[House Hearing, 113 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
SUSTAINING THE SACRED TRUST: AN UPDATE ON OUR NATIONAL CEMETERIES
=======================================================================
HEARING
before the
SUBCOMMITTEE ON DISABILITY ASSISTANCE AND MEMORIAL AFFAIRS
of the
COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10, 2013
__________
Serial No. 113-14
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs
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COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS
JEFF MILLER, Florida, Chairman
DOUG LAMBORN, Colorado MICHAEL H. MICHAUD, Maine, Ranking
GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida Minority Member
DAVID P. ROE, Tennessee CORRINE BROWN, Florida
BILL FLORES, Texas MARK TAKANO, California
JEFF DENHAM, California JULIA BROWNLEY, California
JON RUNYAN, New Jersey DINA TITUS, Nevada
DAN BENISHEK, Michigan ANN KIRKPATRICK, Arizona
TIM HUELSKAMP, Kansas RAUL RUIZ, California
MARK E. AMODEI, Nevada GLORIA NEGRETE MCLEOD, California
MIKE COFFMAN, Colorado ANN M. KUSTER, New Hampshire
BRAD R. WENSTRUP, Ohio BETO O'ROURKE, Texas
PAUL COOK, California TIMOTHY J. WALZ, Minnesota
JACKIE WALORSKI, Indiana
Helen W. Tolar, Staff Director and Chief Counsel
______
SUBCOMMITTEE ON DISABILITY ASSISTANCE AND MEMORIAL AFFAIRS
JON RUNYAN, New Jersey, Chairman
DOUG LAMBORN, Colorado DINA TITUS, Nevada, Ranking
GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida Minority Member
MARK AMODEI, Nevada BETO O'ROURKE, Texas
PAUL COOK, California RAUL RUIZ, California
GLORIA NEGRETE MCLEOD, California
Pursuant to clause 2(e)(4) of Rule XI of the Rules of the House, public
hearing records of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs are also
published in electronic form. The printed hearing record remains the
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of converting between various electronic formats may introduce
unintentional errors or omissions. Such occurrences are inherent in the
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C O N T E N T S
__________
April 10, 2013
Page
Sustaining The Sacred Trust: An Update On Our National Cemeteries 1
OPENING STATEMENTS
Hon. Jon Runyan, Chairman, Disability Assistance and Memorial
Affairs........................................................ 1
Prepared Statement of Hon. Runyan............................ 27
Hon. Dina Titus, Ranking Minority Member, Subcommittee on
Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs..................... 3
Prepared Statement of Hon. Titus............................. 28
WITNESSES
Hon. Steve L. Muro, Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs,
National Cemetery Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs........................................................ 5
Prepared Statement of Mr. Muro............................... 29
Accompanied by:
Mr. Glenn Powers, Deputy Under Secretary for Field
Programs, National Cemetery Administration, U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs
Kathryn Condon, Executive Director of Army National Cemeteries
Program, U.S. Department of Defense............................ 6
Prepared Statement of Ms. Condon............................. 33
Executive Summary of Ms. Condon.............................. 37
Hon. Raymond Wollman, Deputy Secretary, American Battle Monuments
Commission..................................................... 8
Prepared Statement of Mr. Wollman............................ 37
Executive Summary of Mr. Wollman............................. 40
Linda Halliday, Assistant Inspector General for Audits and
Evaluations, Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department
of Veterans Affairs............................................ 15
Prepared Statement of Ms. Halliday........................... 41
Accompanied by:
Ms. Cherie Palmer, Director, OIG Chicago Office of Audits
and Evaluations, Department of Veterans Affairs, Office
of the Inspector General
Diane M. Zumatto, National Legislative Director, AMVETS.......... 20
Prepared Statement of Ms. Zumatto............................ 44
Ami Neiberger-Miller, Director of Outreach and Education, Tragedy
Assistance Program for Survivors............................... 21
Prepared Statement of Ms. Neiberger-Miller................... 47
STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD
Ms. Kari Lin Cowan, Surviving Spouse of CW3 Aaron William Cowan,
United States Army............................................. 53
SUSTAINING THE SACRED TRUST: AN UPDATE ON OUR NATIONAL CEMETERIES
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
U.S. House of Representatives,
Committee on Veterans' Affairs,
Subcommittee on Disability Assistance
and Memorial Affairs,
Washington, D.C.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:35 p.m., in
Room 334, Cannon House Office Building, Hon. Jon Runyan
[Chairman of the Committee] presiding.
Present: Representatives Runyan, Amodei, Titus, O'Rourke,
Negrete-McLeod.
OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN RUNYAN
Mr. Runyan. Good afternoon, and welcome everyone. This
oversight hearing of the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance
and Memorial Affairs will come to order. We are here today to
examine the current state of our military and veterans
cemeteries. Our goal within this hearing is to learn more about
the recent endeavors and accomplishments of the National
Cemetery Administration and other organizations that are here
today. We are also here to address the matters of ongoing
concern that impact all of the final resting places of our
military servicemembers, veterans, and their families, both at
home and abroad.
Members of this Subcommittee as well as all Members of the
House Veterans' Affairs Committee greatly appreciate the
incredible feats of courage and selfless service that our War
fighters have demonstrated throughout history. Time and time
again American servicemembers have been called upon to put the
welfare of the Nation before their own self interests. Our
solemn obligation to honor those who have served does not cease
at the end of their service commitment, retirement, or
ultimately upon death. We have a sacred trust to ensure the
dignity of the final resting places of our military and to
honor the memories of America's brave. As our senior veterans
from World War II and the Korean War decrease in numbers and
casualties from Afghanistan return home, our obligation to
provide honor for every one of the deceased remains, remains
acutely felt.
This hearing will serve to conduct a broad spectrum review
of recent cemetery memorial activities at home and abroad. We
will receive an update on condition improvements at Arlington
National Cemetery.
When I first became Chairman of this Subcommittee, fixing
problems at Arlington was a top priority and I have made it a
prime focus of this Subcommittee's oversight during my tenure.
From my first trip to Arlington to meet with Ms. Condon to get
an overview to take care of a constituent headstone issue, I
have seen it go from a place where records were kept on
basically index cards, if you would remember the card catalogue
from high school that most of us dealt with, in a building with
no fire suppression, to today where everything is digitized and
there is even a phone app that allows people to know exactly
where their loved ones are located.
This Subcommittee's oversight has been made much easier by
having Ms. Condon as a partner in working and improving
Arlington. She has taken a mismanaged, insular, previously
corrupt environment with no leadership or structure, and along
with her team has transformed Arlington National Cemetery into
what the Army Inspector General has described as an
organization transitioning from crisis management to sustained
excellence.
Ms. Condon, I know you are retiring in the next couple of
months and I want to relay our thanks for your dedication and
service to our Nation. The way that you have led your team to
turn around Arlington has been nothing less than extraordinary,
and it is very important that these best practices continue. I
want to relay how much my staff and I have appreciated working
with you to make Arlington the respectful, well run final
resting place our Nation's servicemembers deserve.
We will also be exploring findings of an internal audit
conducted by the National Cemetery Administration, or as I will
refer to the organization, the NCA, as well as the findings of
a separate audit of the VA Office of the Inspector General,
which was done in order to evaluate the corrective actions
taken by NCA.
Specifically, in October of 2011, NCA identified
discrepancies at the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery during
a field test done to verify the accuracy of newly formatted
gravesite maps. Ultimately, it was discovered that the
headstone placement error occurred as a result of the raise and
realign project that had been performed by a contractor. Since
this discovery, NCA has been working to ensure that all
gravesite errors are identified and corrected as soon as
possible. Additionally, at the request of the House Veterans'
Affairs Committee, the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of
the Inspector General conducted an audit to ensure that the
corrective actions taken by NCA have been fully effective.
Representatives of these groups will be speaking with us
today and will offer detail on this issue and the response that
has been undertaken. While we all understand the duty that is
owed to those who have served in uniform, we must also
recognize that our responsibility extends to the families of
these veterans. It is the responsibility of NCA and other
groups here today to provide a dignified and secure environment
for families who visit their loved ones' resting places. We
must be cognizant that if mistakes are made, the sacred trust
is compromised and unnecessary trauma and heartache result to
our military, family, and friends.
I would like to welcome our witnesses today. These
panelists play a significant role in ensuring that our Nation
fulfills our responsibility to honor to those who have served.
We all hope that through discussions and questioning such that
will occur today, we can work collectively not only to meet the
challenges, but to exceed the standard.
Under Secretary Muro is here on behalf of the National
Military Cemeteries Administration, which oversees 131
cemeteries nationwide. Ms. Kathryn Condon is here representing
the Army National Military Cemeteries, which includes perhaps
the most recognizable site of our honored fallen here in
Arlington National Cemetery. Deputy Secretary Wollman
represents the American Battle Monuments Commission, whose
mission is to serve our country's fallen heroes and the missing
in action where they have served overseas.
