A bill to require reports on the management of Arlington National Cemetery.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise in reluctant support of Senate bill 3860, as amended, which would require reports on the management of Arlington National Cemetery. The reason I say reluctant support is the Veterans' Affairs Committee itself, really

we didn't take up the issues on Arlington, and we allowed the Senate and the House Armed Services Committee to do their work, but the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, we did not do ours. And so this is very unfortunate that we're proceeding with this bill in a lame duck session when we have not even held hearings ourselves on this issue. So I cannot speak from firsthand, other than my conversations with the Secretary of the Army myself, but the committee did not hold hearings on this piece of legislation at all.

Since the founding of Arlington in June of 1864, the cemetery has been revered as the ``crown jewel'' of the national cemetery system. It is the final resting place of several American Presidents, Supreme Court justices, and over 300,000 veterans and their families. Like most Americans, I was deeply disturbed and appalled by revelations by the Department of Army Inspector General's report regarding the mismanagement and possible criminal behavior at Arlington.

I do want to praise Secretary of the Army John McHugh for his swift action in response to this report, also for his following up on the recommendations of Secretary Geren's request for the investigation. So, once again, I extend my compliments to my good friend, the Secretary of the Army, John McHugh.

Secretary McHugh has installed a new management team that is reaching out to the National Cemetery Administration at the VA for their help in implementing the needed changes to defend Arlington's reputation and ensure that the cemetery operations are conducted in a way that honors our warriors who have given so much in the defense of our Nation.

No family should ever have to wonder if their loved one is accounted for or buried in a proper location. They should assume that all has been done correctly. Our heroes and their families deserve the highest possible standards with regard to burial honors, and this bill seeks to prove this assurance.

This bill, as amended, requires several reports on the new management team's progress to improve Arlington's IT systems, the contracting practices, organizational structure, and report on the feasibility of transferring the operation of Arlington from the Department of the Army to the VA's National Cemetery Administration. While additional reports will be beneficial, I believe it is important to first allow the Army to complete its ongoing investigations of these same issues. Different studies on overlapping issues can provide unique insights; however, providing these simultaneous investigations, performed by different agencies, might also create unnecessary hindrances to the ongoing studies.

Also, with regard to the final provisions on the feasibility of transferring the operation of Arlington National Cemetery to the VA National Cemetery Administration, I want to offer my recommendation that Arlington National Cemetery remain under the jurisdiction of the United States Army. It is hasty to assume that we should immediately just transfer the jurisdiction. It is very important for us to define what, in fact, are the challenges and what are the problems. It is so much like an American: We hear a problem, and we want to run out and create a solution before we totally understand the scope of our challenge. So before we get the cart before the horse, let's not run out there and talk about, Let's immediately transfer.

Now I can assure you that when the Department of Interior was not doing their job, what I believe, correctly, I made a suggestion that we should transfer those cemeteries from the Department of Interior to the VA. I don't have a problem. You can make that a holder out there. You get people to do what they believe are the right things to do, and maybe that is what Senator McCaskill was attempting to do here. So I have to respect her in setting a benchmark to do that, and maybe that is, in fact, what her goal here is, to make sure that everybody does what they are supposed to do.

The VA does an excellent job of administering the National Cemetery Administration. However, ANC imposes a comprehensive array of issues and logistical arrangements that are completely unique and separate from those at the VA that they, in fact, handle. For example, in addition to coordinating approximately 25 military funerals per day, the Army's duties at Arlington, including the responsibility for the horse teams, for the caissons, and guarding the Tomb of the Unknowns, is truly unique. Certainly Arlington National Cemetery can benefit by emulating VA practices that are applicable, and such information sharing is, in fact, underway. But ultimately, Arlington National Cemetery, under the jurisdiction of the United States Army is where it should remain until we can achieve some answers.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, yielding myself such time as I may consume, I do associate myself with the gentleman's comments regarding Chairman Skelton Ike not only being a very dear friend, but I really appreciate him stepping forward with these hearings.

With that, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia, Representative Bob Goodlatte.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I thank the gentleman, Mr. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, a classmate of mine, and I respect all he has been able to do on the Ag Committee.

