the notice.

``(B)(i) <>  A notice of disagreement filed with the
Secretary under subparagraph (A) shall be treated as a notice of
disagreement filed under section 7105 of this title and shall initiate
appellate review in accordance with the provisions of chapter 71 of this
title.

``(ii) <>  A notice of disagreement filed with
the Secretary of Defense under subparagraph (A) shall be decided in
accordance with such regulations as the Secretary of Defense shall
prescribe for purposes of this subsection.

``(4) When the decision of the appropriate Federal official to
disinter the remains or remove a memorial headstone or marker of the
deceased person becomes final either by failure to appeal the decision
in accordance with paragraph (3)(A) or by final disposition of the
appeal pursuant to paragraph (3)(B), the appropriate Federal official
may take any of the following actions:
``(A) Disinter the remains of the person from the cemetery
in the National Cemetery Administration or in Arlington National
Cemetery and provide for the reburial or other appropriate
disposition of the disinterred remains in a place other than a
cemetery in the National Cemetery Administration or in Arlington
National Cemetery.
``(B) Remove from a memorial area in a cemetery in the
National Cemetery Administration or in Arlington National
Cemetery any memorial headstone or marker placed to honor the
memory of the person.

``(e)(1) A case described in this subsection is a case in which the
appropriate federal official receives--
``(A) written notice of a conviction referred to in
subsection (b)(1), (b)(2), or (b)(4) of a person described in
paragraph (2); or
``(B) information that a person described in paragraph (2)
may have committed a Federal capital crime or a State capital
crime but was not convicted of such crime by reason of such
person not being available for trial due to death or flight to
avoid prosecution.

``(2) A person described in this paragraph is a person--
``(A) whose remains have been interred in a cemetery in the
National Cemetery Administration or in Arlington National
Cemetery; or

[[Page 671]]

``(B) whose memory has been honored in a memorial area in a
cemetery in the National Cemetery Administration or in such an
area in Arlington National Cemetery.''.

(b) Modification of Exception To Interment or Memorialization
Prohibition.--Subsection (a)(2) of such section is amended by striking
``such official approves an application for''.
(c) <>  Applicability.--The amendments made
by this section shall apply with respect to any interment or
memorialization conducted by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs or the
Secretary of the Army in a cemetery in the National Cemetery
Administration or in Arlington National Cemetery after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
SEC. 3. DISINTERMENT OF REMAINS OF MICHAEL LASHAWN ANDERSON FROM
FORT CUSTER NATIONAL CEMETERY.

(a) Disinterment of Remains.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs
shall disinter the remains of Michael LaShawn Anderson from Fort Custer
National Cemetery.
(b) Notification of Next-of-Kin.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs
shall--
(1) notify the next-of-kin of record for Michael LaShawn
Anderson of the impending disinterment of his remains; and
(2) upon disinterment, relinquish the remains to the next-
of-kin of record for Michael LaShawn Anderson or, if the next-
of-kin of record for Michael LaShawn Anderson is unavailable,
arrange for an appropriate disposition of the remains.

Approved December 20, 2013.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--S. 1471:
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 159 (2013):
Nov. 18, considered and passed Senate.
Dec. 11, considered and passed House.