§7721. Authority and responsibilities of the Secretary of the Army

(a) General Authority.—The Secretary of the Army shall develop, operate, manage, administer, oversee, and fund the Army National Military Cemeteries specified in subsection (b) in a manner and to standards that fully honor the service and sacrifices of the deceased members of the armed forces buried or inurned in the Cemeteries.

(b) Army National Military Cemeteries.—The Army National Military Cemeteries (in this chapter referred to as the "Cemeteries") consist of the following:

(1) Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.

(2) The United States Soldiers' and Airmen's Home National Cemetery in the District of Colombia.

(c) Administrative Jurisdiction.—The Cemeteries shall be under the jurisdiction of Headquarters, Department of the Army.

(d) Regulations and Other Policies.—The Secretary of the Army shall prescribe such regulations and policies as may be necessary to administer the Cemeteries.

(e) Budgetary and Reporting Requirements.—The Secretary of the Army shall submit to the congressional defense committees and the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives an annual budget request (and detailed justifications for the amount of the request) to fund administration, operation and maintenance, and construction related to the Cemeteries. The Secretary may include, as necessary, proposals for new or amended statutory authority related to the Cemeteries.

(Added Pub. L. 112–81, div. A, title V, §591(a)(1), Dec. 31, 2011, 125 Stat. 1439, §4721; renumbered §7721, Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title VIII, §808(d), Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 1839.)

Editorial Notes

Prior Provisions

A prior section 7721 was renumbered section 8891 of this title.

Amendments

2018—Pub. L. 115–232 renumbered section 4721 of this title as this section.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 2018 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 115–232 effective Feb. 1, 2019, with provision for the coordination of amendments and special rule for certain redesignations, see section 800 of Pub. L. 115–232, set out as a note preceding section 3001 of this title.

Termination of Reporting Requirements

For termination, effective Dec. 31, 2021, of provisions in subsec. (e) of this section relating to submitting annual budget request to Congress, see section 1061 of Pub. L. 114–328, set out as a note under section 111 of this title.

Digitization of Arlington National Cemetery Interment and Inurnment Records

Pub. L. 112–81, div. A, title V, §591(b), Dec. 31, 2011, 125 Stat. 1441, provided that:

"(1) Deadline for conversion and use.—Not later than June 1, 2012, all records related to interments and inurnments at Arlington National Cemetery shall be converted to a digitized format. Thereafter, use of the digitized format shall be the method by which all subsequent records related to interments and inurnments at Arlington National Cemetery are preserved and utilized.

"(2) Digitized format defined.—In this subsection, the term 'digitized format' refers to the use of an electronic database for recordkeeping and includes the full accounting of all records of each specific gravesite and niche location at Arlington National Cemetery and the identification of the individual interred or inurned at each specific gravesite and niche location."