II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1813 

To amend titles 10 and 38 of the United States Code, to modify the circumstances under which a person who has committed a capital offense 

is denied certain burial-related benefits and funeral honors. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 3, 2005 

Mr. CRAIG (for himself, Mr. ROBERTS, and Mr. BROWNBACK) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend titles 10 and 38 of the United States Code, 

to modify the circumstances under which a person who 

has committed a capital offense is denied certain burialrelated benefits and funeral honors. 

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

3 SECTION 1. PROHIBITION AGAINST INTERMENT IN NA4 TIONAL CEMETERY. 

5 Section 2411 of title 38, United States Code, is 

6 amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (b)— 
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1 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘ for 

2 which the person was sentenced to death or life 

3 imprisonment’’; and 

4 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘ for 

5 which the person was sentenced to death or life 

6 imprisonment without parole’’; and 

7 (2) in subsection (d)— 

8 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘the 

9 death penalty or life imprisonment’’ and insert10 ing ‘‘a life sentence or the death penalty’’; and 

11 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘the 

12 death penalty or life imprisonment without pa13 role may be imposed’’ and inserting ‘‘a life sen14 tence or the death penalty may be imposed’’. 

15 SEC. 2. DENIAL OF CERTAIN BURIAL-RELATED BENEFITS. 

16 Section 985 of title 10, United States Code, is 

17 amended— 

18 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘who has been 

19 convicted of a capital offense under Federal or State 

20 law for which the person was sentenced to death or 

21 life imprisonment without parole.’’ and inserting 

22 ‘‘described in section 2411(b) of title 38.’’; 

23 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘convicted of 

24 a capital offense under Federal law’’ and inserting 

25 ‘‘described in section 2411(b) of title 38’’; and 
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1 (3) by amending subsection (c) to read as fol2 lows: 

3 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘burial’ 

4 includes inurnment.’’. 

5 SEC. 3. DENIAL OF FUNERAL HONORS. 

6 Section 1491(h) of title 10, United States Code, is 

7 amended— 

8 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 

9 subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively; 

10 (2) by striking ‘‘ means a decedent who—’’ and 

11 inserting the following: ‘‘— 

12 ‘‘(1) means a decedent who—’’; 

13 (3) in subparagraph (B), as redesignated, by 

14 striking the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

15 and 

16 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(2) does not include any person described in 

18 section 2411(b) of title 38.’’. 

19 SEC. 4. RULEMAKING. 

20 (a) DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.—The Secretary of 

21 Defense shall prescribe regulations to ensure that a person 

22 is not interred in any military cemetery under the author23 ity of the Secretary or provided funeral honors under sec24 tion 1491 of title 10, United States Code, unless a good 

25 faith effort has been made to determine whether such per-
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1 son is described in section 2411(b) of title 38, United 

2 States Code, or is otherwise ineligible for such interment 

3 or honors under Federal law. 

4 (b) DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.—The 

5 Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall prescribe regulations 

6 to ensure that a person is not interred in any cemetery 

7 in the National Cemetery System unless a good faith ef8 fort has been made to determine whether such person is 

9 described in section 2411(b) of title 38, United States 

10 Code, or is otherwise ineligible for such interment under 

11 Federal law. 

Æ