Shuster's Legislation to Honor Fallen Veterans Passes House

Statement

"We should never forget our heroes that protect this nation, and it is tragic that the remains of thousands of our veterans are sitting on shelves collecting dust," said Congressman Shuster. "My measure will take the steps needed to begin addressing this issue by finding the full scope of the problem and laying the groundwork to develop a plan to ensure our veterans get the burials they all deserve."

"When our veterans pass away, they should be honored in a way that reflects the bravery and sacrifice they showed in defending our country," said Senator Toomey. "I believe Congress needs to better understand the problems surrounding the VA's process of recovering veterans' cremated, unclaimed remains and develop a plan of action to help resolve this issue. Our veterans deserve it."

Congressman Shuster's Dignified Interment of our Veterans Act will help address the major problem of thousands of unclaimed veterans remains across the country by directing the Department of Veterans Affairs to conduct a study aimed at identifying the underlying causes that prevent the timely claiming and interring of veteran remains. The measure will also generate recommendations for improvement.

According to the Missing in America Project (MIAP) there are an estimated 47,000 veterans remains stored throughout the United States that have yet to be claimed. This legislation is the first step in addressing this issue so no veteran is left without the proper burial they deserve.

Earlier this session of Congress, Shuster's legislation passed the House as a standalone measure and Senator Toomey had a similar version pass in the Senate. The differences between the two were negotiated and the final version was included in today's veterans legislative package.

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