I will yield now 3 minutes to another Virginian, Congressman Robert J. Wittman.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

What I would like to comment on now, Mr. Speaker, really deals with a problem in the House rules that I think needs to be corrected as we go into the next session of Congress. So with regard to jurisdiction, lines of jurisdiction with regard to committees and how bills are assigned through the Parliamentarian, at the direction of the Speaker, I sent a letter to the Speaker dated December 9, 2010.

This Senate bill that came to us, it appears that it invokes the jurisdiction also of the House Armed Services Committee. The Army personnel manage and operate Arlington National Cemetery, and the cemetery is under the jurisdiction of the United States Army. So Chairman Skelton properly moved out and held his hearings in the House Armed Services Committee relative to Arlington. So I can begin to understand why the chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee then allowed the House Armed Services Committee to proceed.

Then when the Senate conducts their hearings, and they did so, the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee passed their bill, and immediately they sent it to us in a lame duck session.

Now, you say, why wouldn't this bill also have either a joint referral or to the Armed Services Committee, or why did it only go to the House Veterans' Affairs Committee?

Well, you go to the House rules. So even though I sent the letter to Madam Speaker Pelosi saying, please invoke jurisdiction of the House Armed Services Committee, the response obviously was ``no'' because here we now are on the House floor doing this bill by a committee who had never done hearings on the bill.

The problem is in the House rules itself. When you turn to the House rules, I think this has got to be an error in the drafting of these rules. Rule X, 2 cites that cemeteries under the United States in which veterans of any war or conflict are or may be buried, whether in the United States, abroad, except cemeteries administered by the Secretary of the VA, it goes to the Veterans' Affairs Committee. This has to be corrected. So, hopefully, when you go into the next Congress, this rule gets corrected so that the cemeteries that are under the jurisdiction of the United States Army, such as the two, Old Soldiers Home and Arlington National Cemetery, that that legislation regarding that jurisdiction rests with the Armed Services Committee. The VA Committee, we have oversight; but with regard to this, it's a jurisdictional question, and it needs to be corrected.

And that's why you have two individuals here managing a bill on the floor that really the House Armed Services Committee, Mr. Speaker, should also be here. But I want all the Members to know that's why this is happening.

I suppose, yes, we can all be very upset with regard to the management and the markings of some of these graves; but those of us who have had the opportunity to go to Arlington and see the job in which the Old Guard perform, it is pretty extraordinary. I was last there on Monday of Thanksgiving week. I joined Lieutenant General John Kelly, his family and hundreds of his friends at the chapel at Fort Myer. We all left the chapel. We proceeded down the windy road, down the hill, led by the Army Band, a platoon of soldiers, horse-drawn caisson that carried the body of John's youngest son, Lieutenant Robert Kelly, killed in Afghanistan.

The wind was crisp. The sky was blue. The oak and maple trees were clutching onto their red, yellow, gold and light-green leaves. Others were slowly drifting to the ground. The sun shined brightly upon them all.

Each grave marker properly and perfectly aligned in columns, in rows and angles, each was offset by rich green grass signifying the etchings in our national book of remembrance. That's my firsthand account of having attended the funeral of Lieutenant Robert Kelly at his burial on Thanksgiving week. That has been replicated since that Monday of Thanksgiving week, and it has been no different than how the Old Guard pays their honor and respect to so many, and it goes back so far in time.

That rich heritage is what causes each one of us to rise when we get so concerned with regard to mismanagement of such a sacred ground.

With that, I'm going to ask all Members to support the legislation.

Committee on Veterans' Affairs,

House of Representatives,

Washington, DC, December 9, 2010.

Hon. Nancy Pelosi,

Speaker of the House, House of Representatives, H232, The

Capitol, Washington, DC.

Dear Madam Speaker, in reviewing S. 3860, as amended, a

bill to require reports on the management of Arlington

National Cemetery, it appears that the bill invokes authority

under the jurisdiction of the House Committee on Armed

Services.

Army personnel manage and operate Arlington National

Cemetery and the cemetery is under the jurisdiction of the

United States Army. Accordingly, as the Ranking Member of the

Committee of jurisdiction, I request that an additional

referral be made to House Committee on Armed Services to

provide for its full consideration of this bill.

