Rural Veterans Funeral Honors Reform Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3871 To facilitate the performance of funeral honors details for veterans. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 3, 2020 Mr. ROUNDS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To facilitate the performance of funeral honors details for veterans. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rural Veterans Fu- 4 neral Honors Reform Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. PLAN ON PERFORMANCE OF FUNERAL HONORS DE- 6 TAILS BY MEMBERS OF OTHER ARMED 7 FORCES WHEN MEMBERS OF THE ARMED 8 FORCE OF THE DECEASED ARE UNAVAIL- 9 ABLE. 10 (a) BRIEFING ON PLAN.— 11 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 Jun 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3871.IS S3871 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3871 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 1 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 2 retary of Defense shall provide a briefing to the 3 Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and 4 the House of Representatives setting forth a plan for 5 the performance of a funeral honors detail at the fu- 6 neral of a deceased member of the Armed Forces by 7 one or more members of the Armed Forces from an 8 Armed Force other than that of the deceased 9 when— 10 (A) members of the Armed Force of the 11 deceased are unavailable for the performance of 12 the detail; and 13 (B) the performance of the detail by mem- 14 bers of other Armed Forces is requested by the 15 family of the deceased. 16 (2) REPEAL OF REQUIREMENT FOR ONE MEM- 17 BER OF ARMED FORCE OF DECEASED IN DETAIL.— 18 Section 1491(b)(2) of title 10, United States Code, 19 is amended in the first sentence by striking ‘‘, at 20 least one of whom shall be a member of the armed 21 force of which the veteran was a member’’. 22 (3) PERFORMANCE.—The plan required by 23 paragraph (1) shall authorize the performance of fu- 24 neral honors details by members of the Army Na- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 Jun 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3871.IS S3871 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3871 IS tional Guard and the Air National Guard under sec- 1 tion 115 of title 32, United States Code, and may 2 authorize the remainder of such details to consist of 3 members of veterans organizations or other organi- 4 zations approved for purposes of section 1491 of 5 title 10, United States Code, as provided for by sub- 6 section (b)(2) of such section 1491. 7 (b) ELEMENTS.—The briefing under subsection (a) 8 shall include a description in detail the authorities and re- 9 quirements for the implementation of the plan, including 10 administrative, logistical, coordination, and funding au- 11 thorities and requirements. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 Jun 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3871.IS S3871 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS