Expand Veterans Legacy Program Uses

Full Title:
To temporarily expand the authorized uses of grants awarded under the Veterans Legacy Program of the National Cemetery Administration, and for other purposes.

Summary#

This bill temporarily lets entities that receive grants under the Veterans Legacy Program use those grants to help the Secretary of Veterans Affairs find, identify, and bury unclaimed or abandoned human remains that are suspected to be veterans. The permission covers locating remains, determining whether the remains belong to a veteran, and interring the remains in a national cemetery. The temporary period runs from the day the bill becomes law through the last day of the second fiscal year beginning after that date. The bill also says amounts used for these purposes should not be requested in addition to amounts already planned for the Veterans Legacy Program in the President's annual budget. The bill refers to the Veterans Legacy Program as defined in Public Law 116-107.

What it means for you#

  • If your organization receives a Veterans Legacy Program grant, you may be allowed during the temporary period to use that grant to help the VA locate, identify, or inter veterans' remains and arrange burial in a national cemetery.
  • For families and communities, the change could mean additional help from grant recipients in finding and interring unclaimed or abandoned remains suspected to be those of veterans.
  • For other readers, the bill does not change long-term rules for the program; it is a temporary expansion of allowed grant uses.

Expenses#

No publicly available information about total cost estimates or projected federal spending is included in the bill text. The bill states that amounts used under this temporary allowance shall not be requested in addition to amounts otherwise intended for the Veterans Legacy Program in the President's annual budget submissions.

Proponents' View#

No publicly available information.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.