S. 1471 

One Hundred Thirteenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE FIRST SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Thursday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and thirteen 

An Act 

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 (f); and 

(2) by inserting after subsection (c) the following new subsections: 

‘‘(d)(1) In a case described in subsection (e), 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)(i) In a case described in subsection (e)(1)(A), 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. 

‘‘(ii) In a case described in subsection (e)(1)(B), if 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 
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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. 

‘‘(3)(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 (2) 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 under section 7105 of this title and shall initiate appellate 

review in accordance with the provisions of chapter 71 of this 

title. 

‘‘(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. 

‘‘(4) 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 (3)(A) or by final disposition of the appeal pursuant to paragraph (3)(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. 

‘‘(e)(1) A case described in this subsection is a case in which 

the appropriate federal official receives— 

‘‘(A) written notice of a conviction referred to in subsection 

(b)(1), (b)(2), or (b)(4) of a person described in paragraph (2); 

or 

‘‘(B) information that a person described in paragraph (2) 

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. 

‘‘(2) A person described in this paragraph is a person— 

‘‘(A) whose remains have been interred in a cemetery in 

the National Cemetery Administration or in Arlington National 

Cemetery; or 
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‘‘(B) 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.’’. 

(b) MODIFICATION OF EXCEPTION TO INTERMENT OR MEMORI- ALIZATION PROHIBITION.—Subsection (a)(2) of such section is 

amended by striking ‘‘such official approves an application for’’. 

(c) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by this section 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 nextof-kin of record for Michael LaShawn Anderson or, if the nextof-kin of record for Michael LaShawn Anderson is unavailable, 

arrange for an appropriate disposition of the remains. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.