Sponsors (2)
Last progress June 4, 2025 (8 months ago)
Introduced on June 4, 2025 by Julia Brownley
Allows the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide a headstone or marker for a cremated veteran who is interred at the same grave or burial site as another eligible person, if the marker includes information for both individuals and adding that information does not push the marker cost above the legal maximum. The change clarifies the statute by adding an explicit exception and reorganizing existing subparagraphs to make this authority clear. This is a narrowly focused technical change to veterans' burial benefits that makes it easier for families to receive a single marker that memorializes two eligible persons without increasing VA cost beyond the statutory cap.
Redesignate existing subparagraphs (A) and (B) of section 2306(h)(2) of title 38, United States Code, as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively.
Replace the opening phrase "If the Secretary" with the phrase "(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), if the Secretary" to create a new subparagraph structure and reserve an exception for the new subparagraph (B).
Add new subparagraph (B) authorizing the Secretary to furnish a headstone or marker for a deceased individual who was cremated and for whom an urn or commemorative plaque is furnished under paragraph (1), provided three conditions are met: (i) the individual is interred at the same burial site as another individual referred to in section 2402(a) of title 38; (ii) the headstone or marker includes information about both individuals; and (iii) including such information does not increase the cost of the headstone or marker beyond the maximum amount permitted under law.
Primary beneficiaries are veterans (specifically cremated veterans) and their families who choose to inter a cremated veteran alongside another eligible person. Families can receive a single marker that memorializes both individuals so long as adding the second individual's name/information does not raise the cost above the statutory cap. The Department of Veterans Affairs will need to update procedures to apply the clarified authority when processing marker/headstone requests; this is an administrative change rather than a program expansion. Fiscal impact is expected to be minimal because the statute still prevents VA from exceeding the legal cost limit for markers. Cemetery operators or families coordinating burial and marker placement may see modest convenience benefits. Overall, this is a narrowly targeted, low-cost statutory clarification that improves clarity and ease of delivering an existing memorial benefit.
Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.