IB 
Union Calendar No. 401 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 3655 
[Report No. 111–672] 
To direct the Federal Trade Commission to establish rules to prohibit unfair 
or deceptive acts or practices related to the provision of funeral services. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 25, 2009 
Mr. RUSH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Energy and Commerce 
DECEMBER 7, 2010 
Additional sponsors: Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. PETERS, 
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. COHEN, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE 
JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. BARROW, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. MOLLOHAN, 
Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. WILSON of Ohio, Mr. HARE, Mr. ADLER of New Jer-
sey, and Mr. PAYNE 
DECEMBER 7, 2010 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on September 25, 2009] 
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A BILL 
To direct the Federal Trade Commission to establish rules 
to prohibit unfair or deceptive acts or practices related 
to the provision of funeral services. 
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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 ‘‘Bereaved Consumer’s 
Bill of Rights Act of 2010’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
(1) there have been shocking consumer abuses in 
the funeral industry, including scandals at Burr Oak 
Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois, Menorah Gardens Ceme-
tery in Palm Beach, Florida, and the Tri State Cre-
matory in Noble, Georgia; 
(2) funeral arrangements are a major expense for 
most American households and families; 
(3) some consumers seek to ease the burdens on 
their families by arranging and paying for pre-need 
funeral and cemetery arrangements; 
(4) most funerals are planned by grieving family 
members at a time when they are especially vulner-
able and unlikely to focus on cost comparison; 
(5) the Federal Trade Commission’s Funeral In-
dustry Practices Trade Regulation Rule (known as 
the Funeral Rule) dictates consumer protections in 
the funeral home, but does not cover the practices of 
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cemeteries, crematoria, or sellers of monuments, urns, 
or caskets; 
(6) State laws are inconsistent and frequently 
too weak to provide adequate consumer protections, 
creating a need for minimum federal standards in 
this area; 
(7) consumers have the right to receive clear and 
accurate information about all funeral goods and 
services offered for sale; 
(8) consumers need effective protection from 
fraud and abusive practices by all providers of fu-
neral goods and services and at all stages of the fu-
neral planning process; and 
(9) a new Federal law that provides adequate 
protections to grieving families is warranted. 
SEC. 3. FTC RULEMAKING RELATING TO UNFAIR OR DECEP-
TIVE ACTS OR PRACTICES IN THE PROVISION 
OF FUNERAL GOODS OR SERVICES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Trade Commission 
shall prescribe rules prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or 
practices in the provision of funeral goods or services. Such 
rules shall include the following: 
(1) A requirement that providers of funeral goods 
or funeral services furnish accurate price information 
disclosing clearly and conspicuously the cost to the 
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purchaser for each of the specific funeral goods or fu-
neral services provided or offered for sale. 
(2) A prohibition on misrepresentations by such 
providers, including misrepresentations of the require-
ments of Federal, State, or local law. 
(3) A prohibition on conditioning the provision 
of any funeral good or funeral service upon the pur-
chase of any other funeral good or funeral service 
from that provider, except as required by law. 
(4) A requirement that any presale disclosures 
and contracts for funeral services or funeral goods be 
written clearly, stating the merchandise and services 
that purchasers are buying and their prices. 
(5) In the case of contracts for funeral services 
or funeral goods that are pre-paid in whole or in 
part, a requirement for clear and conspicuous presale 
and contractual disclosure regarding any penalties 
incurred if the consumer decides to cancel or transfer 
the contract to another provider of funeral services or 
funeral goods. 
(6) A requirement that contracts for funeral serv-
ices or funeral goods disclose clearly and conspicu-
ously all fees and costs to be incurred in the future 
or at the time that the funeral services or funeral 
goods are provided. 
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(7) A requirement that cemeteries provide to con-
sumers, in a timely manner, all written rules and 
regulations of the cemetery, and a clear explanation 
in writing of the interment, inurnment, or entomb-
ment right that has been purchased, and any material 
terms and conditions of that purchase, including any 
repurchase option by the cemetery or resale rights 
available to the consumer. 
(8) A requirement that cemeteries— 
(A) retain all records in existence on the 
date of enactment of this Act, including maps or 
other systems indicating the location and date of 
each interment, inurnment, or entombment; 
(B) accurately record and retain records of 
all interments, inurnments, or entombments oc-
curring, as well as any internment, inurnment, 
or entombment rights sold, after the effective date 
of the regulations issued under this subsection, in 
such manner and form as the Commission may 
prescribe in such regulations; and 
(C) make such records available to Federal, 
State, and local governments, as appropriate. 
(b) RULEMAKING.—The Commission shall prescribe 
the rules under subsection (a) within 1 year after the date 
of enactment of this Act. Such rules, and any future rules 
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or revision of rules prescribed by the Commission prohib-
iting unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the provision 
of funeral goods or services, shall be prescribed in accord-
ance with section 553 of title 5, United States Code. 
(c) APPLICATION OF RULES TO TAX EXEMPT ORGANI-
ZATIONS AND STATES.—Notwithstanding the definition of 
corporation in section 4 of the Federal Trade Commission 
Act (15 U.S.C. 44), the rules prescribed under subsection 
(a), and any future rules or revision of rules prescribed by 
the Commission prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or 
practices in the provision of funeral goods or funeral serv-
ices, shall also apply to cemeteries organized or operated 
by— 
(1) organizations described in section 501(c) of 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that are exempt 
from taxation under section 501(a) of such Code, ex-
cept for cemeteries organized, operated, managed, and 
owned by a religious denomination, middle judica-
tory, house of worship, or similar religious organiza-
tion, and that are not organized, operated, managed, 
or owned by contract or affiliation with a for-profit 
provider of funeral goods or services that offers those 
goods and services for sale to the public; and 
(2) States or any political subdivision of a State. 
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(d) ENFORCEMENT.—Any violation of any rule pre-
scribed under this section shall be treated as a violation 
of a regulation prescribed under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the 
Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)) 
regarding unfair or deceptive acts or practices. The Federal 
Trade Commission shall enforce this Act in the same man-
ner, by the same means, and with the same jurisdiction as 
though all applicable terms and provisions of the Federal 
Trade Commission Act were incorporated into and made 
a part of this Act. Any person who violates the regulations 
prescribed under this Act shall be subject to the penalties 
and entitled to the privileges and immunities provided in 
that Act. 
SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT BY STATES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Whenever an attorney general of 
any State has reason to believe that the interests of the resi-
dents of that State have been or are being threatened or 
adversely affected because any person has engaged or is en-
gaging in an act or practice which violates any rule of the 
Commission issued under section 3 of this Act or the Trade 
Regulation Rule on Funeral Industry Practices (16 C.F.R. 
453.1 et seq.), the State, as parens patriae, may bring a 
civil action on behalf of its residents in an appropriate dis-
trict court of the United States to enjoin such violative act 
or practice, to enforce compliance with such rule of the 
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Commission, to obtain damages, restitution, or other com-
pensation on behalf of residents of such State, or to obtain 
such further and other relief as the court may determine 
appropriate. 
(b) NOTICE.—The State shall provide prior written 
notice of any civil action under subsection (a) or (f)(2) to 
the Commission and provide the Commission with a copy 
of its complaint, except that if it is not feasible for the State 
to provide such prior notice, the State shall provide such 
notice immediately upon instituting such action. Upon re-
ceiving a notice respecting a civil action, the Commission 
shall have the right— 
(1) to intervene in such action; 
(2) upon so intervening, to be heard on all mat-
ters arising therein; 
(3) to remove the action to the appropriate 
United States district court; and 
(4) to file petitions for appeal. 
(c) CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes of bringing any 
civil action under subsection (a), nothing in this Act shall 
prevent an attorney general from exercising the powers con-
ferred on the attorney general by the laws of such State 
to conduct investigations or to administer oaths or affirma-
tions or to compel the attendance of witnesses or the produc-
tion of documentary and other evidence. 
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(d) ACTIONS BY COMMISSION.—Whenever a civil ac-
tion has been instituted by or on behalf of the Commission 
for violation of any rule prescribed under section 3 of this 
Act, no State may, during the pendency of such action in-
stituted by or on behalf of the Commission, institute a civil 
action under subsection (a) or (f)(2) of this section against 
any defendant named in the complaint in such action for 
violation of any rule as alleged in such complaint. 
(e) VENUE; SERVICE OF PROCESS.—Any civil action 
brought under subsection (a) of this section in a district 
court of the United States may be brought in the district 
in which the defendant is found, is an inhabitant, or trans-
acts business or wherever venue is proper under section 
1391 of title 28, United States Code. Process in such an 
action may be served in any district in which the defendant 
is an inhabitant or in which the defendant may be found. 
(f) ACTIONS BY OTHER STATE OFFICIALS.— 
(1) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing contained in this 
section shall prohibit an authorized State official 
from proceeding in State court on the basis of an al-
leged violation of any civil or criminal statute of such 
State. 
(2) OTHER STATE ACTIONS.—In addition to ac-
tions brought by an attorney general of a State under 
subsection (a) of this section, such an action may be 
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brought by officers of such State who are authorized 
by the State to bring actions in such State on behalf 
of its residents. 
SEC. 5. EFFECT ON OTHER LAW. 
Nothing in this Act or the rules prescribed under this 
Act shall be construed to preempt any provision of any law 
of a State or political subdivision of that State that pro-
vides protections to consumers of funeral services or funeral 
goods, except to the extent that the provision of law is incon-
sistent with any provision of this Act or a rule prescribed 
under this Act, and then only to the extent of the inconsist-
ency. 
SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act— 
(1) the term ‘‘cemetery’’ means any organization, 
association or other business that offers for sale the 
interment, inurnment, or entombment of human re-
mains, but does not include any cemetery that— 
(A) performs fewer than 25 interments, 
inurnments, and entombments during any cal-
endar year; or 
(B) 
sells 
fewer 
than 
interment, 
inurnment, or entombment rights during any 
calendar year; 
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(2) the term ‘‘funeral goods’’ are the goods which 
are sold or offered for sale directly to the public for 
use in connection with funeral services; and 
(3) the term ‘‘funeral services’’ means— 
(A) any services which are sold or offered 
for sale to the public in order to— 
(i) care for and prepare deceased 
human bodies for burial, cremation, or 
other final disposition; or 
(ii) arrange, supervise, or conduct the 
funeral ceremony or the final disposition of 
deceased human bodies; or 
(B) services provided by funeral directors, 
morticians, cemeterians, cremationists, and re-
tailers of caskets, urns, monuments, and mark-
ers. 
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Union Calendar No. 401 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 3655 
[Report No. 111–672] 
A BILL 
To direct the Federal Trade Commission to estab-
lish rules to prohibit unfair or deceptive acts or 
practices related to the provision of funeral serv-
ices. 
DECEMBER 7, 2010 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 
and ordered to be printed 
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