Operation Just Cause... ...for as long as it takes
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will meet at 10 a.m. Thursday, May 20 to address concerns that the VA's National Cemetery System lacks both adequate funding and planning for the future.
Among the concerns of Subcommittee Chairmen Terry Everett (R-AL) and Ranking Democratic Member Corrine Brown (D-FL) are the heavy demands the aging World War II generation will place on cemeteries in the next decade. The Subcommittee will study photographs of cemetery conditions and take testimony from spokesmen for the VA, veterans and military organizations, and state veterans' cemetery systems. Cemetery spokesmen will include those from Arlington National Cemetery, the nation's most hallowed burial ground. Arlington officials say the cemetery will run out of space by the year 2025.
"Burial in a national or state veterans' cemetery is the last chance a grateful nation gets to honor veterans for their sacrifices," said Chairman Everett, who noted the approach of Memorial Day. "These cemeteries are hallowed grounds. The public demands a shrine-like environment for them. But they're not getting the funding and attention the public expects. We're losing more than a thousand World War II veterans a day, more than 377,000 a year. Funding is millions of dollars short to meet their needs. We're going to run out of space early in the 21st century unless something is done."
"I am distressed that one-fourth of America's veterans are not being served by a burial option in a national or state veterans cemetery within a reasonable distance of 75 miles of their residence," Congresswoman Brown said. "Although VA projects annual veteran deaths to reach 620,000 in the year 2008, the Department failed to request any money to even plan for a new national cemetery in its next year's budget."
"If the Memorial Days of the 21st century are to be observed by the families and friends of veterans at a nearby, appropriate national resting place of honor for America's heroes, the VA must actively expand the national cemetery system now," Brown said. "States, too, must increasingly step up in partnership with the VA to complement the national cemetery system by agreeing to maintain state veterans' cemeteries that would be built and equipped by the federal government."
Everett said recent events have drawn public attention to the World War II generation of veterans. He mentioned the popularity of the film "Saving Private Ryan," planning for the World War II Memorial on the Washington Mall, and publication of NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw's "The Greatest Generation." Currently, Everett noted, a new generation of American servicemen and women are in harm's way in the Balkans, and members of that generation have already made the supreme sacrifice in recent years.
The hearing will be held in 340 Cannon House Office Building
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