Sponsors (16)
The bill offers formal, symbolic recognition and a public dedication honoring 13 service members—potentially helping families and the military community—while imposing a mandated ceremonial wording that could clash with personal preferences and add modest administrative burdens.
Families of the 13 service members and other veterans receive a standardized ceremonial phrase at funerals, giving survivors a formal, shared expression of honor and recognition.
Creates an official dedication recognizing the 13 service members killed in Kabul in August 2021, providing public acknowledgment and potential closure for their families, comrades, and the military community.
Mandating specific wording in military funeral ceremonies could conflict with local customs or a family's personal wishes, particularly if families do not know about or understand the opt-out option.
A statutory requirement for recital wording may create administrative and training burdens for funeral honors details and other personnel who must learn and deliver the mandated language.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires funeral honors details to recite "13 Folds of Honor" during folded-flag presentments unless the next of kin opts out.
Official title: To amend title 4, United States Code, to ensure that a funeral honors detail recites the 13 Folds of Honor when presenting a flag of the United States in connection with the death of a member of the Armed Forces or veteran.
Introduced May 23, 2025 by Mario Diaz-Balart · Last progress May 23, 2025
Requires that military and veterans funeral honors details recite the phrase "13 Folds of Honor" when presenting the folded U.S. flag at eligible funerals, unless the next of kin or their agent elects not to include the recitation. Includes a nonbinding dedication of the Act to the 13 service members killed at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul in August 2021.