Next we have Ms. Linda Halliday who serves as the Assistant
Inspector General for Audits and Evaluations, Department of
Veterans' Affairs, Office of the Inspector General. She is
accompanied by Cherie Palmer, who is Director of the Office of
the Inspector General Chicago Office of Audits and Evaluations.
And we will also be hearing from Ms. Diane Zumatto, who is
serving as the National Legislative Director of AMVETS, as well
as Amy Neiberger-Miller, who is Director of Outreach and
Education with Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors.
And finally a statement for the record has been received
from Ms. Kari Cowan, who is the surviving spouse of Chief
Warrant Officer 3, Aaron William Cowan, of the United States
Army. Ms. Cowan was affected by a memorial marker misplacement
at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific Punchbowl in
Hawaii.
With those introductions complete, I am eager to hear of
the progress that has been made in regards to National
Cemeteries corrective actions, and I am also looking forward to
hearing from our American Battle Monuments Commission,
Arlington National Cemetery, and veterans service
organizations. Thank you all for being here today and I will
yield to the Ranking Member for her opening statement.
[The prepared statement of Chairman Runyan appears in the
Appendix]
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. DINA TITUS
Ms. Titus. Well thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you for
holding the hearing on this very important topic. I also want
to thank our witnesses who you have introduced for taking time
to be here, for their flexibility with the rescheduling of this
hearing.
Like you, Mr. Chairman, it is my belief that a proper
burial for the Nation's veterans is a solemn obligation that we
have. It is interesting to look at the history of the National
Cemetery Administration. Over the years, I know that it has
grown dramatically since its creation in 1862 when those first
14 cemeteries were established to serve as a permanent resting
place for our veterans, those original ones who had served in
the War Between the States.
On July 17th of that year, Congress enacted legislation
that authorized the President to purchase cemetery grounds to
be used as a national cemetery for soldiers who had died in the
service of the country. And let us not forget those words,
``Died in the service of the country.'' Then in 1873, all
honorably discharged veterans became eligible for burial.
Since then the NCA has expanded its geographic diversity to
better serve veterans all across the country. And recent
legislation has even further expanded NCA's reach to urban and
rural areas.
However, while you have expanded and access has grown
significantly, there is still a very large population of the
Nation's veterans who do not have the option of being buried in
one of our Nation's prestigious National Veterans Cemeteries.
In fact, the state with the largest veterans population that is
not served by a national cemetery just happens to be my State
of Nevada, where you have about 230,000 veterans, many of them
in my district in Las Vegas. In total, 11 states with a
combined veteran population of 1.8 million are without any
national cemetery at all.
There are 131 national cemeteries across the country. New
York alone has seven active cemeteries. Three other states have
six active national cemeteries each, and Puerto Rico has two.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts about ways that we
can provide veterans with better access to national cemeteries
in those states that currently do not have one. And I would
like to point out to you that that seems to be in the West. And
I just happen to have a map that kind of shows just where they
are. This whole yellow area in the West is the area without a
national cemetery.
I am also well aware of some of the recent challenges that
you have faced with regards to the audits that the National
Cemetery Administration itself initiated. And I think that is
an important point, that you recognized it and began to address
the problem on your own without being forced to do so. Although
it is always disturbing and unacceptable to hear of those
instances in which veterans were incorrectly interred or the
incorrect markers were placed, I applaud you for what you have
done to make the corrections. Taking the initiative to
recognize the need for the review, identifying the issues that
were the problem, and now that the report has come out working
in various ways in the different cemeteries to correct the
problems. I also applause the VA OIG in working with the VA to
improve the audit process itself.
Most important is that these instances are identified and
corrected. This allows the loved ones the peace of mind that
they deserve in these very difficult times, when they face the
burial of a member of the service.
I would ask you that you would continue to conduct these
audits on a rolling basis, identifying quality controls as you
go to ensure that mistakes such as these are not happening
again. And that you continue to keep this Committee apprised of
your progress and what is being done.
Another point I would just like to make is, at the end of
March, I sent a letter to Secretary Shinseki commending him for
allowing the first same sex couple burial in a national
cemetery. I was joined by 40 of my colleagues to urge the
Secretary to grant similar waivers in the future. It is only
right that those who bravely serve this country should be laid
to rest next to the person they love. So I thank you for
addressing that as well.
So today I welcome the witnesses. I am also, I am sorry
that I will not have the chance to work with you, Ms. Condon
because it sounds like you have done a wonderful job at
Arlington. I commend the work that you do to uphold this sacred
trust. And I look forward to hearing from you. Give us the
perspective that we need to ensure that our families of our
veterans are served during difficult times. So thank you, Mr.
Chairman.
[The prepared statement of Hon. Dina Titus appears in the
Appendix]
Mr. Runyan. Thank you very much. And again, good afternoon
everybody. The first panel is seated at the witness table. We
are going to hear from Under Secretary Muro, then we will hear
from Ms. Condon, and finally Deputy Secretary Wollman. So with
that, Secretary Muro you are now recognized for your statement.
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE STEVE L. MURO, UNDER SECRETARY FOR
MEMORIAL AFFAIRS, NATIONAL CEMETERY ADMINISTRATION, U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS; ACCOMPANIED BY MR. GLENN
POWERS, DEPUTY UNDER SECRETARY FOR FIELD PROGRAMS, NATIONAL
CEMETERY ADMINISTRATION, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS;
MS. KATHRYN CONDON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF ARMY NATIONAL
CEMETERIES PROGRAM, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE; AND THE
HONORABLE RAYMOND WOLLMAN, DEPUTY SECRETARY, AMERICAN BATTLE
MONUMENTS COMMISSION
STATEMENT OF STEVE L. MURO
Mr. Muro. Thank you, Chairman Runyan, and Ranking Member
Titus, and other Members of the Subcommittee. I have with me
today Mr. Glenn Powers, Deputy Under Secretary for Field
Operations. I appreciate the opportunity to highlight some of
the administration's accomplishments in the year since I last
appeared before you.
This past July 17th, we commemorated the 150th anniversary
of the enactment of Public Law 165. That legislation, signed by
President Lincoln in 1862, created the national cemetery
system. From that day to this, we and all the cemeterians
before us, have considered ourselves keepers of a sacred trust.
We fulfill this sacred trust in partnership with our colleagues
here today from the Department of the Army, the American Battle
Monuments Commission, and also with enduring support of this
Committee in Congress, the veterans service organizations, and
the American people. Together, as President Lincoln wrote, ``We
pay tribute to those that gave our lives so that the Nation
might live.'' We recommit ourselves daily, and with each
passing year, to fulfilling Lincoln's timeless promise of
caring for all of those who have borne the battle.
In this past year, we have completed the first ever
comprehensive review of more than 3.2 million gravesites at VA
national cemeteries. As promised, we made timely notifications
to Congress and next of kin regarding our findings, and advised
them of any corrective actions. We formulated a sustainment
plan with accountability procedures and specific contracting
requirements to make certain our national cemeteries are always
operated as national shrines.
In 2012, we also worked to increase veterans access to
burial benefits in three important ways. First, we completed
$31.8 million worth of expansions and improvements projects at
our national cemeteries. Second, we initiated land acquisition
and planning efforts for construction of five new national
cemeteries along with five columbarium-only sites in dense
populated urban areas, and eight National Veterans Burial
Grounds in rural communities. Third, we awarded 18 grants to
states and tribes to build or improve veterans cemeteries they
manage. Taken together, these actions will contribute to 95
percent of the veterans having a burial option within 75 miles
of their home by 2015. That is up from just 75 percent of the
veterans with access as recently as 2004.
We also launched an online resource kit for funeral
directors last year containing pertinent information to help
families plan for burials and apply for VA benefits. This new
Web site features videos narrated in English and Spanish that
show families what they can expect on the day that they bring
their loved ones for burial at one of our national cemeteries.
Last March, I told you about an idea to train homeless
veterans as apprentices for permanent employment as cemetery
caretakers. That pilot program was inaugurated last October at
five of our national cemeteries and we now have 21 apprentices
onboard. Thanks to the outstanding cooperation of VHA's
Homeless Veterans Initiative Office and VA Learning University,
the program offers participating veterans a fresh start and
adds committed new members to the NCA team. Like all NCA
training, the apprenticeship curriculum reinforces our high
standards for cemetery appearance and customer service.
We continue to achieve high levels of customer
satisfaction, as measured by the annual survey of veterans'
next of kin and the funeral directors. Ninety-six percent of
respondents in our 2012 client satisfaction survey rated the
customer service as excellent. Ninety-nine percent also rated
the appearance of our national cemeteries as excellent, and
further indicated that they would recommend a national cemetery
to other veterans' families. Results like this do not happen by
accident. They reflect our ongoing commitment, and yours, to
delivering burial benefits in a manner that expresses our
Nation's gratitude for the service and sacrifice of our
veterans, their families, and their survivors.
I thank you for this opportunity and your support for NCA
as we serve those who have served us so well. Thank you, and I
am ready for questions.
