Our Nation’s Hallowed Grounds: Disability Assistance Chairman Luttrell Leads Hearing Ahead of America’s 250th Birthday on Enshrining VA’s National Cemeteries

Our Nation's Hallowed Grounds: Disability Assistance Chairman Luttrell Leads Hearing Ahead of America's 250th Birthday on Enshrining VA's National Cemeteries

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Rep. Morgan Luttrell (R-Texas), the Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, delivered the following opening remarks, as prepared, at the start of the subcommittee's oversight hearing to discuss the importance of community partnerships with veterans' cemeteries and ensure that every veteran gets the dignified burial they have earned through assistance from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

The subcommittee will come to order.

Without objection, the Chair may declare a recess at any time.

Good afternoon.

I want to thank our witnesses for being here today.

Today, we are taking a closer look at how our nation's veterans cemeteries are administered, both within the United States and around the world.

There are currently 157 VA-administered national cemeteries across 44 states and the territory of Puerto Rico.

Veterans, service members, spouses, and dependents may be eligible for burial in a VA national cemetery if that veteran or their veteran loved one was honorably discharged or died during their service.

VA also provides grant funds to states, territories, and native tribes to establish and expand veterans' cemeteries or improve and maintain existing ones.

Since its creation, VA has awarded grants to over 124 veterans' cemeteries. Last fiscal year, these cemeteries interred a total of 43,705 veterans and their family members.

This is a shared responsibility VA holds with the Department of the Army, who administers Arlington National Cemetery: the final resting place for nearly 430,000 veterans and their family members.

In fact, it was on the orders of Quartermaster General Montgomery Meigs that Arlington Estate was first approved for use as a cemetery, and it was officially declared a national cemetery by Secretary of War Edward Stanton on June 15th, 1864.

Ironically, burial at Arlington was not always considered the hallowed honor that it is today.

Rather, Arlington was designated as a national cemetery to ensure service members whose families could not afford a proper burial for their loved one were laid to rest in a dignified place.

Part of that effort was the establishment of "Decoration Day," first held in Arlington National Cemetery on May 30, 1868.

The idea was simple, Grand Army of the Republic Posts would hold veteran's parades and ceremonies with music, flags, and prayer, decorating the graves of the fallen with flowers.

In fact, the Grand Army of the Republic chose May 30th to ensure the availability of flowers in the springtime for all our fallen soldiers.

And in 1868, their Commander in Chief, John A. Logan issued his General Orders, number 11, that local posts should decorate the graves of those who had fallen in defense of our nation with flowers.

Decoration Day would become known as Memorial Day.

But it was not through proclamation alone that this tradition came to pass, but the hard work of community organizers like the Woman's Relief Corp and the Ladies Memorial Association.

These organizations campaigned in local newspapers and did the work of bringing these celebrations to their own towns, cities, and counties.

There is a lesson to be learned there, not just about the price of campaigning on the battlefield, but also the days that come after; the campaigns to memorialize and remember the fallen.

That kind of organizing and engagement is a service that no amount of taxes can pay for, and no amount of money can buy.

I want to thank the VSOs and nonprofits that have come to join us in the audience and those that will testify before us today.

Despite its name, the National Cemetery Administration is not just about cemeteries.

It's about maintaining a memory of service, monuments to the fallen, and honoring a culture of sacrifice.

While Memorial Day has already passed, I bring up the story of Memorial Day because it connects well to our Nation's next national holiday that is rapidly approaching: Independence Day-July 4th.

And this is an especially important Independence Day as this year marks the United States' 250th birthday.

Freedom and sacrifice are central to what it means to be an American.

What keeps those two values front and center are memory and gratitude.

That is what so much of the work done by this subcommittee is about: gratitude in the face of sacrifice. Our duty to those who served.

The same Commander John A. Logan also said about our nation's cemeteries that we should never let our cemeteries fall into vandalism or neglect or let others think we have forgotten the cost of a free Republic.

That's a shared mission and one that the American Battle Monuments Commission, or ABMC, helps fulfill abroad.

Because the story of our nation's veterans is not just on our American shores, but in brave acts of heroism abroad.

ABMC maintains 26 American military cemeteries and 31 federal memorials, monuments, and markers, across 17 countries.

For 250 years, our service members have defended our freedom, values, and interests across the world.

From Gettysburg Battlefield to the Alamo's gates, from the Beaches of Normandy to the Coral Sea, our veterans' heroism knows no borders.

I want to thank our partners from NCA, ABMC, and the Department of the Army for joining us today.

I want to say a special thank you to my friend and fellow veteran, The Honorable Sam Brown, Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs, who is testifying for the first time before our subcommittee today.

The NCA has an approval rating of 98 out of 100 based on feedback from veterans and their families who have received their services.

It's a wonder in today's age of government that a rating like that is even possible.

I look forward to the time when this subcommittee checks back in on the NCA's customer satisfaction rating, in another 250 years.

Thank you to all of those who have joined us today and I look forward to hearing our witness' testimony.

With that, I yield to Ranking Member McGarvey.

Related News