IB 

Union Calendar No. 103

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1516

[Report No. 108–199] 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a national cemetery 

for veterans in southeastern Pennsylvania. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 31, 2003

Mr. GERLACH (for himself and Mr. HOEFFEL) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

JULY 10, 2003

Additional sponsors: Mr. MURTHA, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. PITTS, Mr. FATTAH, 

Mr. ENGLISH, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. 

PLATTS, Ms. HART, Mr. KANJORSKI, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. DOYLE, Mr. 

WELDON of Pennsylvania, Mr. SHUSTER, Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. SHERWOOD, Mr. TOOMEY, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. 

EVANS, Mr. MICHAUD, and Mr. SMITH of New Jersey 

JULY 10, 2003

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House 

on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 31, 2003] 

A BILL

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a 

national cemetery for veterans in southeastern Pennsylvania.
2

•HR 1516 RH 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Cemetery Ex5 pansion Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW NATIONAL CEMETERIES. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than four years after 

8 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Vet9 erans Affairs, in accordance with chapter 24 of title 38, 

10 United States Code, shall establish five new national ceme11 teries. The new cemeteries shall be located in the following 

12 locations (those locations having been determined by the 

13 Secretary of Veterans Affairs to be the most appropriate lo14 cations for new national cemeteries): 

15 (1) Southeastern Pennsylvania. 

16 (2) The Birmingham, Alabama, area. 

17 (3) The Jacksonville, Florida, area. 

18 (4) The Bakersfield, California, area. 

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

20 area. 

21 (b) FUNDS.—Amounts appropriated for the Depart22 ment of Veterans Affairs for any fiscal year after fiscal year 

23 2003 for Advance Planning shall be available for the pur24 poses of subsection (a). 
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•HR 1516 RH 

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

2 specific sites for the new cemeteries required by subsection 

3 (a) within the locations specified in that subsection, the Sec4 retary shall solicit the advice and views of representatives 

5 of State and local veterans organizations and other individ6 uals as the Secretary considers appropriate. 

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

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

9 submit to Congress a report on the establishment of the na10 tional cemeteries required by subsection (a). The report 

11 shall—

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

13 each such cemetery and an estimate of the costs asso14 ciated with the establishment of each such cemetery; 

15 and 

16 (2) identify the amount of Advance Planning 

17 Funds obligated for purposes of this section as of the 

18 submission of the report. 

19 (e) ANNUAL REPORTS.—The Secretary shall submit to 

20 Congress an annual report on the implementation of this 

21 section until the establishment of all five cemeteries is com22 pleted and each such cemetery has opened. The Secretary 

23 shall include in each such annual report an update of the 

24 information provided under paragraphs (1) and (2) of sub25 section (d). 
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•HR 1516 RH 

1 (f) DEFINITION OF SOUTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA.—

2 In this section, the term ‘‘southeastern Pennsylvania’’ 

3 means the city of Philadelphia and Berks County, Bucks 

4 County, Chester County, Delaware County, Philadelphia 

5 County, and Montgomery County in the State of Pennsyl6 vania.

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to provide for 

the establishment by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs of 

five additional cemeteries in the National Cemetery System.’’. 

Union Calendar No. 103

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1516

[Report No. 108–199] 

A BILL

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a national cemetery for veterans in southeastern Pennsylvania. 

JULY 10, 2003

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee 

of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed