Burial Equity for Guards and Reserves Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4250 To amend title 38, United States Code, to ensure that grants provided by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for State veterans’ cemeteries do not restrict States from authorizing the interment of certain deceased members of the reserve components of the Armed Forces in such ceme- teries, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 21, 2020 Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself and Ms. HASSAN) 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 ensure that grants provided by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for State veterans’ cemeteries do not restrict States from author- izing the interment of certain deceased members of the reserve components of the Armed Forces in such ceme- teries, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Burial Equity for 4 Guards and Reserves Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:57 Aug 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4250.IS S4250 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4250 IS SEC. 2. PROHIBITIONS ON RESTRICTING INTERMENT OF 1 CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS IN CERTAIN STATE 2 VETERANS’ CEMETERIES. 3 Section 2408 of title 38, United States Code, is 4 amended— 5 (1) in subsection (c)(2), by striking ‘‘The Sec- 6 retary may’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in 7 subsection (e), the Secretary may’’; 8 (2) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as 9 subsections (g) and (h), respectively; and 10 (3) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol- 11 lowing new subsections: 12 ‘‘(e)(1) The Secretary may not establish a condition 13 for a grant under this section that restricts the ability of 14 a State receiving such a grant to inter in a veterans’ ceme- 15 tery owned by that State any individual described in para- 16 graph (2) solely by reason of the ineligibility of such indi- 17 vidual for burial in an open national cemetery under the 18 control of the National Cemetery Administration under 19 section 2402(a) of this title. 20 ‘‘(2) An individual described in this paragraph is the 21 following: 22 ‘‘(A) Any member of a reserve component of 23 the Armed Forces whose service was terminated 24 under honorable conditions. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:57 Aug 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4250.IS S4250 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4250 IS ‘‘(B) Any member of the Army National Guard 1 or the Air National Guard whose service was termi- 2 nated under honorable conditions. 3 ‘‘(C) Any member of the Reserve Officers’ 4 Training Corps of the Army, Navy, or Air Force 5 whose death occurs under honorable conditions while 6 a member of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps of 7 the Army, Navy, or Air Force. 8 ‘‘(D) Any spouse of any member described in 9 subparagraphs (A) through (C). 10 ‘‘(f) The Secretary may not deny an application for 11 a grant under this section solely on the basis that the 12 State receiving such grant may use funds from such grant 13 to expand, improve, operate, or maintain a veterans’ ceme- 14 tery to allow for the interment of individuals described in 15 subsection (e)(2).’’. 16 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON ENFORCING CERTAIN CONDI- 17 TIONS ON GRANTS FOR STATE VETERANS’ 18 CEMETERIES. 19 The Secretary of Veterans Affairs may not enforce 20 a condition on a grant described in subsection (e)(1) of 21 section 2408 of title 38, United States Code, as added by 22 section 2(3), that was established before the date of the 23 enactment of this Act. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:57 Aug 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4250.IS S4250 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS