Veterans Cemetery Benefit Correction Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to encourage my colleagues to support H.R. 4910, the Veterans Cemetery Benefit Correction Act. I joined my fellow Georgia Congressman Austin Scott to introduce this bipartisan legislation to ensure that all of our veteran families receive the benefits that they have earned.

I thank the chairman and the ranking member for their leadership in bringing this bill to the floor, and I thank all of my colleagues for their help in moving it forward.

Mr. Speaker, Andersonville, which is one of the two remaining National Park Service cemeteries, has a very, very interesting and unique history. Andersonville was the site of a Civil War prisoner of war camp, and, interestingly enough, it held prisoners of war for both the Union and the Confederates. Unfortunately, because of the unsanitary conditions, thousands of veterans, both Union and Confederate, died at Andersonville.

Of course, in more recent years, Andersonville has been designated as the National Prisoner of War Memorial for our country, and, in that stead, we erected and funded the National Prisoner of War Museum, which is located on the grounds of Andersonville. The facilities there are controlled totally by the National Park Service.

Currently, when veterans are buried in some of the Federal cemeteries, as you have heard, a number of the families are left to pay the burial costs that typically would be afforded them under other circumstances.

Current law requires that when a veteran is buried in a national cemetery under the control of the National Cemetery Administration, that the VA will provide an outer burial receptacle, known in other terms as a grave liner, or it will provide reimbursement to the family for purchase.

However, the current law inexplicably excludes national cemeteries that are under the control of the National Park Service. The Andersonville National Cemetery, located in my district, is one of the two remaining national cemeteries controlled by the National Park Service.

Today, we are taking steps for Congress to correct this oversight and to ensure that veterans buried in cemeteries controlled by the National Park Service, and their families, are provided all of the benefits to which they are entitled, not only for my district but for all of our veterans and their families who have selflessly served our country.

I applaud Senator Isakson's successful effort to push this legislation through the Senate under unanimous consent. It is now time for the House to take action, and by voting for this legislation, we can fix this oversight and ensure that all of our veterans and their families are provided appropriate benefits in all of our Federal cemeteries.

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