[The prepared statement of Steve L. Muro appears in the
Appendix]
Mr. Runyan. Thank you, Under Secretary Muro. Ms. Condon,
you are now recognized.
STATEMENT OF KATHRYN CONDON
Ms. Condon. Chairman Runyan, Ranking Member Titus, and
distinguished Members of the Subcommittee. Thank you for the
opportunity to provide an update on the tremendous progress at
Arlington National Cemetery. And Chairman Runyan, thank you not
only for your kind words, but for your support and the
tremendous support of your staff over the last several years at
Arlington.
To the new Members of the Committee, long gone are the
typewriters, the three-by-five index cards, and the paper maps
colored in with pencils. In less than two years, we are the
first national cemetery to geospacially manage cemetery
operations. Arlington has achieved as directed by Congress the
baseline accountability of all its burial records and created a
single, verifiable, and authoritative database of all those
laid to rest at the cemetery. This database is linked to our
digital mapping system which allows us now to not only assign,
manage, but to track our gravesites electronically.
Leveraging this technology, on October 22, 2012, we also
launched ANC Explorer. The first version of this free, Web-
based application allows families and the public to locate
gravesites, events, and other points of interest throughout the
cemetery; to generate front and back photos of a headstone or
monument; and to receive directions to those locations. And to
date I am proud to say that we have had 30,465 downloads of our
app. So now that allows the public to honor, remember, and
explore the national shrine virtually, wherever they want,
whenever they want. We have installed kiosks with ANC Explorer
at our welcome center and we are about to put them throughout
locations in the cemetery.
We have implemented energy, environmental, and
sustainability initiatives to minimize our impact on the
environment and enhance our natural greenspace.
We have changed our acquisition and resource management
processes and procedures to be not only responsible stewards of
all funds provided, but to remain compliant with all
regulations and guidelines.
And finally, we are committed to maintaining Arlington as
an active cemetery for as long as possible for our Nation's
military heroes. We have three expansion projects, columbarium
court nine, the millenium project, and the Navy annex. And once
complete these projects are expected to extend Arlington's
first interment burials well into the 2050s.
With the great support of this Committee, in less than two
years we not only broke ground on the ninth columbarium court,
increasing our cremation space by 20,296 niches, but we will
dedicate that columbarium on the ninth of May. So please mark
your calendars. An invitation will be coming shortly on that.
I could not be more proud of the men and women of Arlington
who have worked diligently to restore the honor and dignity
across every aspect of this national shrine. And while we have
made great strides, work remains to complete the critical
repairs of our crumbling infrastructure and to improve our
service to our veterans by reducing the wait time between the
family's initial request and the actual burial.
Mr. Chairman and ma'am, you have my promise that through
diligent efforts adherence to the established procedures and by
leveraging technology, Arlington will continue to do all within
its power to sustain the trust it has recently reclaimed. And
all burial services and ceremonies will be conducted with the
honor and dignity our families, our veterans, and all who visit
the cemetery deserve. Thank you, and I look forward to your
questions.
[The prepared statement of Kathryn Condon appears in the
Appendix]
Mr. Runyan. Thank you, Ms. Condon. And with that, Deputy
Secretary Wollman, you are now recognized for your testimony.
STATEMENT OF RAYMOND J. WOLLMAN
Mr. Wollman. Thank you, Chairman Runyan, Ranking Member
Titus, Members of the Subcommittee. Thank you for this
opportunity to discuss the mission, operations, and programs of
the American Battle Monuments Commission.
ABMC's core mission is commemoration. We execute that
mission by maintaining commemorative sites to an unparalleled
standard of excellence and by providing historical context for
why our monuments and cemeteries were established, why those
memorialized within them died, and the values for which they
died.
On Veterans Day in November, ABMC dedicated Vietnam battle
maps at our Honolulu Memorial. When the memorial was built in
the 1960's, it included maps commemorating World War II in the
Pacific and the Korean War. But maps commemorating the Vietnam
War had never been added. That oversight is now corrected and
Americans who served during the Vietnam War are appropriately
honored at our most visited memorial. I want to thank the VA
for their support, Mr. Muro and his team. This is uniquely a
joint ABMC-VA site in Honolulu. And without the help of Mr.
Muro and his team we could not have done it.
In Europe, we have three interpretation program visitor
center projects that will be completed this year. One at the
Cambridge American Cemetery in England; at the Sicily-Rome
Cemetery, south of Rome, Italy; and at the Pointe du Hoc Ranger
Monument in France near our Normandy Cemetery. Most of our
cemeteries, however, receive far fewer visitors than these
three sites. To better tell their stories to a broader
audience, we have been turning to technology. Our first mobile
app, a tour of the Pointe du Hoc battlefield was released in
December. We plan to produce apps and virtual tours for all of
our sites so we can bring these national historic assets to
life not only to our visitors, but on our Web site and in our
classrooms.
Turning to the Pacific Region, at the United Nations
Cemetery in Pusan, Korea, most of the allied Nations have
memorials in the cemetery honoring their armed forces. The
United States does not. We are fixing that. We will begin
construction on a monument this Spring and plan to dedicate it
in July on the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Korean
War Armistice.
Public Law 112-260, the Dignified Burial and Other Veterans
Benefits Improvements Act of 2012, authorizes ABMC to restore,
operate, and maintain Clark Veterans Cemetery in the
Philippines. As required by law, the U.S. government is
negotiating an agreement with the Philippine government to
allow the ABMC to begin maintaining this cemetery. When such an
agreement is reached, we will use existing funds to begin
minimum maintenance with the crew from our Manila Cemetery,
which is about an hour away from Clark and to contract for a
full assessment of the site to determine restoration and
maintenance requirements. Congress authorized $5 million for
restoration. This may be insufficient for a cemetery that is
partially covered in volcanic ash and may have other unknown
infrastructure issues. We will not know the true cost until we
complete a site assessment. Nonetheless, the mission has been
assigned to the ABMC and we will work towards executing that
mission when an agreement allowing us to do so has been signed
with the Philippine government.
Under the Consolidated and Further Continuing
Appropriations Act of 2013, ABMC's total budget authority is
$73.347 million. This is a $253,000 decrease from our fiscal
year 2013 budget request. This $73 million takes into account
the March 1, 2013 sequestration order and two recessions
included in the public law. We will take this reduction in
areas with the least impact on cemetery operations. We do not
plan to furlough any of our staff.
The essence of the Commission's mission success does not
change from year to year. Keep the headstones white, keep the
grass green, and tell the story of those we honor. With the
support of the administration and the Congress, we will
continue to ensure that the Commission's overseas shrines to
American service and sacrifice reflect our Nation's commitment
to honoring those who sacrificed on our behalf.
Mr. Chairman, Members of the Subcommittee, as always we
invite you to visit these inspirational sites during your
overseas travels. Thank you for allowing me to present this
summary of our mission, operations, and programs.
[The prepared statement of Raymond J. Wollman appears in
the Appendix]
Mr. Runyan. Thank you, Deputy Secretary Wollman. You may
not know because our bells did not go off in here, but there is
a vote being called on the House floor. I would probably
anticipate that we would be back in about a half hour. So the
Committee will stand in recess until approximately 3:30.
[Recess.]
Mr. Runyan. The Subcommittee will now come to order. We
will begin the first round of questions, and I want to start
with Under Secretary Muro. It clearly comes across that the
majority of NCA staff is very hardworking and dedicated to the
NCA mission. However, this Subcommittee received a personal
statement from a surviving spouse, Ms. Kari Cowan, regarding
her experience with a misplaced memorial marker at the National
Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at the Punchbowl. Ms. Cowan
noted that she was treated with a shocking level of
insensitivity and disrespect when she alerted the cemetery that
her husband's marker was missing in 2011. The manner that Ms.
Cowan's concern was handled by the Punchbowl management staff
was nothing short of shameful, if you have had an opportunity
to read her testimony. The cemetery's head groundskeeper and
its public affairs specialist did not seem to improve Ms.
Cowan's situation, nor did the cemetery director take any
useful, proactive steps in fixing this problem. How will a
situation such as Ms. Cowan's be handled by the National
Cemetery staff going forward, and how did you convey the NCA's
expectations to all of your cemetery employees?
Mr. Muro. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First of all, I would
like to apologize to Ms. Cowan for the situation that happened
at the Punchbowl. Second, at the last conference, we did talk
to all of the directors about this situation and we also have
held those that were responsible for it accountable. It is not
acceptable what was done. But we do have procedures in place
that ensure that if we are doing any type of marker movement or
headstone movement, whether they be gravesites or memorial
sections, we notify the next of kin. That was not originally
done, but we have done so now to the impacted families. We have
apologized. And we have acted on her request that her husband's
memorial marker be moved to another cemetery. We ordered a new
marker and it is at Fort Bayard National Cemetery in New
Mexico. At the Punchbowl, we had the director call all impacted
next of kin that he was able to reach and talk to them and let
them know what had been done. We then sent letters to those
families that we could not contact by phone in order to request
that they contact us or give us a number where we can contact
them. We will ensure that it does not happen again at another
national cemetery.
Mr. Runyan. Is the proactive communication of the movement
of a marker part of your standard operating procedure?
Mr. Muro. Yes, it is. We do not normally move markers
unless we are doing renovation type work. We do not normally
resize sections. We might add rows and add graves to the end of
rows, but normally we do not resize a section. So if that would
have come up through the channel it would not have been
approved. So we have held the people accountable that did that,
and also ensured that they received the training they need so
they do not do that again. Also, when a family comes with a
problem, we need to know what the problem is so we can research
it to get the facts down.
Mr. Runyan. The next question is also for you. We have
volunteer historian veterans organizations, local governments,
and funeral professionals working diligently to search through
the archives of death records, military records, and
genealogical records to seek VA headstones for some of our
Civil War veterans who are buried in unmarked graves. We have
been told that the VA has in recent years put into place a new
barrier for this initiative requiring approval from the next of
kin. These local volunteers are essentially skilled
researchers. If they could identify and locate a Civil War
descendent, they would jump at the chance. The reality is that
many of these veterans in unmarked graves tend to be poor young
minorities with few, if any, family at the time they paid the
ultimate price. When we make it absolutely necessary to get the
next of kin approval, we are turning a success story into
another reason for our citizens to be disappointed with
government bureaucracy.
On behalf of one of my constituents, Mr. Richard Bareford
of Medford, New Jersey, he has been in contact with the NCA
pursuing two group monuments for veterans who died in the 1937
Labor Day Hurricane to be honored with one on the overseas
highway near Islamorada, Florida, and one at Woodlawn Park
North Cemetery in Miami. He is a historian who is seeking to
have these monuments dedicated before the 80th anniversary, but
he is not next of kin to any of the deceased so his request has
not been granted.
One of the recent letters sent from a group in Ohio, to VA,
asked VA to consider a couple of alternatives and we are told
that the VA response did not even acknowledge that the two
thoughtful remedies had been suggested. The two possibilities
include to amend Section 38.632(b)(1) to include if no next of
kin exist or can be located, applications may be filed by
military researchers, local historians, genealogists or other
who are familiar with the research sources or methods needed to
prove the veteran's identity and service. Or the next solution,
align the VA policy with the archives records policy at the
National Archives and Records Administration for requesting
military records, which does not require next of kin
authorization for records dating back 62 or more years. Such
policy could be stated as, quote, ``applications for headstones
or markers for eligible individuals who have been deceased 62
or more years prior to the date of application may be submitted
by anyone familiar with the research sources and methods needed
to prove a veteran's identity and their service'', end quote. I
think these seem reasonable to consider. I would like to know
if the VA has considered these alternatives and how you would
respond to this group that seems more than willing to work with
the VA to find a remedy to this, or to Mr. Bareford who is
seeking the two group memorials.
Mr. Muro. Yes, Mr. Chairman. We are actually reviewing that
regulation. And we are going to do some rewrites to it. It was
a few years ago. It was redone for many reasons. And it appears
that they made it overrestrictive. There were some issues where
individuals would come in and change information, and then next
of kin would show up and say who changed the stone? So we want
to make sure that does not happen. But we also want to make
sure that it is not as restrictive as it is. And we are looking
to change that so that it is more user friendly, especially
with the VSOs that normally order headstones for many of their
members. When we get the proposed rule ready, we will put it
out for public comment. We will keep the Committee informed to
let you know when we get ready to publish.
Mr. Runyan. We appreciate that cooperation and
communication. With that, I will yield to the Ranking Member
Ms. Titus.
Ms. Titus. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Muro, as I
mentioned in my opening comments, Nevada is one of those
western states that has no national cemetery. And I just want
to hold this map up again because it is just so telling about
all of these western states where you do not have a national
cemetery. So I wanted to ask you, are there any plans? Or is
that a goal? Or is that a dream to have any VA cemeteries in
these areas, or especially in Las Vegas? And do you think maybe
the current funding formula works to the disadvantage of
veterans who are in the West? And finally, if that is not
happening, or if it is sometime in the future, are there things
that you can do better with some of the state cemeteries that
exist? We have a state cemetery in Boulder City, but there was
a terrible incident where an employee took headstones home and
turned them into a patio, and that is because there is not the
kind of oversight and regulation that you find at the national
cemetery. So would you address those issues for me?
Mr. Muro. Sure, Congresswoman. First of all, we are coming
to Nevada. There are six states out West that have no national
presence. And one of the Secretary's charge and one of our
goals, the Secretary's and mine, is to have National Veterans
burial Grounds in those states that do not have coverage by a
national cemetery. And so with our budget in 2013, we put forth
the new rural initiative. With a veteran population of 25,000
or less, we will build a national cemetery presence in those
states so that we can provide better service to the veterans in
areas that do not meet the policy thresheld for a national
cemetery. Prior to the current criteria for 80,000 veterans in
a 75-mile radius, we used 170,000 veterans in a 75-mile radius
to determine where we would build a national cemetery. So we
closed that gap in 2012 by establishing our current policy.
In reference to the Boulder State Veterans Cemetery, it is
the second busiest state cemetery in the Nation. There are 88
operating state cemeteries at the present time. We are
continuing to work with the states to open up more. In
reference to their employees taking the headstones and using
them for patios, which is an unauthorized use. They knew it.
Because any state cemetery that is open we provide them our
policies, our guidance, they are asked to follow everything we
do. So it was a surprise to us that that happened.
Unfortunately it happens at not just state cemeteries. It has
happened at other cemeteries and we get calls every so often
that somebody finds some headstones. NCA picks them up and we
dispose of them properly. The state knew how to dispose of
them. That employee no longer works for the state. I am willing
to come and talk with you.
Ms. Titus. Right.
Mr. Muro. We are going to have presence in those western
states. That is our goal between now and 2015, to open up
National Veteran Burial Grounds in those six states of the West
that do not have them.
Ms. Titus. Well that is good news. I appreciate that.
Because that 75 miles is like driving across town in Las Vegas.
That distance does not mean very much in states like Nevada and
Montana and Idaho and things like that. So I appreciate it.
I am also working on something to help Native Americans
with headstones in tribal cemeteries.
Mr. Muro. Yes.
Ms. Titus. I know we look to you for some assistance with
that.
Mr. Muro. Yes. We supply headstones to any veterans,
whether they are in a state cemetery, a private cemetery, or
national cemetery. And we are working with your office and with
Congress in reference to providing the headstones for the
spouses. When the legislation was granted they gave us
authority to grant funds for tribal organizations to develop
tribal cemeteries. They left out the part of spouses and
dependents being able to, so we need to have the legislation
updated so that we can provide them headstones so that they do
not have to pay for them. Just like we do at the state
cemeteries. We provide a headstone for anyone that is buried at
that state, same thing at a national, or at Arlington. Anyone
buried in that cemetery gets their name on the headstone. It
may be the same headstone if there are multiple family members
in the same grave.
Ms. Titus. Well, thank you very much. Thank you, Mr.
Chairman.
Mr. Runyan. Mr. O'Rourke?
Mr. O'Rourke. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Muro, I have a
couple of questions related to Fort Bliss National Cemetery,
which is in the district that I represent in El Paso, Texas.
And as you know, more than a decade the decision was made to
replace the natural turf and grass at Fort Bliss National
Cemetery with zeroscaping design, that while very beautiful and
frankly better maintained than the turf had been prior to the
installation of the zeroscaping, leaves a number of people in
my community, especially the widows and friends of veterans who
passed away and many of whom gave the ultimate sacrifice in
their service to this country, leaves them a little cold. And
while you all have been incredibly responsive to our questions
and requests about this issue, and I want to publicly thank you
for being, for doing so, most of your answers involve the
public's happiness with the maintenance of the zeroscaping as
it is today and do not really address the issue of whether the
public, and especially the veterans community and their family
and friends, would like to see grass turf instead of the
zeroscaping. And it is, I can tell you from the canvassing I
did in order to get here in talking to hundreds if not
thousands of veterans door to door, it was a constant refrain,
that they were upset with the zeroscaping decision.
I want to add publicly that I think this decision was made
in the context of some misinformation at the time about the
availability of water in El Paso. And that misinformation has
since been corrected. We have an exceptional supply long term
of water for El Paso from the Rio Grande, from our underground
aquifers. We also, as you probably know, through a partnership
with Fort Bliss have the world's largest inland desalinization
plant. And right next to the Fort Bliss National Cemetery is
the Fort Bliss Golf Course, which for many of these widows and
friends of veterans, and veterans in the community, adds insult
to injury. That you have a perfectly watered, greened, and
manicured golf course that is much larger in acreage than the
cemetery.
Let me conclude by saying that the cost savings are
indisputable. And black and white, this is a no-brainer. We
should be zeroscaping. But as you probably are well aware, this
is not a black and white issue for the people who care most
about the cemetery.
So I have two questions. One is, I would like some advice
in continuing to work with you and your office to see if we
cannot correct this problem, or what that path might look like.
