I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1338 
To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a study on matters 
relating to the burial of unclaimed remains of veterans in national ceme-
teries, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 6, 2015 
Mr. SHUSTER (for himself, Mr. FARENTHOLD, Ms. HAHN, Mr. NADLER, Ms. 
ESTY, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. 
COOK, Mr. MARINO, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. RIGELL, Mr. 
RANGEL, Mr. CRENSHAW, Mr. NEAL, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. YOHO, Mr. 
BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. JONES, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. 
THOMPSON of California, and Mr. NUGENT) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct 
a study on matters relating to the burial of unclaimed 
remains of veterans in national cemeteries, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Dignified Interment 
of Our Veterans Act of 2015’’. 
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SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS STUDY ON 
MATTERS RELATING TO BURIAL OF UN-
CLAIMED REMAINS OF VETERANS IN NA-
TIONAL CEMETERIES. 
(a) STUDY AND REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 
one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall— 
(1) complete a study on matters relating to the 
interring of unclaimed remains of veterans in na-
tional cemeteries under the control of the National 
Cemetery Administration; and 
(2) submit to Congress a report on the findings 
of the Secretary with respect to the study required 
under paragraph (1). 
(b) MATTERS STUDIED.—The matters studied under 
subsection (a)(1) shall include the following: 
(1) Determining the scope of issues relating to 
unclaimed remains of veterans, including an esti-
mate of the number of unclaimed remains of vet-
erans. 
(2) Assessing the effectiveness of the proce-
dures of the Department of Veterans Affairs for 
working with persons or entities having custody of 
unclaimed remains to facilitate interment of un-
claimed remains of veterans in national cemeteries 
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under the control of the National Cemetery Adminis-
tration. 
(3) Assessing State and local laws that affect 
the ability of the Secretary to inter unclaimed re-
mains of veterans in national cemeteries under the 
control of the National Cemetery Administration. 
(4) Developing recommendations for such legis-
lative or administrative action as the Secretary con-
siders appropriate. 
(c) METHODOLOGY.— 
(1) NUMBER OF UNCLAIMED REMAINS.—In es-
timating the number of unclaimed remains of vet-
erans under subsection (b)(1), the Secretary may re-
view such subset of applicable entities as the Sec-
retary considers appropriate, including a subset of 
funeral homes and coroner offices that possess un-
claimed veterans remains. 
(2) ASSESSMENT
OF
STATE
AND
LOCAL 
LAWS.—In assessing State and local laws under sub-
section (b)(3), the Secretary may assess such sample 
of applicable State and local laws as the Secretary 
considers appropriate in lieu of reviewing all applica-
ble State and local laws. 
Æ 
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