Letter to John M. McHugh, Secretary of the Army - Ayotte Presses Pentagon on Funding Shortfall for Military Funerals

Letter

Dear Secretary McHugh:

We have a sacred obligation to provide our nation's veterans the benefits and respect they have earned. When a veteran passes away, we have a responsibility to the veteran and his or her family to provide a dignified burial that honors their selfless service to our nation. For that reason, I am concerned that the Department of Army's fiscal year (FY) 2015 Military Funeral Honors (MFH) program funding request is inadequate to fulfill this important responsibility.

As you know, the MFH program funds expenses related to military burial honors for all veterans regardless of component or service. It is important to note that the Army National Guard bears a disproportionate burden of the expenses due to the geographic dispersion of the funerals and cost efficiency of the Army National Guard. For example, the Army National Guard MFH Program conducts 88% of Active Army ceremonies and 62% of all Department of Defense ceremonies.

Yet, even the Department of the Army's FY 2015 President's Budget Submission admits that decreases in funding for this program "will reduce the Army National Guard funeral honors teams' ability to perform Army and Department of Defense funeral honors missions." The document goes on to say: "The immediate impact is that over 6,900 funeral honor missions will be unfulfilled. This decrease will also impact ongoing funeral honor training for Soldiers." While I appreciate the serious budget constraints confronted by the Army, I believe this shortfall in requested funding is completely unacceptable and does not reflect the priorities of the Department of the Army, Congress, nor the American people.

While Army National Guard units around the country, including the New Hampshire Army National Guard, will undoubtedly step forward to ensure all veterans receive the dignified burial honors they have earned, the Army has a legal obligation to fully fund this program. Federal law (10 U.S.C. §1491) mandates that the military services provide burial honors for veterans upon request. In addition, according to Department of Defense Instruction 1300.15, service secretaries must ensure that "sufficient funds are budgeted" for this program. The Army's own budget submission explicitly acknowledges a failure to meet these requirements.

I understand that the Army is exploring ways to address the funding shortfall for the MFH program, and I support this effort. I request that you give this issue your high-level attention, and I ask that the Army provide me with an update as soon as possible.

I look forward to receiving your response. Thank you for your distinguished service to our nation.

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