sponsibility of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs is limited 
to providing— 
(1) the deceased veteran with the benefits that 
the veteran earned by serving the United States, in-
cluding 
the 
provision 
of 
funeral 
expenses, 
headstones, markers, burial receptacles, plot allow-
ances, and interment in national cemeteries, as pro-
vided by law, including chapters 23 and 24 of title 
38, United States Code; 
(2) any necessary maintenance of national 
cemeteries and other facilities under the control of 
the National Cemetery Administration; and 
(3) any necessary security or traffic control 
with respect to the funeral, memorial service, or 
ceremony of the veteran at a national cemetery 
under the control of the National Cemetery Adminis-
tration. 
(b) ACCESS TO SUITABLE CHAPEL.—In carrying out 
chapters 23 and 24 of title 38, United States Code, or 
in otherwise providing any benefit or service related to the 
interment or funeral, memorial service, or ceremony of a 
deceased veteran at a national cemetery under the control 
of the National Cemetery Administration, the Secretary 
of Veterans Affairs shall ensure that— 
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(1) a chapel is provided to the family of the de-
ceased at such national cemetery; and 
(2) such chapel— 
(A) is suitable for the use of the family 
and visitors as a place for recollection and 
mourning; and 
(B) displays the appropriate religious sym-
bols chosen by the family for the purpose of 
such funeral, memorial service, or ceremony. 
(c) ACCESS TO VA FACILITIES.—The Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs shall provide to any honor guard or other 
non-governmental group that provides services to veterans 
access to— 
(1) national cemeteries and other facilities 
under the control of the National Cemetery Adminis-
tration if such access is requested by the family or 
agent of a deceased veteran whose funeral, memorial 
service, or ceremony is being held in such cemetery 
or facility; and 
(2) health care facilities of the Department of 
Veterans Affairs if such access is requested by a vet-
eran receiving care in such facility or the family or 
agent of such veteran. 
(d) REQUIRED QUALIFICATION OF VA CEMETERY 
DIRECTOR.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
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each cemetery director of the Department of Veterans Af-
fairs shall be an individual who is a veteran. 
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON INTERFERENCE OF FUNERALS BY 
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. 
The Congress reaffirms the inviolable individual zone 
of privacy that each American possesses, including the 
deeply private act of choosing the content and creed of 
an individual’s funeral, memorial service, or ceremony, as 
protected by the Constitution. In light of such inviolable 
individual zone of privacy, no official of the Federal Gov-
ernment, including the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, may 
interfere with the content and creed of the funeral, memo-
rial service, or ceremony of a deceased individual, as ex-
pressed by the last will and testament of the individual 
or as determined by the family or agent of the individual, 
as provided under State law. 
Æ 
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