10.18.21

Hoeven Continues Efforts to Open Eligibility for State Veterans' Cemeteries

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven today joined Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) in calling on the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to implement reforms to the Veterans Cemetery Grants Program. This effort would include granting eligibility to servicemembers of Reserve Components and the National Guard for burial in state veterans’ cemeteries in a manner that would not jeopardize the eligibility of these cemeteries for federal grants. Earlier this year, Hoeven helped introduce the Burial Equity for Guards and Reserves Act to provide eligibility to all members of the Reserve Component, so long as their service was terminated under honorable conditions, and certain family members for burial in state veterans’ cemeteries. The bipartisan, bicameral letter was also signed by Representatives Ann McLane Kuster and Chris Pappas.

“National Guardsmen and Reservists swear to defend this country just as their Active Duty counterparts do, and we must make sure that they receive the respect and recognition that they deserve,” the senators wrote.

The full text of the letter can be read here.

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