S.Amdt. 6281

SA 6281. Mrs. BLACKBURN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 5499 submitted by Mr. Reed (for himself and Mr. Inhofe) and intended to be proposed to the bill H.R. 7900, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2023 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the appropriate place in title X, insert the following:

SEC. __. DISINTERMENTS FROM NATIONAL CEMETERIES.

(a) Applicability of Authority to Reconsider Decisions of Secretary of Veterans Affairs or Secretary of the Army to Inter the Remains or Memorialize a Person in a National Cemetery.--

(1) In general.--Section 2(c) of the Alicia Dawn Koehl Respect for National Cemeteries Act (Public Law 113-65; 38 U.S.C. 2411 note) is amended by striking “after the date of the enactment of this Act” and inserting “after November 21, 1997”.

(2) Congressional notices.--Upon becoming aware of a covered interment or memorialization--

(A) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall issue to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives written notice of such covered interment or memorialization; and

(B) the Secretary of the Army, in the case of a covered interment or memorialization in Arlington National Cemetery, shall issue to the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate, the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate, and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives written notice of such covered interment or memorialization.

(3) Covered interment or memorialization defined.--In this subsection, the term “covered interment or memorialization” means an interment or memorialization--

(A) in a national cemetery;

(B) between January 1, 1990, and November 21, 1997; and

(C) that would have been subject to section 2411 of title 38, United States Code, as amended by the Alicia Dawn Koehl Respect for National Cemeteries Act, if subsection 2(c) of such Act, as amended by paragraph (1) of this subsection, were amended by striking “after November 21, 1997” and inserting “on or after January 1, 1990”.

(b) Disinterment of Remains of Andrew Chabrol From Arlington National Cemetery.--

(1) Disinterment.--Not later than September 30, 2023, the Secretary of the Army shall disinter the remains of Andrew Chabrol from Arlington National Cemetery.

(2) Notification.--The Secretary of the Army may not carry out paragraph (1) until after notifying the next of kin of Andrew Chabrol.

(3) Disposition.--After carrying out paragraph (1), the Secretary of the Army shall--

(A) relinquish the remains to the next of kin described in paragraph (2); or

(B) if no such next of kin responds to notification under paragraph (2) or such kin refuses to accept the remains, arrange for disposition of the remains as the Secretary of the Army determines appropriate.