108TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1516

AN ACT

To provide for the establishment by the Secretary

of Veterans Affairs of five additional cemeteriesin the National Cemetery System.

108TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1516

AN ACT

To provide for the establishment by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs of five additional cemeteries in the National

Cemetery System.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Cemetery Ex3 pansion Act of 2003’’.

4 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW NATIONAL CEMETERIES.

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than four years

6 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary

7 of Veterans Affairs, in accordance with chapter 24 of title

8 38, United States Code, shall establish five new national

9 cemeteries. The new cemeteries shall be located in the fol10 lowing locations (those locations having been determined

11 by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to be the most appro12 priate locations for new national cemeteries):

13 (1) Southeastern Pennsylvania.

14 (2) The Birmingham, Alabama, area.

15 (3) The Jacksonville, Florida, area.

16 (4) The Bakersfield, California, area.

17 (5) The Greenville/Columbia, South Carolina,

18 area.

19 (b) FUNDS.—Amounts appropriated for the Depart20 ment of Veterans Affairs for any fiscal year after fiscal

21 year 2003 for Advance Planning shall be available for the

22 purposes of subsection (a).

23 (c) SITE SELECTION PROCESS.—In determining the

24 specific sites for the new cemeteries required by subsection

25 (a) within the locations specified in that subsection, the

26 Secretary shall solicit the advice and views of representa-
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1 tives of State and local veterans organizations and other

2 individuals as the Secretary considers appropriate.

3 (d) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 120 days after

4 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall

5 submit to Congress a report on the establishment of the

6 national cemeteries required by subsection (a). The report

7 shall—

8 (1) set forth a schedule for the establishment of

9 each such cemetery and an estimate of the costs as10 sociated with the establishment of each such ceme11 tery; and

12 (2) identify the amount of Advance Planning

13 Funds obligated for purposes of this section as of

14 the submission of the report.

15 (e) ANNUAL REPORTS.—The Secretary shall submit

16 to Congress an annual report on the implementation of

17 this section until the establishment of all five cemeteries

18 is completed and each such cemetery has opened. The Sec19 retary shall include in each such annual report an update

20 of the information provided under paragraphs (1) and (2)

21 of subsection (d).

22 (f) DEFINITION OF SOUTHEASTERN PENNSYL23 VANIA.—In this section, the term ‘‘southeastern Pennsyl24 vania’’ means the city of Philadelphia and Berks County,

25 Bucks County, Chester County, Delaware County, Phila-
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1 delphia County, and Montgomery County in the State of

2 Pennsylvania.

Passed the House of Representatives July 21, 2003.

Attest:

Clerk.