What the process is to reverse a zeroscaping decision? And the
second question is, even if this is a ballpark estimate, in
terms of national cemeteries that you oversee, how many of
them, or what percentage of them, are zeroscaped versus having
natural grass?
Mr. Muro. Thank you, Congressman. There are actually three
national cemeteries that have waterwise landscaping. Fort
Bliss, Arizona, and Bakersfield National Cemeteries. We opened
Bakersfield about three years ago. We opened it with waterwise
landscaping as was Arizona when it was originally opened.
We did not convert because of the cost of the water. We
converted because we could not maintain the turf. We had many
complaints. In 2004, we transferred more property from the
base. We opened the new acreage with the waterwise landscaping.
We had a lot of positive feedback. In fact, this year 97
percent of the respondents that we surveyed that had their
loved one buried at the national cemetery responded that the
grounds maintenance and appearance was excellent.
We had a lot of complaints in the past because we could not
maintain the turf. We literally struggled to maintain the turf.
With the waterwise landscaping, the appearance is nice. We get
enough water so that we can run the drip system to the plants
that are there, so we can keep color most of the year. So the
system is good. In fact this year the State of Texas is
recognizing Fort Bliss National Cemetery as a recipient of the
Texas Environmental Excellence Award for water conservation.
Anything we can do to work with you, I am willing to meet
with you. And to work with the veterans to see what we can do
to improve. One of my big concerns is we are running out of
space. We are working with DoD to see if we can get more land
but it does not look like it will be adjacent to the current
property. One of our goals is to keep national cemeteries open,
and we want to continue to provide services to the veterans in
the Fort Bliss area. Especially since the Army is increasing
the size of their base there. So we know the population will
increase in the Fort Bliss area.
Mr. O'Rourke. I appreciate that, and I appreciate your
answer on the number of zeroscaped or cemeteries that are
saving water, and you mentioned the three including Bliss. And
if I hear you correctly you are willing to at least meet with
us and talk about what we can do to address these concerns
within the community. And I think that is a good start.
Mr. Muro. Right.
Mr. O'Rourke. So I appreciate that. Thank you.
Mr. Muro. You are welcome. Thank you.
Mr. O'Rourke. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Runyan. Thank you. And with that, I have one more
question for Mr. Wollman. And you both are also welcome to ask
further questions if you would like. It was brought to the
Committee's attention concerns on the bilateral agreement with
Clark Cemetery. We have been informed that ABMC has inserted
language that only veterans or scouts who served prior to 1947
continue to be interred at Clark. If that is the case, it
concerns the Committee as we are aware that many of the
veterans who have restored the cemetery over the recent
decades, and who have buried their fellow comrades over the
years at the site. Does that bilateral agreement contain this
new limitation?
Mr. Wollman. Mr. Chairman, no it does not. We have been in
contact with the groups and we understand their concerns. The
confusion was really about comma placement and a period
placement, I think, that confused things. It is Philippine
scouts who are restricted to those that served before 1947 as
part of the United States Army therein. But all U.S. veterans
are still, are eligible under our, under the agreement that we
are in the process of putting forward.
So that is incorrect. And we have been in contact with the
citizens, our citizens down there in Manila that are concerned
about this issue. And we have actually asked the State
Department to rewrite the sentence so that there are two
separate sentences and it makes that distinction clearer. So I
understand why the confusion developed. But it was not the,
that is not the, the intention of ABMC.
It has been rewritten and given to the Philippine
government. So that change to make that absolutely explicit is
what is before the Philippine government now. We are waiting
for a response from the Philippine government. These
negotiations are being handled by State Department, as is the
requirement in the law.
Mr. Runyan. Thank you for that clarification. And with
that, Ms. Titus, anything further?
Ms. Titus. I would just ask the two of you if you have
concerns about the impact of sequestration on what you are
doing at Arlington and beyond?
Ms. Condon. Ma'am, in fiscal year 2013 we have been able to
absorb our sequestration cuts. We have modified our projects
that we have outstanding. And because we still have some prior
year dollars left, we will be able to handle our day to day
operations. I am tremendously concerned if sequestration
continues through the out years. Because then it will have an
impact on burial operations at Arlington.
Ms. Titus. Thank you. Mr. Wollman?
Mr. Wollman. Yes, ma'am. My answer is essentially the same.
There is an impact with sequestration. It is, we have managed
to render its impact minor for this year. In the next year our
request in fiscal year 2014 is the same as our 2013
appropriations, so we do not anticipate that there will be
additional impacts. So we feel confident that we can go forward
under the impact of sequestration using some, by being very
careful with our appropriation.
Ms. Titus. Thank you.
Mr. Runyan. Mr. O'Rourke, anything further? Well, ladies
and gentlemen on behalf of the Subcommittee, I thank you for
your testimony. We look forward to continuing to work with you
on these important matters. And you are now excused.
At this time, I would like to welcome our second panel from
The Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of the Inspector
General, Ms. Linda Halliday, as well as Ms. Palmer.
Ladies, we appreciate your attendance here today and your
complete and written statement will be entered into the hearing
record.
And with that, Ms. Halliday, you are now recognized for
five minutes for your testimony.
STATEMENT OF LINDA HALLIDAY, ASSISTANT INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR
AUDITS AND EVALUATIONS, OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL, U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS; ACCOMPANIED BY CHERIE PALMER,
DIRECTOR, CHICAGO OFFICE OF AUDITS AND EVALUATIONS, OFFICE OF
INSPECTOR GENERAL, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
STATEMENT OF LINDA HALLIDAY
Ms. Halliday. Chairman Runyan, Ranking Member Titus,
Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to
discuss the OIG's audit results related to the National
Cemetery's Phase I Internal Gravesite Review.
I am accompanied by Ms. Cherie Palmer, our Director in our
Chicago Audit Operations, who led the audit work on this
effort.
NCA maintains approximately 3.2 million gravesites at 131
national cemeteries in 39 states and Puerto Rico and 33 soldier
lots and monuments.
In FY2012, NCA conducted approximately 118,000 interments
and processed about 355,000 applications for headstones and
markers for placement in the cemeteries.
In October 2011, NCA initiated a proactive review to verify
headstone and marker placement in all burial sections where
major renovation projects to raise and align headstones and
markers were completed.
The self initiated review followed the August 2011
discovery of 47 markers that were offset by one gravesite in a
burial section in Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery. This
resulted in placing four remains in the wrong gravesites.
For Phase I, NCA reviewed nearly 1.6 million gravesites at
93 national cemeteries and identified 251 gravesite errors at
13 of the cemeteries. Subsequently, we reviewed a sample of 200
gravesites at each of 12 statistically selected national
cemeteries to insure headstones were accurately placed and we
identified seven additional gravesite errors.
NCA's review procedures did not identify and report all
gravesite errors. Further, NCA lacked controls to ensure
independence because their review was performed by their
cemetery directors.
In addition, the reviews were planned and implemented
without considering the size, complexity, and age of the
cemeteries.
The cemetery directors told us, it was challenging to
complete and certify to the results by December 31, 2011. When
we identified the errors not reflected in the directors'
certifications, we questioned the validity of those
certifications.
We found that cemetery directors were not provided updated
maps and accurate gravesite maps to support these reviews. The
maps reflect the usage of gravesites at the memorial sites.
In July of 2012 we issued a management advisory memorandum
and recommended that NCA revise current gravesite review
procedures to insure the accuracy in reporting of their
results.
We recommended NCA plan and complete another review using
revised procedures, and finally that NCA research the reasons
why cemetery directors' certifications did not disclose the
conditions we had identified. We recommended that NCA
leadership take administrative action as deemed appropriate.
In response to our advisory memorandum, Mr. Muro worked
with my staff to revise and test more comprehensive procedures
at nine of the 12 cemeteries we visited. Using the revised
procedures, NCA identified 146 additional gravesite errors at
four other cemeteries. This, compared to initially identifying
a total of 251 errors during the Phase I review.
The internal gravesite review procedures were not adequate
to identify all errors which affected the accuracy of the
review results, but NCA did take quick action and worked with
us to identify additional errors and discussed our concerns
with their procedures to adopt stronger procedures to make sure
they got the results right.
We still believe NCA needs to take further action as we
recommended in our report, The Audit of NCA's Internal
Gravesite Review of Headstone and Marker Placement, to identify
and prevent future gravesite errors and to insure VA fulfills
its mission.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my statement and we would be
pleased to answer any questions the Committee may have.
[The prepared statement of Linda Halliday appears in the
Appendix]
Mr. Runyan. Thank you, Ms. Halliday. My first question kind
of goes to where you were winding up there. You were here for
the testimony of Secretary Muro.
In your written testimony you said that the NCA did take
action once you identified errors and concerns about their
procedures. You noted that NCA agreed to implement three
recommendations that were contained in the 5 July of '12
memorandum, as well, and it appears to comply with all
recommendations contained in the VA LIG Report of 7 February of
'13.
It seems that NCA has taken additional steps such as
requiring contractors to insure headstones and markers remain
at gravesites during their raise and realign projects.
