Veterans Cemetery Benefit Correction Act

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4910) to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide outer burial receptacles for remains buried in National Parks, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 4910, as amended.

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

I am pleased that we are considering H.R. 4910, the Veterans Cemetery Benefit Correction Act, which was introduced by Representative Scott of Georgia.

Current law requires VA to provide an outer burial receptacle for each new grave in a cemetery under the control of the National Cemetery Administration. H.R. 4910 would extend this benefit to veterans who will be interred in cemeteries under the control of the National Park Service.

This bill only impacts two cemeteries within the National Park Service that are open to new interments. One of these cemeteries, the Andrew

Johnson National Cemetery, is in my home district in Tennessee and has a fascinating story.

Andrew Johnson served Tennessee as a Congressman, a Governor, and a Senator. He was also Abraham Lincoln's Vice President in 1865 and was sworn in as President after Lincoln's assassination. When he died in 1857, he was buried on the land that is now the Andrew Johnson National Cemetery.

The land remained in his family until the War Department acquired it in 1906. Finally, the jurisdiction of the cemetery was transferred to the National Park Service in 1942. Now the cemetery provides a final resting place for veterans who served our Nation since the Civil War, and it is still accepting new burials.

Veterans and their family members who choose to be buried in Andrew Johnson National Cemetery, or any other National Park Service cemetery, should receive the same benefits as those who are buried in VA cemeteries.

The manager's amendment incorporates some technical changes suggested by the National Park Service and is identical to S. 2372, which was introduced by the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Isakson, and passed the Senate by unanimous consent on March 1, 2018.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Bishop), chairman of the Committee on Natural Resources, for helping to expedite the consideration of the bill today.

I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4910, as amended, and I reserve the balance of my time.

House of Representatives,

Committee on Natural Resources,

Washington, DC, March 27, 2018.

Hon. David P. Roe,

Chairman, Committee on Veterans' Affairs,

Washington, DC.

Dear Mr. Chairman: I write regarding H.R. 4910, the

Veterans Cemetery Benefit Correction Act, authored by

Congressman Austin Scott. This bill contains provisions under

the jurisdiction of the Committee on Natural Resources.

I recognize and appreciate your desire to bring this bill

before the House of Representatives in an expeditious manner,

and accordingly, I will agree that the Committee on Natural

Resources be discharged from further consideration of the

bill. I do so with the understanding that this action does

not affect the jurisdiction of the Committee on Natural

Resources, and that the Committee reserves its authority to

seek conferees on any provision within its jurisdiction

during any House-Senate conference that may be convened on

this, or any similar legislation. I ask that you support any

such request.

I also ask that a copy of this letter and your response be

included in the report for the bill and in the Congressional

Record during consideration of the bill on the House floor.

Thank you for your work on this important issue.

Sincerely,

Rob Bishop,

Chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Austin Scott), the sponsor of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I am prepared to close. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this commonsense legislation of Mr. Scott and Mr. Bishop, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to encourage my colleagues to support H.R. 4910, the Veterans Cemetery Benefit Correction Act. I joined my fellow Georgia Congressman Austin Scott to introduce this bipartisan legislation to ensure that all of our veteran families receive the benefits that they have earned.

I thank the chairman and the ranking member for their leadership in bringing this bill to the floor, and I thank all of my colleagues for their help in moving it forward.

Mr. Speaker, Andersonville, which is one of the two remaining National Park Service cemeteries, has a very, very interesting and unique history. Andersonville was the site of a Civil War prisoner of war camp, and, interestingly enough, it held prisoners of war for both the Union and the Confederates. Unfortunately, because of the

unsanitary conditions, thousands of veterans, both Union and Confederate, died at Andersonville.

Of course, in more recent years, Andersonville has been designated as the National Prisoner of War Memorial for our country, and, in that stead, we erected and funded the National Prisoner of War Museum, which is located on the grounds of Andersonville. The facilities there are controlled totally by the National Park Service.

Currently, when veterans are buried in some of the Federal cemeteries, as you have heard, a number of the families are left to pay the burial costs that typically would be afforded them under other circumstances.

Current law requires that when a veteran is buried in a national cemetery under the control of the National Cemetery Administration, that the VA will provide an outer burial receptacle, known in other terms as a grave liner, or it will provide reimbursement to the family for purchase.

However, the current law inexplicably excludes national cemeteries that are under the control of the National Park Service. The Andersonville National Cemetery, located in my district, is one of the two remaining national cemeteries controlled by the National Park Service.

Today, we are taking steps for Congress to correct this oversight and to ensure that veterans buried in cemeteries controlled by the National Park Service, and their families, are provided all of the benefits to which they are entitled, not only for my district but for all of our veterans and their families who have selflessly served our country.

I applaud Senator Isakson's successful effort to push this legislation through the Senate under unanimous consent. It is now time for the House to take action, and by voting for this legislation, we can fix this oversight and ensure that all of our veterans and their families are provided appropriate benefits in all of our Federal cemeteries.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4910, the Veterans Cemetery Benefit Correction Act. If enacted, H.R. 4910 would require the U.S. Department of the Interior to provide outer burial receptacles, also known as grave liners, for veterans buried in cemeteries under the control of the National Park Service.

Current law requires that the United States Department of Veterans Affairs provide an outer burial receptacle to a veteran buried in a national cemetery under the control of the National Cemetery Administration, which is a branch of the Veterans Administration. Additionally, the VA can provide a reimbursement if the family chooses to purchase a liner in lieu of the government-furnished grave liner.

However, cemeteries under the control of the National Park Service are not covered by this statute, and neither the VA nor the National Park Service currently are able to provide this benefit for veterans buried in those cemeteries.

The Veterans Cemetery Benefit Correction Act simply amends the law to require the Department of the Interior to provide an outer burial receptacle for each new veteran's grave in a national cemetery under the control of the National Park Service, just as would be provided if they were buried under the Veterans Administration.

This bill also provides for the reimbursement of a veteran's survivors who provide a privately purchased outer burial receptacle for use in a National Park Service cemetery.

Of the 14 national cemeteries controlled by the National Park Service, two are still active: Andersonville National Cemetery in Georgia, which my colleague Mr. Bishop currently represents, and Andrew Johnson National Cemetery in Tennessee.

I am pleased to have introduced this bipartisan, commonsense legislation alongside my friend, fellow Georgian, and chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Senator Johnny Isakson, to ensure our veterans receive equal burial benefits, regardless of where they are laid to rest.

It is now more important than ever to close the gap in benefits for veterans who are buried in cemeteries managed by the National Park Service. In doing so, we will ensure that all veterans and their families are receiving the benefits and respect they have rightly earned.

I urge support from my colleagues on this bipartisan measure and commonsense piece of legislation.

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

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4910, the Veterans Cemetery Benefit Correction Act, as amended, requires the Secretary of the Interior to provide an outer burial receptacle for each new grave in an open cemetery under the control of the National Park Service. The National Park Service controls 14 national cemeteries, two that are still active. They are Andersonville National Cemetery in Georgia and Andrew Johnson National Cemetery in Tennessee.

Mr. Speaker, veterans who want to be buried at these two cemeteries currently must pay the cost of their own outer burial receptacle, yet veterans buried in national or State cemeteries controlled by the VA's National Cemetery Administration are provided such at no cost.

This bill authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to promulgate rules and regulations establishing the cost that must be reimbursed to the Department of the Interior by survivors. The survivors will then be reimbursed for the cost through a VA voucher. It has already passed the Senate, and I urge its passage today by the House.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Bishop), my good friend.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in passing H.R. 4910, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, due to the primary election in my home state of North Carolina, I was unable to vote during Roll Call 167, the motion to suspend the rules and pass as amended H.R. 4910, the Veterans Cemetery Benefit Correction Act, as well as Roll Call 168, the motion to suspend the rules and pass as amended H.R. 4335, the Servicemember Family Burial Act.

Had I been present, I would have voted Yea on Roll Call 167 and Yea on Roll Call 168.