It is important that the Committee on Armed Services be

permitted to weigh in on this legislation prior to further

consideration, as that Committee has legislative and

oversight jurisdiction over the Department of the Army, and

held a hearing on management issues at Arlington National

Cemetery on June 30, 2010.

Thank you for your consideration of this matter.

Sincerely,

Steve Buyer,

Ranking Republican Member.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. President, I also rise today to talk about a subject that is, frankly, as depressing--in fact, more depressing--than the reality we just faced this morning on the floor; that is, the heartbreaking incompetence that has been uncovered at Arlington National Cemetery.

This is, in my opinion, the most sacred ground we have in this country. This is where our highest ideal of an American is laid to rest. The ceremonies that take place every day, day in and day out, at Arlington National Cemetery are a great source of national pride. For the thousands of families who have loved ones buried there, they deserve to know that location is being run with the highest level of integrity and professionalism.

In July of this year, my subcommittee on contracting discovered they have to be bitterly disappointed because due to contracting problems, you cannot be assured that people are buried where Arlington National Cemetery tells you they are buried; that even though we spent millions of dollars on contracts to make sure the system was reliable in terms of the location of the burial of these heroes, the contracts have produced nothing. In fact, the discovery was made that there were many instances where what it said on the tombstone was not true.

We began working and the hearing was mind-boggling because there was so much finger pointing--``not my fault,'' ``not my fault,'' ``not my fault''--discovering there was no real chain of command at Arlington National Cemetery. Unlike the rest of the military and the rest of the Army, it was not clear who the people at Arlington even reported to. That is the management incompetence that breeds all kinds of nonsense, when there is no accountability. And there was no accountability.

So I think the Army has taken this seriously. They clearly are embarrassed, as they should be. They are working to methodically go through the cemetery and make sure they find any instance where there is a discrepancy in terms of the burials. Just a few weeks ago, we learned that they now discovered another grave site where eight urns of cremated remains were located. The tombstone was marked ``Unknown.''

Now, can you imagine there is actually someone who went back eight times to the same location to dump cremated remains in one grave?

We have been able to identify some of those remains, and those families have been notified and they will have the proper burial. They will know the location. Unfortunately, one of the sets of remains we cannot identify. It has been reburied ``Unknown.''

But as we methodically go through the cemetery and try to correct these instances of heartbreaking incompetence, we have to have some legislation in place that provides the right accountability and oversight. I had introduced a piece of legislation along with my ranking Republican on the Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight, Senator Brown of Massachusetts, and we have tried to work this through the process, which everyone around here knows is painfully slow, and even more painfully slow over the last 18 months since the Republican Party has been rewarded for their strategy of block everything, including things they support.

I am encouraged that it is my understanding that after I came to the Senate floor yesterday and said I was going to make a unanimous consent motion, not only have the Democrats all cleared this legislation but the Republicans have also. I think that is a good sign. I wish we had more good signs. But this at least is a good sign.

So, Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Veterans Affairs' Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. 3860 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a McCaskill amendment, which is at the desk, be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and any statements related to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I am proud we have been able to get this passed today. This is a giant Christmas present with a bow on it or a Hanukkah gift with a bow on it to thousands of American families, to let them know we are paying attention. We have very short attention spans around here. When the cameras aren't rolling, we have a tendency to move on to something else. We are always kind of gravitating toward the political fight.

This legislation should send the appropriate signal to our Nation's military, to our Nation's veterans and, most importantly, to the families who have loved ones buried at Arlington National Cemetery that we are paying attention and that we are going to continue to pay attention until we get this right. Our American pride depends on it. It is the ultimate act of patriotism. So I am proud of the fact that we have been able to get this legislation passed today.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, back in July of this year, the subcommittee I chair on contracting oversight held a hearing about heartbreaking incompetence at Arlington National Cemetery.

Because of a series of management errors, bungling, neglect, the contracts that were supposed to be executed to make sure we were keeping track of America's heroes in our most sacred place in this country--we discovered that, in fact, the officials at Arlington National Cemetery were not sure who was buried where.