And you kind of answered this, but I want to get it on the
record again. In your opinion, have the inaccuracies that the
Office of the Inspector General found been adequately
addressed, and at this point has the NCA taken all necessary
and appropriate steps to rectify the situation?
Ms. Halliday. I believe the NCA has made a good faith
effort to address all of the recommendations in our early
advisory and redo the work to make sure that they got the
results correct. They reviewed and held those directors where
their certifications were in question accountable and took the
actions they needed to move forward to make sure that Phase II
review got accurate results.
And I think that from what we have seen in their
responsiveness, I have some confidence that they will continue
to update the maps that are relied upon and they are putting in
new systems that will really help strengthen the whole
oversight and the way they have their controls in the program.
Mr. Runyan. So, it is still a work in progress?
Ms. Halliday. Yes.
Mr. Runyan. The next question I have is then, throughout
the OIG's evaluation of the various sites, were the NCA
employees candid and helpful in the process? And were you
greeted at the sites with an appropriate manner?
Ms. Halliday. I am going to let Cherie Palmer answer that.
Mr. Runyan. Okay.
Ms. Halliday. Because she and her team actually went to the
cemeteries. She can give you a firsthand account.
Ms. Palmer. Mr. Chairman, during our site visits we found
that the cemetery directors were very cooperative with our
staff.
We commented to the Under Secretary on a couple of
occasions that we had a good working relationship with cemetery
staff. Yes, I do feel that they were candid.
In most instances, our contact was limited to the cemetery
directors and they were cooperative.
Mr. Runyan. So, not a lot of dealings with staff under that
and professionalism at that level? Because, obviously, you
heard some of that in the last panel, that there was some un-
professionalism underneath them.
Ms. Palmer. Right. We didn't experience that, because the
Phase I review was conducted by the cemetery directors.
Mr. Runyan. Thank you.
Ms. Halliday. Sir?
Mr. Runyan. Yes.
Ms. Halliday. Can I add that we did have concerns with the
three directors that certified there were no errors and then
our team came behind them and actually identified errors that
we thought were very visible.
We were not given good information from each of those
directors. They just said they don't understand why they didn't
find those errors. And no one would really say why. It was our
belief that they didn't do a thorough review. So, if you want
to assess cooperation, that certainly has to be considered.
Mr. Runyan. Okay. But post that, the cooperation was there?
Ms. Halliday. Yes.
Mr. Runyan. Last question, Ms. Halliday. Going forward, in
light of your work, what oversight activities would you
recommend that we do on this Committee?
Ms. Halliday. I think you have to make sure that you
require NCA to provide information that their capacity planning
for future cemeteries is adequate and staying within planned
milestones and you don't have serious slippage.
Mr. Runyan. Thank you for that. And with that I recognize
the Ranking Member Ms. Titus.
Ms. Titus. Thank you. Sometimes when you say that something
is a work in progress it is meant with fake praise and you
really mean it is not happening like it should. But it seems to
me in this case when you say it is a work in progress that you
really are making progress and things are being put in place
and the situation is getting much better fairly rapidly. Is
that accurate?
Ms. Halliday. That is accurate. And keep in mind the error
rates that we detected in this review were extremely low. So,
there were good results to start with and I do believe by
invoking stronger procedures when they are doing graveside
realignment such as headstones cannot be removed from the
gravesite area while work is being done and having better
oversight over contractors I think is going to go a long way to
help things.
Ms. Titus. I appreciate you saying that. Any mistake is not
good, it is too many and when the veteran is concerned and the
family and friends. But if you look at the statistics of how
many gravesites there are, how far they go back, how poor the
records must be from 150 years ago, it is pretty remarkable
that the number of mistakes that you found was as low as it
was.
Ms. Halliday. Definitely, especially considering some of
the maps were so old that they were almost illegible.
Ms. Titus. And you think the new computer improvements--we
are always hearing about glitches in computer systems, but the
new systems improvements are in line to make a difference as
well?
Ms. Halliday. I think they are a positive change forward.
My auditors did spend time examining the current information
performed extra procedures to look at the information in the
computer system and then how that translated to the maps and
how that translated to the actual site conditions. So, I do
think it is a real positive move forward.
Ms. Titus. Thank you.
Mr. Runyan. Mr. O'Rourke.
Mr. O'Rourke. It is encouraging to hear a good story come
out of the VA and the effort made initially to understand where
there might be errors and then the follow up from your office
to correct that and then the working relationship that you have
going forward to insure that we don't have these problems in
the future, so I just want to commend on your efforts and what
you have been able to do in presenting this to this Committee.
I guess I have one question on a policy that I guess is
still being implemented and that is to map through GIS, the
location of all these gravesites and make sure that information
is available electronically. Do you have any concerns or
questions based on what you uncovered through this process in
terms of how the VA implements that going forward?
Ms. Halliday. I would have some concerns as far as the
baseline data integrity of the maps, but I think that is a
wonderful system and I think it is an appropriate enhancement
for having realtime information that can support the mission of
NCA.
The other thing is, I would like to congratulate Mr. Muro
because I deal on a regular basis with senior leaders
throughout VA and when he got the advisory that I issued to him
about our concerns, there was an immediate phone call and a
request for help to try to benchmark our procedures against
what they used to make sure everyone got it right. And I
commend that as strong leadership.
Mr. O'Rourke. I appreciate hearing that and the fact that
you shared that with the Committee and I will just say from
our--I have only been here on the job for 90 days plus and in
that short time Mr. Muro's office has been incredibly
responsive so we join you in commending him. And again, thank
you for your work. Yield back.
Mr. Runyan. Thank you, gentlemen, and both of you on behalf
of the Subcommittee I would like to thank you for your
testimony and you are now excused and I would like to welcome
the third panel to the witness table.
Our third panel will consist of Ms. Zumatto here today
representing AMVETS and Ms. Neiberger-Miller of the Tragedy
Assistance Program for Survivors. We appreciate your attendance
today.
Your complete written statement will be entered into the
hearing record and Ms. Zumatto, you are now recognized for five
minutes for your testimony.
STATEMENT OF DIANE ZUMATTO, NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR FOR
AMVETS; MS. AMI NEIBERGER-MILLER, DIRECTOR OF OUTREACH AND
EDUCATION TRAGEDY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM FOR SURVIVORS
STATEMENT OF DIANE ZUMATTO
Ms. Zumatto. Thank you Chairman Runyan. I am happy to be
here today to represent AMVETS and our views on the state of
our national cemeteries.
In light of the ongoing fiscal challenges facing our Nation
and the growing demand for VA services, AMVETS calls on
Congress and the administration to make it their priority to
insure that the NCA continually receives sufficient, timely,
and predictable funding.
It is unfortunate that the administration's funding
recommendations for VA in FY2014 have been delayed by almost
two months and AMVETS is greatly concerned about how NCA
program funding may be impacted going forward.
Additionally, the ongoing breakdown in the appropriations
process is a major concern to AMVETS and it will mostly
certainly have a negative effect on all VA operations.
In the midst of all the budget and spending woes, AMVETS
hopes that neither Congress nor the administration forgets the
sacred obligation they have to those who serve and protect this
country. Our Nation must remain steadfast and committed to
insuring that our military, veterans, their eligible family
members and survivors receive their earned benefits in a timely
and efficient manner.
This lifelong commitment begins when an individual raises
their hand during their enlistment ceremony and while AMVETS
understands the need to optimize taxpayer dollars, it urges
Congress not to let the struggle to do more with fewer
resources interfere with providing our departed servicemembers
with the highest quality of care as their service to this
Nation comes to a close.
A hundred and fifty years ago, President Lincoln promised a
war weary America that those who had born the battle would be
honored and never forgotten. It is because of that promise that
we have our current system of national cemeteries which serve
as daily reminders to the true cost of freedom.
The most important obligation of the NCA is to honor the
memory of America's brave men and women who so selflessly
served in the United States Armed Forces. Therefore there is no
more sacrosanct responsibility than the dignified and
respectful recovery, return and burial of our men and women in
uniform.
This responsibility makes it incumbent upon VA to maintain
our NCA cemeteries as national shrines dedicated to the memory
of these heroic men and women. As our veterans population
continues to age and the longest war in the history of our
Nation winds to a close, VA needs to ensure that the
development, especially in rural areas and maintenance of our
national and state veterans' cemeteries meets the growing needs
of our veterans and their eligible family members.
AMVETS would like to acknowledge the dedication and
commitment demonstrated by the NCA leadership and staff in
their continued devotion to providing the highest quality of
service to veterans and their families.
We applaud the NCA for recognizing that it must continue to
be responsive to the preferences and expectations of the
veterans community by adapting or adopting new interment
options and insuring access to burials in national, state and
tribal government-operated cemeteries.
AMVETS also believes it is important to recognize the NCA's
efforts in employing both disabled and homeless veterans, which
is another area that NCA leads the way among Federal agencies.
While AMVETS would be the first to acknowledge all the
great work done by NCA, this does not mean that there are no
areas needing improvement.
