Subcommittee hears testimony on several pending bills
H.R. 5037, the Respect for Fallen Heroes Act, receives unanimous support

Washington, DC – Today the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs held a legislative hearing on seven bills. The purpose of this hearing was to receive testimony from congressional members who sponsored these bills, VA officials, and veterans’ representatives.

Representatives Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) and Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas) testified before the subcommittee as sponsors of H.R. 5037, the Respect for America’s Fallen Heroes Act. Congressman Mike Rogers sat before 25,000 printed emails that he has received from people around the world who support this bill. Congressman Chabot, chairman of the Subcommittee on the Constitution, House Judiciary Committee, testified to the constitutionality of the bill and that families and friends deserve a few hours of peace to bury their loved ones.

Bipartisan support for the Respect for America’s Fallen Heroes Act has come from members of Congress, veterans’ groups, the Department of Veterans Affairs and Arlington National Cemetery. This bill is anticipated to come to the House floor in early May. H.R. 5037 prohibits demonstrations within 500 feet of military funerals or memorial services at national cemeteries, sixty minutes before and after the event.

Full House consideration on H.R. 4843, the Veterans’ Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2006, is expected before the August recess.

Today’s hearing focused on these seven bills before to Committee on Veterans’ Affairs:

H.R. 23, the Belated Thank You to the Merchant Mariners of World War II Act of 2005, was introduced by Representative Bob Filner on January 4, 2005. The bill would direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to pay a monthly, tax-free benefit of $1,000 to certain honorably discharged veterans of the U.S. Merchant Marine who served between December 7, 1941, and December 31, 1946, or to their survivors.

H.R. 601, the Native American Veterans Cemetery Act, was introduced by Representative
Tom Udall on February 2, 2005. The bill would authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make grants to tribal organizations to assist them in establishing, expanding, or improving veterans’ cemeteries on trust lands.

H.R. 2188 was introduced by Representative James Langevin on May 5, 2005, and would authorize the placement of memorial markers in a Department of Veterans Affairs national cemetery for the purpose of commemorating servicemembers or other persons whose remains are interred in an American Battle Monuments Commission cemetery.

H.R. 2963, the Dr. James Allen Disabled Veterans Equity Act, was introduced by Representative Tammy Baldwin on June 17, 2005. The bill would allow certain veterans who receive disability compensation of at least 10 percent for impairment of vision in one eye to be eligible to receive such compensation for impairment of vision in the other eye that is deemed not related to military service.

H.R. 4843, the Veterans’ Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2006, was introduced by Representative Jeff Miller, Representative Shelley Berkley, Representative Steve Buyer and Representative Lane Evans on March 2, 2006. The bill would increase effective December 1, 2006, the rates of disability compensation and dependency and indemnity compensation.

H.R. 5037, the Respect for America’s Fallen Heroes Act, was introduced by Representative Mike Rogers, Representative Steve Buyer, Representative Jeff Miller, and Representative Silvestre Reyes on March 29, 2006. The bill would prohibit demonstrations within 500 feet of a military funeral at a VA national cemetery and Arlington National Cemetery. Violation of the prohibition would be punishable by up to a year imprisonment under title 18, United States Code.

H.R. 5038, the Veterans’ Memorial Markers Act of 2006, was introduced by Representative Jeff Miller and Representative Shelley Berkley on March 29, 2006. The bill would provide government markers for veterans who died between November 1, 1990 and September 10, 2001 and who are interred in a private cemetery; would extend through December 31, 2007, the current authorization for government markers for veterans interred in a marked grave at a private cemetery; and would authorize the placement in a national cemetery of a memorial marker for dependent children who would be eligible for burial but whose remains are unavailable.