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[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1471 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1471

To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of the 
 Army to reconsider decisions to inter or honor the memory of a person 
            in a national cemetery, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 1, 2013

  Mr. Coats (for himself, Mr. Donnelly, and Mr. Burr) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                           Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of the 
 Army to reconsider decisions to inter or honor the memory of a person 
            in a national cemetery, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Alicia Dawn Koehl Respect for 
National Cemeteries Act''.

SEC. 2. AUTHORITY TO RECONSIDER DECISIONS OF SECRETARY OF VETERANS 
              AFFAIRS OR SECRETARY OF THE ARMY TO INTER THE REMAINS OR 
              HONOR THE MEMORY OF A PERSON IN A NATIONAL CEMETERY.

    (a) Authority To Reconsider Prior Decisions.--Section 2411 of title 
38, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (e); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the following new 
        subsection (d):
    ``(d)(1) In a case described in paragraph (2)(A), the appropriate 
Federal official may reconsider a decision to--
            ``(A) inter the remains of a person in a cemetery in the 
        National Cemetery Administration or in Arlington National 
        Cemetery; or
            ``(B) honor the memory of a person in a memorial area in a 
        cemetery in the National Cemetery Administration (described in 
        section 2403(a) of this title) or in such an area in Arlington 
        National Cemetery (described in section 2409(a) of this title).
    ``(2)(A) A case described in this paragraph is a case in which the 
appropriate Federal official receives information that a person 
described in subparagraph (B) may have committed a Federal capital 
crime or a State capital crime but was not convicted of such crime by 
reason of such person not being available for trial due to death or 
flight to avoid prosecution.
    ``(B) A person described in this subparagraph is a person--
            ``(i) whose remains have been interred in a cemetery in the 
        National Cemetery Administration or in Arlington National 
        Cemetery; or
            ``(ii) whose memory has been honored in a memorial area in 
        a cemetery in the National Cemetery Administration or in such 
        an area in Arlington National Cemetery.
    ``(3)(A) If in a case described in paragraph (2), the appropriate 
Federal official finds, based upon a showing of clear and convincing 
evidence and after an opportunity for a hearing in a manner prescribed 
by the appropriate Federal official, that the person had committed a 
Federal capital crime or a State capital crime but had not been 
convicted of such crime by reason of such person not being available 
for trial due to death or flight to avoid prosecution, the appropriate 
Federal official shall provide notice to the deceased person's next of 
kin or other person authorized to arrange burial or memorialization of 
the deceased person of the decision of the appropriate Federal official 
to disinter the remains of the deceased person or to remove a memorial 
headstone or marker memorializing the deceased person.
    ``(B) Notice under subparagraph (A) shall be provided by the 
appropriate Federal official as follows:
            ``(i) By the Secretary in accordance with section 5104 of 
        this title.
            ``(ii) By the Secretary of Defense in accordance with such 
        regulations as the Secretary of Defense shall prescribe for 
        purposes of this subsection.
    ``(4)(A) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the next of 
kin or other person authorized to arrange burial or memorialization of 
the deceased person shall be allowed a period of 60 days from the date 
of the notice required by paragraph (3) to file a notice of 
disagreement with the Federal official that provided the notice.
    ``(B)(i) A notice of disagreement filed with the Secretary under 
subparagraph (A) shall be treated as a notice of disagreement filed 
with the Board of Veterans' Appeals under chapter 71 of this title, and 
shall be decided by the Board in accordance with the provisions of that 
chapter.
    ``(ii) A notice of disagreement filed with the Secretary of Defense 
under subparagraph (A) shall be decided in accordance with such 
regulations as the Secretary of Defense shall prescribe for purposes of 
this subsection.
    ``(5) When the decision of the appropriate Federal official to 
disinter the remains or remove a memorial headstone or marker of the 
deceased person becomes final either by failure to appeal the decision 
in accordance with paragraph (4)(A) or by a decision pursuant to 
paragraph (4)(B), the appropriate Federal official may take any of the 
following actions:
            ``(A) Disinter the remains of the person from the cemetery 
        in the National Cemetery Administration or in Arlington 
        National Cemetery and provide for the reburial or other 
        appropriate disposition of the disinterred remains in a place 
        other than a cemetery in the National Cemetery Administration 
        or in Arlington National Cemetery.
            ``(B) Remove from a memorial area in a cemetery in the 
        National Cemetery Administration or in Arlington National 
        Cemetery any memorial headstone or marker placed to honor the 
        memory of the person.''.
    (b) Applicability.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall 
apply with respect to any interment or memorialization conducted by the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs or the Secretary of the Army in a 
cemetery in the National Cemetery Administration or in Arlington 
National Cemetery after the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. DISINTERMENT OF REMAINS OF MICHAEL LASHAWN ANDERSON FROM FORT 
              CUSTER NATIONAL CEMETERY.

    (a) Disinterment of Remains.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall disinter the remains of Michael LaShawn Anderson from Fort Custer 
National Cemetery.
    (b) Notification of Next-of-Kin.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall--
            (1) notify the next-of-kin of record for Michael LaShawn 
        Anderson of the impending disinterment of his remains; and
            (2) upon disinterment, relinquish the remains to the next-
        of-kin of record for Michael LaShawn Anderson or, if the next-
        of-kin of record for Michael LaShawn Anderson is unavailable, 
        arrange for an appropriate disposition of the remains.
                                 <all>
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