From October 2011 through March 2012, NCA conducted an
internal gravesite review of headstone and marker placements at
national cemeteries and during that review a total of 251
discrepancies at 93 national cemeteries were uncovered.
While the incidents were corrected in a respectful,
professional, and expeditious manner, the initial phase of
NCA's internal review failed to identify and therefore to
report all misplaced headstones and unmarked gravesites.
Additional discrepancies came to light thanks to the
diligent oversight of Chairman Miller and the HVAC which had
tasked the IG with conducting an audit of the internal NCA
review. The IG highlighted several concerns and made corrective
recommendations.
Based on those recommendations the Under Secretary from
Memorial Affairs developed an appropriate action plan and
AMVETS recommends continued oversight to insure the carrying
out of all corrective actions.
[The prepared statement of Diane M. Zumatto appears in the
Appendix]
Mr. Runyan. Thank you, Ms. Zumatto. Ms. Neiberger-Miller,
you are now recognized for your testimony.
STATEMENT OF AMI NEIBERGER-MILLER
Ms. Neiberger-Miller. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am pleased
to submit this testimony on behalf of TAPS, the Tragedy
Assistance Program for Survivors.
I am the Director of outreach and education and the
surviving sister of Army Specialist Christopher Neiberger who
was killed in action in Iraq.
TAPS is a non-profit organization that provides comfort and
care to anyone grieving the death of someone who died while
serving in the military, regardless of where they died or how
they died. And we assist the families of veterans who recently
left the military and died.
Sadly, in 2012 our organization welcomed 4,807 new
survivors seeking support in coping with the death of a loved
one. A nearly 50 percent increase over the previous year.
We believe that how a Nation cares for those who have
served in its armed forces and died reflects its commitment to
honoring their sacrifices.
Those who oversee the final resting places of our veterans
are the custodians of a sacred trust, a really valuable trust
that we, families, place in them.
Most surviving families that we interact with are very
pleased with the care that they and their loved ones receive
from our national cemetery system and at Arlington National
Cemetery.
The VA should be commended for undertaking a review of its
cemeteries after identifying initial problems. Unfortunately,
this review lacked thoroughness, time, and resources, but these
problems were addressed and more errors were found and
corrected.
When one considers that the VA oversees 3.2 million
gravesites and 131 cemeteries, the error rate is quite low. But
even one error is one error too many for our families. And we
are grateful that VA took the counsel of OIG and strengthened
its procedures.
I wanted to bring to the attention of the Committee the
Corey Shea Act. This act permits a surviving parent to be
interred with a veteran in a national cemetery if no eligible
spouse or child exists and the veteran died in action or from a
training related injury.
A surviving father recently contacted TAPS because he wants
to be buried at Santa Fe National Cemetery with his son, Army
Specialist Vincent Contreras, who died in 2011 while deployed
in Germany at age 20. Sadly, Mr. Contreras is not eligible
under the Corey Shea Act for interment because his son died on
a roadway in an accident and not on the drill field.
Like Mr. Contreras, other survivors are ineligible under
the Corey Shea Act for this benefit. We hope the Subcommittee
will consider expanding eligibility so it is not linked to
cause or location of death.
One might think that the VA's waiver request process could
offer Mr. Contreras and others in his situation relief, but
unfortunately decisions about waiver requests do not typically
happen until after the person seeking interment has died.
As of today, Mr. Contreras would have to die without
knowing if his request to be buried with his dear son, whom he
raised as a single parent, could be granted.
Due to the secretary's recent decision to grant a waiver
for the interment of a same sex spouse of a veteran in a
national cemetery, it is reasonable to believe that more
families may request waivers in the near future.
Coping with death is difficult enough for families. Dying
and not knowing if a request to be buried with a loved one can
be honored adds to the pain that survivors carry. We hope that
the VA and Arlington will consider changing the waiver
decision-making process.
There are other areas where care for survivors could also
be improved. We recommend that cemetery staff receive
sensitivity training on working with bereaved families. That
they pursue professional certifications in bereavement care and
that they connect with TAPS when emotional issues arise.
We also recommend that a survivor be appointed to Arlington
National Cemetery's advisory committee so this important
stakeholder group feels included.
We appreciate the Subcommittee's interest in our cemeteries
at a time when many, if not most Americans feel disconnected
from the war effort and military service.
Our national cemeteries and Arlington National Cemetery are
very public reminders of the price paid for freedom and assure
us that America has not forgotten the great price paid by our
loved ones for the country that they loved so very much. Thank
you.
[The prepared statement of Ami Neiberger-Miller appears in
the Appendix]
Mr. Runyan. Thank you. My first question is for Ms.
Zumatto. Can you elaborate on the calculations as to why the
service-connected and non service-connected burial plot
allowance should be substantially increased?
Ms. Zumatto. Let me just check my figures here. The problem
seems to be mainly because the allowance has--the value of the
benefit has been diminishing over time. Costs have increased,
there have been changes as far as the amount that is being
offered for the plot allowance, and it is really not sufficient
to cover the actual costs of the service.
It seems to me that last year I had spoken to Under
Secretary Muro about this and, unfortunately, I can't remember
the exact number that he had told me the actual cost was. But
the benefit, the way it is now, doesn't come close to really
covering it.
And, you know, originally it covered close to 60 percent--
57 percent, I think and now that amount is much lower. So, we
just think that it needs to be increased so that it is actually
much more of a benefit the way the law really intended it when
it was first implemented.
Mr. Runyan. When you do get that number could you submit it
to us so we can put it into the record, please?
Ms. Zumatto. Sure thing.
Mr. Runyan. And, Ms. Zumatto, do you believe that overall,
veterans and their loved ones have benefitted from the NCA
audit? And, in your opinion, how can NCA continue to improve
its operations moving forward? Have they benefitted from the
audit and what can they do to continue to improve?
Ms. Zumatto. I think, certainly, any time we can uncover
errors, that is a benefit to, you know, not only those that are
already interred, but obviously to those who will be seeking a
place, you know, down the road.
I think that the GIS system should be a huge benefit to
minimize these types of errors happening in the future. I think
the plan that has been agreed upon between the NCA and the IG's
office, you know, as long as all of those items are
implemented, I think that, you know, we shouldn't have many
more problems in the future and that really is the benefit.
This is something that we count on and if the family
members, if the veterans themselves don't feel that they have a
level of comfort or trust for what is going to happen to
themselves and/or their loved ones, then really that diminishes
the benefit.
So, I think as long as they implement the agreed upon fixes
for the problems that were uncovered that, you know, going
forward everything should be much smoother.
Mr. Runyan. Thank you. The other question I have is for Ms.
Neiberger-Miller. From a TAPS perspective, put a face on what
it is like for a grieving family to discover a mistake, when
someone is not properly buried at NCA or Arlington Cemetery.
Please give the feel for the record.
Ms. Neiberger-Miller. When we work with a family that has
encountered an error, whether that is an error on a headstone
or the unfortunate discovery that their loved one may not be
where they originally thought, it is viewed by the family as a
betrayal of trust, because they entrusted their loved one to
the care of the cemetery at the time of the death.
And it often becomes a hindrance and a block in terms of
being able to address their other grief issues in their lives.
Just because they then are upset and angry, they often, you
know, if people do not respond well to them when the initial
concern comes up, if they feel they have not been treated
honestly or openly or not been listened to, that magnifies the
problem. And then they are pursuing other solutions and it
takes a very long time sometimes, often months and years, for
those families to really, I think, step forward again.
The things that we can do that really help families, I
think, are be very up front and honest with them and talk with
them if something comes up that is a problem, if there is an
error so that the family is able to get it addressed.
And one of the things that I observed as well when we
supported a couple of families through disinterments at
Arlington in the middle of the scandal was that when their
loved ones' remains were located and re-interred and they
received honors again, that was a very healing moment for these
families who had suffered and being able to provide that really
made a difference.
Mr. Runyan. Thank you for putting that real face on the
pain that a lot of these families suffer. So, with that, I will
yield to the Ranking Member, Ms. Titus.
Ms. Titus. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First, I also want to
thank you for the assistance you provide and the advocacy that
you offer for veterans and their families at this very
difficult time and I would like to ask for your help to work
with me with Mr. Muro to be sure that we do extend the presence
of the national cemeteries into those western states, because
your voice will be very powerful in trying to move that
forward.
I just want to ask you, how does a family find you? How do
they know where to go to get help? And is that process working?
And then when they find you, are the Web sites or the
information adequate for you to be able to assist them
effectively or is there some way we could improve that?
Ms. Neiberger-Miller. For active duty losses, TAPS has
memorandums of agreement in place with the armed services and
so families are actually asked as part of a casualty
notification process if they would like their information
forwarded to TAPS and it is explained to them that we are a
private non-profit, that we are not part of the government, and
that we provide peer based emotional support for others who are
grieving the death of someone who served in the military.
