I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2706 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide priority for the establishment of new national cemeteries by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 9, 2015 

Ms. TITUS (for herself, Mr. BISHOP of Utah, Mr. CRAMER, and Mr. STEWART) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide priority 

for the establishment of new national cemeteries by the 

Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Veterans National Re5 membrance Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW NATIONAL CEMETERIES 

2 BY THE SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2404 of title 38, United 

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing new subsection: 

6 ‘‘(i)(1) In selecting a location for the establishment 

7 of a new national cemetery under this chapter, the Sec8 retary shall— 

9 ‘‘(A) give priority to a location in accordance 

10 with paragraph (2); and 

11 ‘‘(B) with respect to a location given such pri12 ority, ensure that the location is within 10 miles of 

13 the location that the Secretary determines likely to 

14 have a significant amount of the population to be 

15 served by such national cemetery during the 25-year 

16 period following such establishment. 

17 ‘‘(2)(A) Except as provided by subparagraph (C), in 

18 selecting a location for the establishment of a new national 

19 cemetery under this chapter, the Secretary shall give pri20 ority to a State that does not have a national cemetery. 

21 ‘‘(B) In determining priority among more than one 

22 State described in subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall 

23 give priority to the State that has the largest population 

24 of veterans. 

25 ‘‘(C) After any time that the Secretary establishes 

26 two national cemeteries in accordance with the priority deVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:58 Jun 10, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2706.IH H2706

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1 scribed in subparagraph (A), the Secretary may waive the 

2 requirements of such priority in establishing the national 

3 cemetery that immediately follows such two national ceme4 teries if the Secretary determines that such waiver will 

5 allow the Secretary to establish a national cemetery that 

6 will serve a larger population of veterans as compared to 

7 establishing a national cemetery in accordance with such 

8 priority. 

9 ‘‘(3) In this subsection, the term ‘national ceme10 tery’— 

11 ‘‘(A) includes— 

12 ‘‘(i) the cemeteries described in section 

13 2400(b) of this title; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) any traditional or vaulted intern15 ments— 

16 ‘‘(I) located on land that is larger 

17 than 20 acres; and 

18 ‘‘(II) administered and operated by 

19 employees of the Department; and 

20 ‘‘(B) does not include facilities of the National 

21 Cemetery Administration that are located in rural 

22 areas to serve small populations of veterans (com23 monly known as ‘National Burial Grounds’).’’. 

24 (b) CONSTRUCTION.—Subsection (i) of section 2404 

25 of title 38, United States Code, as added by subsection 


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1 (a), may not be construed as affecting the plans of the 

2 Secretary of Veterans Affairs, as of the date of the enact3 ment of this Act, to establish National Burial Grounds or 

4 National Columbaria. 

Æ 


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