I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1256
To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the annual placement 
of memorials honoring the service in the Armed Forces of veterans 
who, at the time of death, were homeless or indigent. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 13, 2003
Mr. EVANS (for himself, Ms. CARSON of Indiana, and Mr. MICHAUD) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Vet-
erans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the 
annual placement of memorials honoring the service in 
the Armed Forces of veterans who, at the time of death, 
were homeless or indigent.
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 ‘‘Indigent Veteran Re-
membrance Act of 2003’’.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM OF MEMORIALS TO 
DECEASED HOMELESS AND INDIGENT VET-
ERANS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 24 of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new section: 
‘‘§ 2412. Program of annual memorials to deceased 
homeless and indigent veterans 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—Subject to the 
succeeding provisions of this section, the Secretary shall 
establish a program for the placement of a unique memo-
rial each year in four cemeteries in the United States to 
honor the service in the Armed Forces of veterans who 
at the time of death were homeless or indigent. 
‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS FOR PLACEMENT OF MEMO-
RIALS.—(1) The cost of the plan, design, construction, in-
scription, and placement of a memorial under the program 
may not exceed $12,500. 
‘‘(2) In the case of the placement of a memorial in 
a cemetery under the program that is not under the con-
trol of the National Cemetery Administration, such place-
ment is contingent upon receipt by the Secretary of notice 
in writing from the person or entity that owns the ceme-
tery of its willingness to accept the memorial and to per-
petually maintain the memorial consistent with standards 
of the cemetery for maintenance of memorials.
‘‘(3) The selection of cemeteries for placement of me-
morials under the program shall assure that memorial 
placements are geographically diverse and are varied with 
respect to the persons or entities that own, or have admin-
istrative jurisdiction over, the cemetery. 
‘‘(c) SELECTION OF INSCRIPTION OF MEMORIALS.—
(1) Each memorial to be placed under the program shall 
bear a unique inscription of less than 160 characters to 
honor the memory of veterans interred in the cemetery 
who at the time of death were homeless or indigent. 
‘‘(2) The inscription for a memorial under the pro-
gram shall be selected by the Secretary from among sug-
gested inscriptions solicited from individuals, schools, 
businesses, and other appropriate organizations (including 
veterans service organizations), geographically proximate 
to the cemetery at which the proposed memorial is to be 
placed. 
‘‘(3) An inscription selected by the Secretary should 
carry out the purposes of engaging the community in-
volved in remembrance of the service of veterans who at 
the time of death were homeless or indigent and gener-
ating greater awareness of the plight of homeless and indi-
gent veterans. 
‘‘(d) CONSULTATION WITH
THE ADVISORY COM-
MITTEE ON CEMETERIES AND MEMORIALS.—The Sec-
retary shall carry out the program, including the annual 
selection of sites for placement and the inscriptions of the 
memorials, in consultation with the Advisory Committee 
on Cemeteries and Memorials established under section 
2401 of this title.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec-
tions at the beginning of chapter 24 of such title is amend-
ed by adding at the end the following new item:
‘‘2412. Program of annual memorials to deceased homeless and indigent vet-
erans.’’.
(c) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs shall implement the program under section 2412 
of title 38, United States Code, as added by subsection 
(a), so that placement of memorials under the program 
begins on November 11, 2003.
Æ