Title: Veterans Benefits and Transition Act of 2018
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), upon request, to provide headstones and markers for: (1) the unmarked graves of veterans' spouses, surviving spouses, and children (including unmarried adult children at the VA's discretion) who are buried in a veterans cemetery owned by a tribal organization or on land owned by or held in trust for a tribal organization; and (2) placement in a veterans cemetery owned by a tribal organization or on tribal land owned by or held in trust by a tribal organization for veterans, spouses, surviving spouses, and eligible dependent children whose remains are unavailable.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2248 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2248

 To amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of 
  Veterans Affairs to provide certain burial benefits for spouses and 
children of veterans who are buried in tribal cemeteries, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 19, 2017

  Mr. Tester (for himself, Mr. Heller, and Mr. Udall) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                           Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of 
  Veterans Affairs to provide certain burial benefits for spouses and 
children of veterans who are buried in tribal cemeteries, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. ELIGIBILITY OF SPOUSES AND CHILDREN OF VETERANS BURIED IN 
              TRIBAL CEMETERIES FOR CERTAIN DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 
              AFFAIRS BURIAL BENEFITS.

    Section 2306 of title 38, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(4), by inserting ``or a veterans' 
        cemetery owned by a tribal organization or on land owned by or 
        held in trust for a tribal organization'' after ``State'';
            (2) in subsection (b)(1), by inserting ``, a veterans' 
        cemetery of a tribal organization or on land owned by or held 
        in trust for a tribal organization'' after ``owned by a 
        State'';
            (3) in subsection (f)--
                    (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 
                subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively;
                    (B) by striking ``The Secretary'' and inserting 
                ``(1) The Secretary'';
                    (C) by striking ``a national cemetery or in a 
                veterans cemetery of a State or tribal organization for 
                which the Department has provided a grant under section 
                2408 of this title'' and inserting ``a covered 
                cemetery''; and
                    (D) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(2) The term `covered cemetery' means any of the following:
            ``(A) A national cemetery.
            ``(B) A veterans' cemetery of a State for which the 
        Department has provided a grant under section 2408 of this 
        title.
            ``(C) A veterans' cemetery of a tribal organization or on 
        land owned by or held in trust for a tribal organization for 
        which the Department has provided a grant under subsection (f) 
        of such section.''; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(i) In this section, the term `tribal organization' has the 
meaning given such term in section 3765 of this title.''.
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