I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7361 

To establish a flower ordering program for gravesites under the purview 

of the American Battle Monuments Commission. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2024 

Mr. ZINKE (for himself, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. VALADAO, Mr. 

DAVIS of North Carolina, Mr. WALTZ, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. 

KELLY of Mississippi, Mr. CUELLAR, Mrs. BICE, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 

FLEISCHMANN, Mr. MCCORMICK, Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS, Mr. BACON, Mr. 

GUEST, Mr. BAIRD, Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana, Mr. NEHLS, Mr. VAN

DREW, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Mr. CISCOMANI, Mr. ARMSTRONG, Mrs. CHAVEZ-DEREMER, Mr. MOONEY, Mr. DUNN of Florida, Mr. BARR, Mr. 

JACKSON of Texas, Mr. VAN ORDEN, Ms. MACE, Mr. EZELL, Mr. SELF, 

Mr. MILLS, Mr. EDWARDS, Mr. RUTHERFORD, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. KELLY

of Pennsylvania, Mr. CLYDE, Mrs. KIGGANS of Virginia, Mr. KEAN of 

New Jersey, Mr. STAUBER, Mr. MOOLENAAR, and Mr. LAWLER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish a flower ordering program for gravesites under 

the purview of the American Battle Monuments Commission. 

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 ‘‘Flowers for Fallen He5 roes Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS 

2 COMMISSION AUTHORITIES. 

3 Section 2103 of title 36, United States Code, is 

4 amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (a)— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘American Battle Monu7 ments Commission may’’ and inserting ‘‘Amer8 ican Battle Monuments Commission shall’’; 

9 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking the 

10 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

11 (C) in paragraph (5), by striking the pe12 riod and inserting a semicolon; and 

13 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(6) not later than 1 year after the date of the 

15 enactment of the Flowers for Fallen Heroes Act of 

16 2024, establish— 

17 ‘‘(A) a program and payment system for 

18 members of the public to order floral arrange19 ments for gravesites under the Commission’s 

20 purview, with orders executed by third-party re21 gional florists chosen by the Commission, with22 out excess administrative fees or markup; and 

23 ‘‘(B) a user-friendly website and telephone 

24 ordering system for the program and payment 

25 system described in subparagraph (A).’’; 


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1 (2) in subsection (c), by inserting ‘‘, marketing 

2 professionals,’’ after ‘‘architects’’; and 

3 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(l) AUTHORITY OF COMMISSION TO ACCEPT CER5 TAIN TYPES OF PAYMENTS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY TO ACCEPT CREDIT CARD PAY7 MENTS AND ELECTRONIC FUNDS TRANSFERS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 

9 accept payment of fees related to activities de10 scribed in subsection (a)(6) by credit card or 

11 electronic funds transfer. 

12 ‘‘(B) USE OF VENDORS AND THIRD-PARTY

13 PROVIDERS.— 

14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Commission 

15 shall— 

16 ‘‘(I) contract with third-party 

17 providers, including insured depository 

18 institutions and card issuers (as such 

19 terms are defined in the Truth in 

20 Lending Act), for purposes of accept21 ing payments by credit card or by 

22 electronic funds transfer; and 

23 ‘‘(II) make every effort, when 

24 contracting with third-party vendors 


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1 under clause (i), to find the lowest 

2 cost third-party vendor. 

3 ‘‘(ii) PAYMENT OF FEES.—If a third4 party vendor with which the Commission 

5 contracts requires a fee in connection with 

6 the processing of credit payments or elec7 tronic funds transfers, the person who is 

8 making such payment or transfer shall pay 

9 such fee, not the Commission. 

10 ‘‘(C) COMPLETION OF PAYMENT.—If a 

11 person elects to make a payment to the Com12 mission by a method authorized under subpara13 graph (A), the payment shall not be deemed to 

14 be made until the Commission receives the 

15 funds. 

16 ‘‘(2) LIABILITY FOR NONPAYMENT.—If a pay17 ment by credit card, debit card, or charge card, so 

18 received is not duly paid, or is paid and subsequently 

19 charged back to the Commission, the person by 

20 whom such method of payment has been tendered 

21 shall remain liable for the payment, to the same ex22 tent as if such method of payment had not been ten23 dered. 


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1 ‘‘(3) ELECTRONIC FUNDS TRANSFER DE2 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘electronic funds 

3 transfer’— 

4 ‘‘(A) means a transfer of funds, other than 

5 a transaction by check, draft, or similar paper 

6 instrument, that is initiated through an elec7 tronic terminal, telephone, or computer or mag8 netic tape for the purpose of ordering, instruct9 ing, or authorizing a financial institution to 

10 debit or credit an account; and 

11 ‘‘(B) includes point of sale transfers, auto12 mated teller machine transfers, direct deposit or 

13 withdrawal of funds, transfers initiated by tele14 phone, and transfers resulting from debit card 

15 transactions.’’. 

16 SEC. 3. REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION AND ADHERENCE 

17 TO CONGRESSIONAL INTENT. 

18 (a) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 

19 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and annu20 ally thereafter, the American Battle Monuments Commis21 sion (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Commission’’) 

22 shall submit a report on implementation and performance 

23 related to the amendments made by this Act to— 

24 (1) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and the 

25 Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans 


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1 Affairs, and Related Agencies of the Committee on 

2 Appropriations of the House of Representatives; and 

3 (2) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and the 

4 Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans 

5 Affairs, and Related Agencies of the Committee on 

6 Appropriations of the Senate. 

7 (b) CONTENTS OF ANNUAL REPORT.—Each report 

8 to Congress required under subsection (a) shall include 

9 progress summaries of activities related to— 

10 (1) section 2103(a)(6) of title 36, United States 

11 Code, including— 

12 (A) data on flower orders; 

13 (B) the Commission’s active management 

14 of a flower program including receiving and 

15 processing the order, placing the floral tribute 

16 with an appropriate note of dedication, pro17 viding a picture of the decorated gravesite to 

18 the requestor, status of telephone, website or19 dering systems, and dedicated information tech20 nology solutions; 

21 (C) engagement with florists local to ceme22 teries under the Commission’s jurisdiction; 

23 (D) efforts to ensure easy, low-cost access 

24 for members of the public who would like to 

25 participate in the flower program; 


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1 (E) creative marketing of the flower pro2 gram to include public service advertising and 

3 public-private partnerships; and 

4 (F) the vetting process for florists involved 

5 with the flower program; and 

6 (2) promotion of the Commission’s activities 

7 pursuant to section 2102(a) of title 36, United 

8 States Code. 

Æ 


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