The reaction I have had to that hearing has been so reassuring because as I travel around Missouri, person after person comes up to me, so many veterans, saying: Thank you for getting on top of this disaster at Arlington National Cemetery.

Since that hearing, when it was very clear there was no direct line of authority in terms of managing Arlington National Cemetery--that they had no problem issuing multiple contracts for millions of dollars and getting absolutely nothing for it, an acknowledgment that they did not have a system that was adequately keeping track of the location of burial for potentially thousands of America's finest--we have continued to stay on top of this and have realized that more and more problems continue to arise.

This morning, it was reported nationally that they now found a grave site that has eight different urns buried--eight different urns-- cremated remains buried in one location with a tombstone that said ``Unknown.'' And, of course, they have been able to identify some of those remains--gratefully, they have--and they are contacting those families.

But as a result of the hearing, I filed legislation, along with Senator Brown, who is with me on that committee as the ranking member of that committee. Together, we filed a bill, with a number of cosponsors, setting up some basic oversight of Arlington going forward--basic but very important--making sure we have review of contract management, making sure we have compliance with an Army directive, making sure we have a report on the grave site discrepancies that have arisen, so we can be assured that every family in America who looks upon Arlington as the last resting place for

their family member can be assured that when they go to visit their loved one, they are indeed visiting their loved one. So we filed this bill, S. 3860. After we found out about these additional problems that have arisen, I now feel a sense of urgency about this.

I know my colleagues on the other side have said we are not doing any other legislation except making sure we get a tax cut for millionaires. I am hoping they will make an exception to the rule because if we do not provide adequate oversight right now, when will we? Is there a subject more important than our oversight and making sure those we should honor the most are, in fact, being treated with the kind of dignity and respect they deserve rather than just being thrown in a gravesite that says ``Unknown''?

So I am going to make a motion tomorrow--we will be in session tomorrow--for unanimous consent to pass this legislation. I know I am being impatient. We are supposed to let these things sit on the calendar for months and months, and we are to hope that nobody puts a secret hold on it, and we are to get frustrated not knowing who has a hold on it or why. We have 38 members of the judiciary who have been sitting on the calendar who came out of committee unanimously. But, no, we can't take those up. We can't do anything until we do unpaid tax cuts for millionaires.

I am hoping my Republican colleagues will give the millionaires a rest tomorrow. I am hoping they will get off the case of helping the millionaires and the billionaires so we can unanimously pass this bill. That is the best we can do right now to make sure our loved ones-- because they are all of our loved ones. We love the men and women who are buried at Arlington National Cemetery, from John F. Kennedy to the soldiers none of us has ever met. We love these Americans, and we need to do everything we can to make sure there is proper oversight of what is going on at Arlington National Cemetery.

So, tomorrow, I am hoping we get an exception to the edict that we got from our friends on the Republican side of the aisle. I am hoping they will allow this bill to go through by unanimous consent because, I will tell my colleagues, I am not comfortable going home for my Christmas holidays with my family until I am sure we have done everything we can for the families who lost loved ones who reached a final resting place on this Earth at Arlington National Cemetery.

Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 3860) to require reports on the management of Arlington National Cemetery.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, the systemic and long-standing problems at Arlington National Cemetery have become well-known and are a national tragedy. Arlington National Cemetery is our most hallowed ground, the final resting place of many of our heroes. Every year, nearly 4 million people visit this cemetery. Because of the importance of Arlington to our national memory, the American people expect Arlington to be run reverently and meticulously, but as we all know now, this has not been the case.

Following a yearlong series of investigative reports published on Salon.com, the Army prompted an investigation regarding reports of unmarked, misidentified, or misplaced graves. The Army investigation identified a culture of inaction and inactivity, a failure to act and a failure to come to grips with the problems at Arlington. Unfortunately, these problems have been going on for years.

Recently, the Army opened a criminal investigation after eight urns of cremated remains were found in a grave marked ``unknown.'' Army Secretary John McHugh has taken many steps to correct the many failures at Arlington, and we applaud his efforts. The Committee on Veterans' Affairs has worked closely with our colleagues on the Armed Services Committee to get answers and find a way forward.

I agree with our esteemed chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Ike Skelton, who stated in a June hearing that, ``We must be prepared that a 100 percent survey of the cemetery and all of its operations, which I believe must now be undertaken, will yield a larger number of problems that must be addressed.''

A comprehensive survey may find that the burial errors at Arlington may number in the thousands, but in order to provide a concrete solution to this problem, we must first fully understand the scope.

The Senate has acted, passing S. 3860 on December 4 of this year. This measure requires reports to Congress on the management of Arlington National Cemetery, including grave site discrepancies, the management and oversight of contracts, and the implementation of recent Army directives. Passing S. 3860 is a first step but not the final answer.

In the waning days of this Congress, we have the opportunity to send to the President this important measure. We will continue to work closely with our colleagues in Armed Services, with the administration, and with our Senate colleagues in the months ahead to fix what is wrong at Arlington and to ensure that the operation of this national shrine honors the men and women who lie at rest there.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

We had thought that the distinguished gentleman from Missouri, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, Mr. Ike Skelton, would be here this evening. He is not. But I would like to say that this House, of course, honors his extraordinary service to his district, his State, the men and women of our armed services, and most importantly, of course, our Nation for 34 years. It has been a great experience to work with Ike Skelton closely, as chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, and to work with him for those who serve in active duty and those who have served and are now veterans.

President Truman, who is a hero to all of us and especially to Ike, stated that, ``It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.'' Ike Skelton has personified this wonderful saying, working tirelessly for the good of our country. He has done more than he will ever get credit for, and this House will be a poorer place without his presence.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, I urge unanimous support, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of S. 3860, a bill that would ensure greater accountability for the operations at Arlington National Cemetery.

I would first like to thank the gentleman from California, Chairman Filner, for his leadership on this issue and bringing this bill to the floor to make sure that this issue is put out there in the forefront, and to the gentleman from Indiana, Ranking Member Buyer, who has done the same, who is passionate about making sure that we are doing the right thing and making the right decisions. I think the ranking member points out some great things we ought to remember, and that is, let's make sure we do a proper examination. Let's not be hasty in reaching judgments. Let's make sure that we are thoughtful about this and make sure we are holding people accountable and not too quickly getting to a point of transference but really getting at the root of the problem. So I appreciate the ranking member for his thoughtfulness on that.

Mr. Speaker, these are our Nation's heroes who have fought and have died to protect our country, and they deserve absolute dignity and honor. The mishandling of remains and gravesites at Arlington has demonstrated that there was a clear lack of accountability. After allegations of mismanagement surfaced in June, Army Secretary John McHugh rightly came forward to accept responsibility and immediately made changes to correct the system. And I want to applaud the Secretary for doing that. He has done great work in making sure that this issue gets addressed. I do believe that this legislation is necessary, though, as the next step to ensure accountability and to avoid these issues in the future.

S. 3860 would require the Secretary of the Army to submit a report to Congress accounting for all the gravesites at Arlington Cemetery within 1 year. And folks, this is a significant effort. There are 320,000 of our heroes buried at Arlington. There may be up to 6,600 gravesites in question. We owe it to the families, we owe it to those servicemembers to make sure that this issue is addressed.

This bill would require the Army to submit plans to remedy any errors found and make sure that those don't happen again in the future.

Under the bill, the Comptroller General would be required to report to Congress on efforts to change the management and oversight structure at Arlington National Cemetery, including contract management.

I am pleased that the legislation requires an assessment of the adequacy of current practices at Arlington, to provide information, outreach and support to the families of individuals buried at the cemetery as errors are detected and corrected. And we've seen some of those things happen here recently.

I just heard the other day of a family who was told that the remains of their loved one were, indeed, known and that they were confirmed. Unfortunately, a week later they were called and told that that was not the case. We need to make sure we get this right, and we need to make sure we keep in mind the effects on families who have loved ones and our Nation's heroes that are buried there.

The families deserve timely and accurate information about the location of their loved ones, and I want to make sure that that happens and happens in every case without ambiguity.

Arlington is the last resting place of so many of our Nation's heroes, those service men and women who are called upon and gave the ultimate sacrifice to this country and, folks, they deserve nothing less.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill.