Keeping Military Families Together Act of 2024
Floor Speech
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Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 2181, as amended, the Keeping Military Families Together Act. I thank Senator Gary Peters for introducing this bill and Representative Chris Pappas, the ranking member of the Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee, for introducing similar legislation in the House.
This bill extends two Department of Veterans Affairs burial benefits provided to spouses and dependent children of veterans or Active Duty servicemembers. Specifically, the bill requires VA to provide memorial headstones or markers for spouses or dependent children of veterans or servicemembers who were serving on Active Duty at the time of the spouse's or child's death.
Additionally, the bill authorizes burial in any open national cemetery under the control of the National Cemetery Administration for a spouse or dependent child of veterans or servicemembers who were serving on Active Duty at the time of the spouse's or child's death.
Madam Speaker, these burial authorities were set to expire at the end of October, and many families would have been faced with extremely difficult decisions about where to inter their loved ones. Thankfully, we were able to extend these authorities for an additional year in the most recent continuing resolution.
However, families of veterans need more certainty. While I am disappointed that we couldn't extend these authorities permanently, as Senator Peters and Ranking Member Pappas had originally intended, the additional 7 years presented in this bill will still allow for some time for some long-term end-of-life planning for many families.
Madam Speaker, I support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am prepared to close. I yield myself the balance of my time.
Madam Speaker, I support S. 2181, as amended, the Keeping Military Families Together Act, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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