Bertie's Respect for National Cemeteries Act

Bertie's Respect for National Cemeteries Act

This bill requires the appropriate federal official to take every reasonable action, including by searching public records, to ensure that a person who will be interred in a cemetery in the National Cemetery Administration or in Arlington National Cemetery is not ineligible for such interment by reason of having been convicted of a federal or state capital crime or a tier III sex offense.

The bill applies the requirement of the Alicia Dawn Koehl Respect for National Cemeteries Act for a written notice of a disqualifying felony conviction with respect to any interment or memorialization conducted, either before or after enactment of that Act.

The Department of Veterans Affairs shall: (1) disinter the remains of George E. Siple from Indiantown Gap National Cemetery (Pennsylvania); (2) notify his next of kin of the impending disinterment; and (3) upon disinterment, relinquish the remains to the next of kin or, if the next of kin of record is unavailable, arrange for the appropriate disposition of the remains.

[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2490 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2490

 To amend title 38, United States Code, to ensure that the prohibition 
     against interment or memorialization in the National Cemetery 
  Administration or Arlington National Cemetery of persons committing 
Federal or State capital crimes is consistently carried out, to direct 
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to disinter the remains of George E. 
  Siple from Indiantown Gap National Cemetery, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 21, 2015

 Mr. Barletta (for himself, Mr. Marino, Mr. Kelly of Pennsylvania, Mr. 
 Perry, Mr. Thompson of Pennsylvania, and Mr. Shuster) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' 
  Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a 
 period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 38, United States Code, to ensure that the prohibition 
     against interment or memorialization in the National Cemetery 
  Administration or Arlington National Cemetery of persons committing 
Federal or State capital crimes is consistently carried out, to direct 
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to disinter the remains of George E. 
  Siple from Indiantown Gap National Cemetery, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Bertie's Respect for National 
Cemeteries Act''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION AGAINST INTERMENT OR MEMORIALIZATION IN THE 
              NATIONAL CEMETERY ADMINISTRATION OR ARLINGTON NATIONAL 
              CEMETERY OF PERSONS COMMITTING FEDERAL OR STATE CAPITAL 
              CRIMES.

    (a) Responsibility of Appropriate Federal Official.--Section 
2411(a)(2) of title 38, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``In the case'' and inserting ``(A) Except 
        as provided by subparagraph (B), in the case''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
    ``(B) The appropriate Federal official shall take every reasonable 
action, including by searching public records, to ensure that a person 
who will be interred in a cemetery in the National Cemetery 
Administration or in Arlington National Cemetery is not ineligible for 
such interment by reason of this section.''.
    (b) Authority To Disinter.--Section 2(c) of the Alicia Dawn Koehl 
Respect for National Cemeteries Act (38 U.S.C. 2411 note) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``this section'' and inserting ``subsection 
        (a)''; and
            (2) by inserting after ``Arlington National Cemetery'' the 
        following: ``on or after the date of the enactment of such 
        section 2411 and the amendment made by subsection (b) shall 
        apply with respect to any such interment or memorialization 
        conducted''.

SEC. 3. DISINTERMENT OF REMAINS OF GEORGE E. SIPLE FROM INDIANTOWN GAP 
              NATIONAL CEMETERY.

    (a) Disinterment of Remains.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall disinter the remains of George E. Siple from Indiantown Gap 
National Cemetery.
    (b) Notification of Next-of-Kin.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall--
            (1) notify the next-of-kin of record for George E. Siple of 
        the impending disinterment of his remains; and
            (2) upon disinterment, relinquish the remains to the next-
        of-kin of record for George E. Siple or, if the next-of-kin of 
        record for George E. Siple is unavailable, arrange for an 
        appropriate disposition of the remains.
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