II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4787 

To establish a flower ordering program for gravesites under the purview 

of the American Battle Monuments Commission. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 25, 2024 

Ms. HASSAN (for herself and Mrs. BLACKBURN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and 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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS 

7 COMMISSION AUTHORITIES. 

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

9 amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (a)— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (4), by striking the 

2 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

3 (B) in paragraph (5), by striking the pe4 riod and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

5 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

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

7 enactment of the Flowers for Fallen Heroes Act of 

8 2024, establish a modern and secure program and 

9 payment system for members of the public to order 

10 floral arrangements for gravesites under the Com11 mission’s purview, without excess administrative fees 

12 or markup.’’; 

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

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

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

16 ‘‘(l) AUTHORITY OF COMMISSION TO ACCEPT CER17 TAIN TYPES OF PAYMENTS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY TO ACCEPT CREDIT CARD PAY19 MENTS AND ELECTRONIC FUNDS TRANSFERS.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may 

21 accept payment of fees related to activities de22 scribed in subsection (a)(6) by credit card or 

23 electronic funds transfer. 

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

25 PROVIDERS.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Commission 

2 may contract with third-party providers, 

3 including insured depository institutions 

4 and card issuers (as such terms are de5 fined in the Truth in Lending Act), for 

6 purposes of accepting payments by credit 

7 card or by electronic funds transfer mak8 ing every effort to find the best value third 

9 party vendor. 

10 ‘‘(ii) PAYMENT OF FEES.—If a third11 party vendor with which the Commission 

12 contracts requires a fee in connection with 

13 the processing of credit payments or elec14 tronic funds transfers, the person who is 

15 making such payment or transfer shall pay 

16 such fee, not the Commission. 

17 ‘‘(C) COMPLETION OF PAYMENT.—If a 

18 person elects to make a payment to the Com19 mission by a method authorized under subpara20 graph (A), the payment shall not be deemed to 

21 be made until the Commission receives the 

22 funds. 

23 ‘‘(2) LIABILITY FOR NONPAYMENT.—If a pay24 ment by credit card, debit card, or charge card, so 

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


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1 charged back to the Commission, the person by 

2 whom such method of payment has been tendered 

3 shall remain liable for the payment, to the same ex4 tent as if such method of payment had not been ten5 dered. 

6 ‘‘(3) ELECTRONIC FUNDS TRANSFER DE7 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘electronic funds 

8 transfer’— 

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

10 a transaction by check, draft, or similar paper 

11 instrument, that is initiated through an elec12 tronic terminal, personal device, or computer 

13 for the purpose of ordering, instructing, or au14 thorizing a financial institution to debit or cred15 it an account; and 

16 ‘‘(B) includes point of sale transfers, auto17 mated teller machine transfers, direct deposit or 

18 withdrawal of funds, transfers initiated by per19 sonal device, and transfers resulting from debit 

20 card transactions. 

21 ‘‘(m) CREDITING OF FUNDS.—Any fees or reim22 bursements received by the Commission for services pro23 vided under this section shall be credited to the appropria24 tion or fund used for paying the service costs and shall 

25 remain available for obligation until expended.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION AND ADHERENCE 

2 TO CONGRESSIONAL INTENT. 

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

4 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and annu5 ally thereafter, the American Battle Monuments Commis6 sion (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Commission’’) 

7 shall submit a report on implementation and performance 

8 related to the amendments made by this Act to— 

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

10 Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans 

11 Affairs, and Related Agencies of the Committee on 

12 Appropriations of the House of Representatives; and 

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

14 Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans 

15 Affairs, and Related Agencies of the Committee on 

16 Appropriations of the Senate. 

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

18 to Congress required under subsection (a) shall include 

19 progress summaries of activities related to— 

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

21 Code, including— 

22 (A) data on flower orders; 

23 (B) the Commission’s active management 

24 of a flower program including receiving and 

25 processing the order, placing the floral tribute, 

26 providing via email a digital photo of the decoVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Aug 22, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4787.IS S4787

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1 rated gravesite to the requestor, and status of 

2 ordering systems; 

3 (C) efforts to ensure easy, cost-effective ac4 cess for members of the public who would like 

5 to participate in the flower program; 

6 (D) creative marketing of the flower pro7 gram to include public service advertising and 

8 public-private partnerships; and 

9 (E) the vetting process for florists involved 

10 with the flower program; and 

11 (2) promotion of the Commission’s activities 

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

13 States Code. 

14 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

15 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Com16 mission such sums as necessary, as determined by the 

17 Commission, to provide the services described in section 

18 2103(a)(6) of title 36, United States Code. 

Æ 


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