H.R. 4940 (107th): Arlington National Cemetery Burial Eligibility Act

Introduced:
Jun 13, 2002 (107th Congress, 2001–2002)
Sponsor:
Rep. Robert Stump [R-AZ3]
Status:
Died (Passed House)

The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. H.R. stands for House of Representatives bill.

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Status

This bill was introduced in a previous session of Congress and was passed by the House on July 22, 2002 but was never passed by the Senate.

Progress
Introduced Jun 13, 2002
Referred to Committee Jun 13, 2002
Reported by Committee Jul 16, 2002
Passed House Jul 22, 2002
Cosponsors
7 cosponsors (4R, 3D) (show)
Committees

House Veterans' Affairs

Senate Veterans' Affairs

The committee chair determines whether a bill will move past the committee stage.

Full Title

To amend title 38, United States Code, to enact into law eligibility requirements for burial in Arlington National Cemetery, and for other purposes.

Summary

No summaries available.

Text

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Last updated Jul 23, 2002.
15 pages

Primary Source

View on THOMAS (The Library of Congress)

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GovTrack’s Bill Summary

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Library of Congress Summary

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.

7/22/2002--Passed House amended.
Arlington National Cemetery Burial Eligibility Act - Allows the remains of the following persons to be interred at Arlington National Cemetery:
(1) any member of the armed forces who dies while on active duty;
(2) any retired member of the armed forces;
(3) any member or former member of a reserve component of the armed forces who served on active duty, who was honorably discharged from active duty, who was under 60 years of age, and who, but for such age, would have been eligible for retired pay;
(4) any former member who was separated for physical disability before October 1, 1949, who served on active duty, and who would have been eligible for disability retirement if such provisions had been in effect on such date;
(5) any former member whose last active military service was terminated honorably and who has been awarded one of a number of specified military decorations;
(6) any former prisoner of war who dies on or after November 30, 1993;
(7) any reserve member who dies while on active duty for training or inactive duty training;
(8) the President or any former President;
(9) the spouse, surviving spouse, minor child, and, in the discretion of the Cemetery's Superintendent, unmarried adult child of an interred member (but only if buried in the same grave site);
(10) the spouse, minor child, and unmarried adult child (discretionary) of a member on active duty if such person dies while the member is on active duty;
(11) the individual whose spouse, minor child, and unmarried adult child (discretionary) is eligible under
(10), above, but only if buried in the same grave site;
(12) the parents of a minor child or unmarried adult child whose remains, based on the parent's eligibility, are already buried in the Cemetery, but only if buried in the same grave site;
(13) the surviving spouse, minor child, and unmarried adult child (discretionary) of a member who was lost, buried at sea, or officially determined to be permanently absent in a status of missing or missing in action; and
(14) the surviving spouse, minor child, and unmarried adult child (discretionary) of a member buried in a cemetery under the jurisdiction of the American Battle Monuments Commission.
Authorizes the President to deem an otherwise ineligible individual as eligible for such burial for extraordinary acts, services, or contributions to the armed forces. Prohibits the consideration of a request for burial under such extraordinary circumstances that is made before the death of the individual involved.
Directs the Secretary of the Army to: (1) maintain a register of each individual buried in the Cemetery that describes the basis of burial eligibility for individuals buried on or after January 1, 2002; and (2) publish an updated pamphlet describing eligibility for Cemetery burial.
Section 3 -
Authorizes the cremated remains of the following individuals to be placed in the Cemetery columbarium: (1) any person described above who is eligible for Cemetery burial; (2) a veteran whose last period of active duty service (other than for training) ended honorably; and (3) the spouse, surviving spouse, minor child, and, at the Superintendent's discretion, the unmarried adult child of a veteran whose last period of active service ended honorably.
Section 4 -
Requires a Cemetery grave site to be appropriately marked. Requires the Secretary to prescribe regulations for the provision of Cemetery headstones or markers at private expense in lieu of Cemetery headstones and markers provided by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Allows for the placement of Cemetery monuments for particular military service or a military event, but requires a 25-year wait after such service or event before the placing of such monument.
Section 6 -
Amends the Veterans Education and Benefits Expansion Act of 2001 to make a provision authorizing the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to furnish a headstone or marker for the graves of eligible veterans buried in private cemeteries effective with respect to veterans dying on or after September 11, 2001 (currently December 27, 2001).

House Republican Conference Summary

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No summary available.

House Democratic Caucus Summary

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The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:

Slip Laws

Slip laws refer to enacted bills and joint resolutions in their original form as enacted by Congress, that is, before other laws amend them. Slip laws are cited as “Public Law XXX-YYY”, where XXX is the number of the Congress in which the bill or resolution was introduced.

United States Code

The United States Code is the compilation of permanent laws enacted by Congress. Temporary and other non-permanent laws do not appear in the United States Code. (About half of the United States Code is the law itself, called positive law. The other half is merely a compilation of the laws but has no legal significance.)

Statutes at Large

The United States Statutes at Large is the compilation of all laws enacted by Congress.

  • 115 Stat. 994

Other Citations

  • 10 U.S.C. Chapter 1223
  • 38 U.S.C. Chapter 24