Moran-led bill would enhance burial benefits, legacies of U.S. veterans

U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) on April 10 sponsored a bipartisan bill that would improve memorialization and burial benefits for United States military veterans and their families.

The Honoring Veterans’ Legacies and Burial Benefits Enhancements Act, S. 4100, which is cosponsored by U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI), would establish the National Cemeteries Foundation to support the educational outreach activities of the Veterans Legacy Program (VLP).

“How we memorialize and honor our veterans, when they have passed, sends a message to their families, our service members and the country that we value the sacrifice or our military men and women even as the years pass,” Sen. Moran said, noting that S. 4100 “would help ensure dignified interment and memorialization in our national cemeteries for veterans and their families, while honoring their service and telling their stories for generations to come.”

If enacted, the nonprofit foundation established under S. 4100 would accept private donations to fund the VLP, which would issue grants to educational partners to conduct historical research projects on veterans buried in national cemeteries in their communities to then share those veteran stories through educational programming. 

The bill also would ensure that certain veteran burials are dignified and honorable, while also enhancing current burial benefits for dependents and historical Medal of Honor recipients, according to a bill summary provided by the lawmakers.

“At the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, alone, there are more than 50,000 veterans laid to rest,” said Sen. Hirono. “These veterans have unique, but too often untold stories — stories that deserve to be shared now and into the future.”

Among other things, he said S. 4100 “will help to ensure those stories are told and preserved.”

The bill has garnered support from the VFW, Paralyzed Veterans of America, the American Association for State and Local History, the American Legion, the National Council on Public History, and the American Federation of Teachers.