And so many, many families come to us through the MOA
program. Additionally, families sometimes hear about us through
the media as well and we often receive calls that way. And we
also rely on that quite a bit, especially for families of
recent veterans because there is no formal MOA process that
helps get those families to us and in particular when we do
stories with the media that talk about our care for suicide
survivors, and we have about 3,000 suicide survivors just
within TAPS.
We intake, on average, about 13 people per day grieving a
loss. At least two to four of those will be grieving a suicide
related loss. And when they hear that we offer care, especially
in that area, that often does trigger additional calls.
I mean, we even will put our call center on alert if we
believe a major news story is going to break, with the
knowledge that that may mean a large influx of new families.
Ms. Titus. Maybe our Congressional offices can do things to
help put the word out about the services that you provide to
some of those folks who don't hear about you directly.
Ms. Neiberger-Miller. We would very much appreciate that
because there are often many people out there who don't know
about us and even for the families that come through the MOA
process, the military has on record the primary next of kin for
the servicemember who died, but there is at least ten people
impacted by every loss. And the military does not keep a family
tree on every servicemember, so there is often many other
people affected who are needing care and support.
Ms. Titus. Thank you.
Mr. Runyan. Mr. O'Rourke.
Mr. O'Rourke. Thank you for your testimony. And I thought
the recommendations that you made to our Committee are very
reasonable, very thoughtful recommendations and I noticed that
Under Secretary Muro is here listening.
But I echo the other Members of this Committee, if there is
anything our office can do to be of assistance, either through
legislation or working with the administration, you know, we
are here to help and we would be happy to work with you.
And I would also join Ranking Member Titus in offering our
office and especially our district office in reaching out to
the veterans in our community. There are over 80,000 veterans
served by the VA in El Paso. So, we want to make sure that they
understand what it is that you do and are able to avail
themselves of your services and if we can be helpful with that,
let us know. But thanks, thanks for your testimony.
Ms. Neiberger-Miller. Thank you.
Mr. Runyan. Thanks, gentlemen. On behalf of the
Subcommittee, I would like to thank you both for your
testimony. I would like to thank everyone for being here today.
The status reports for our various cemetery representatives
as well as the audit information and the VSO input was well
presented and this Subcommittee appreciates the work that went
into your preparations for today's hearing.
I look forward to future updates on the initiatives that we
have heard about today and look forward to working with all of
you throughout this Congress to insure the final resting places
of our veterans and their families left behind receive the
highest standard of care.
I would like to, once again, thank all of our witnesses for
being here today. And I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks
and include extraneous material. Hearing no objection, so
ordered.
I thank the Members for their attendance today and this
hearing is now adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 4:05 p.m. the hearing of the Subcommittee
was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
----------
Prepared Statement of Hon. Jon Runyan, Chairman
Good afternoon and welcome everyone. This oversight hearing of the
Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs will now
come to order.
We are here today to examine the current state of our military and
veterans' cemeteries. Our goal in this hearing is to learn more about
the recent endeavors and accomplishments of the National Cemetery
Administration and the other organizations that are here today. We are
also here to address matters of on-going concern that impact all of the
final resting places of our military servicemembers, veterans, and
their families, both at home and abroad.
Members of this Subcommittee, as well as all Members of the House
Veterans' Affairs Committee, greatly appreciate the incredible feats of
courage and selfless service that our warfighters have demonstrated
throughout history.
Time and time again, America's servicemembers have been called upon
to put the welfare of our Nation before their own self-interest. Our
solemn obligation to honor those who have served does not cease at the
end of their service commitment, retirement, or ultimately, upon death.
We have a sacred trust to ensure the dignity of the final resting
places of our military and to honor the memories of America's brave. As
our senior veterans from World War II and the Korean War decrease in
numbers, and casualties from Afghanistan return home, our obligation to
provide honor to every one of the deceased remains acutely felt.
This hearing will serve to conduct a broad-spectrum review of
recent cemetery and memorial activities at home and abroad.
We will be receiving an update on conditions and improvements at
Arlington National Cemetery. When I first became Chairman of this
Subcommittee, fixing the problems at Arlington was a top priority and I
have made it a prime focus of oversight and hearings during my tenure.
From my first trip to Arlington to meet with Ms. Condon to get an
overview and take care of a constituent headstone issue, I have seen it
go from a place where records were kept on library cards in a building
with no fire suppression to today where everything is digitized and
there is even a phone App that allows people to know exactly where
their loved ones are located.
This Subcommittee's oversight has been made much easier having Ms.
Kathryn Condon as a partner to work with in improving Arlington. She
has taken a mismanaged, insular, previously corrupt environment with no
leadership or structure, and along with her team has transformed ANC
into what the Army Inspector General described as an organization
``transitioning from crisis management to sustained excellence.''
Ms. Condon, I know you are retiring this summer and I want to relay
our thanks for your dedicated service to our Nation. The way you have
led your team to turn things around at Arlington has been nothing less
than extraordinary and it is very important that these best practices
continue. I want to relay how much my staff and I have appreciated
working with you to make Arlington the respectful, well-run final
resting place our Nation's servicemembers deserve.
We will also be exploring the findings of an internal audit
conducted by the National Cemetery Administration, or as we refer to
the organization, the ``NCA,'' as well as the findings of a separate
audit of the VA Office of Inspector General, which was done in order to
evaluate the corrective actions taken by NCA.
Specifically, in October 2011, NCA identified discrepancies at Fort
Sam Houston National Cemetery during a field test done to verify the
accuracy of newly formatted gravesite maps. Ultimately, it was
discovered that a headstone placement error occurred as a result of a
``raise and realign'' project that had been performed by a contractor.
Since this discovery, NCA has been working to ensure that all
gravesite errors are identified and corrected as soon as possible.
Additionally, at the request of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee,
the Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General,
conducted an audit to ensure that the corrective actions taken by NCA
had been fully effective.
Representatives of these groups will be speaking with us today and
will offer detail on this issue and the response that has been
undertaken.
While we all understand the duty that is owed to those who served
in uniform, we must also recognize that our responsibility extends to
the families of these veterans. It is the responsibility of NCA, and
the other groups here today, to provide a dignified and secure
environment for the families who visit their loved ones' resting
places. We must be cognizant that if mistakes are made, the sacred
trust is compromised and unnecessary trauma and heartache result to our
military, families, and friends.
I would like to welcome our witnesses today. These panelists play
significant roles in ensuring that we as a Nation fulfill our
responsibilities to honor those who have served us all. We hope that
through discussions and questioning such as will occur today, we can
work collectively to not only meet the challenges, but to exceed the
standard.
Under Secretary Muro is here on behalf of the National Cemetery
Administration which oversees 131 cemeteries nationwide.
Ms. Kathryn Condon is here representing the Army National
Cemeteries Program, which includes perhaps the most recognizable site
of our honored fallen in Arlington National Cemetery.
Deputy Secretary Wollman represents the American Battle Monuments
Commission whose mission is to serve our country's fallen heroes and
the missing in action where they have served overseas.
Next we have Linda Halliday who serves as the Assistant Inspector
General for Audits and Evaluations at the Department of Veterans
Affairs, Office of Inspector General and she is accompanied today by
Ms. Cherie Palmer who is the Director of the Office of Inspector
General, Chicago Office of Audits and Evaluations.
We will also be hearing from Diane M. Zumatto, serving as the
National Legislative Director with AMVETS, as well as Ami Neiberger-
Miller, who is the Director of Outreach and Education with Tragedy
Assistance Program for Survivors.
Finally, a Statement for the Record has been received from Ms. Kari
Cowan, the Surviving Spouse of ``Chief Warrant Officer Three'' Aaron
William Cowan, of the United States Army. Ms. Cowan was affected by a
memorial-marker misplacement at the National Memorial Cemetery of the
Pacific at Punchbowl, in Hawaii.
With those introductions complete, I am eager to hear of the
progress that has been made in regards to the National Cemeteries
corrective actions and I also look forward to hearing from our American
Battle Monuments Commission, Arlington National Cemetery, and our
Veterans Service Organizations. Thank you all for being with us today.
I now yield to our Ranking Member for her opening statement.
Prepared Statement of Hon. Dina Titus
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for holding a hearing on
this very important topic.
I also want to thank the witnesses for their attendance this
morning. I appreciate your flexibility regarding rescheduling this
hearing.
It is my belief that a proper burial for our Nation's Veterans is a
solemn obligation. The National Cemetery Administration has grown
dramatically since its creation in 1862 when 14 cemeteries were
established to serve as a permanent resting place for those killed
during the civil war.
On July 17 of that year, Congress enacted legislation that
authorized the President to purchase ``cemetery grounds'' to be used as
national cemeteries ``for soldiers who shall have died in the service
of the country.''
In 1873, all honorably discharged Veterans became eligible for
burial.
Since then, NCA has expanded its geographic diversity to better
serve Veterans across the country and recent legislation has even
further expanded NCA's reach to rural and urban areas.
However, while access has grown significantly, there is still a
very large population of veterans that do not have a nearby national
cemetery in which to be buried.
The state of Nevada does not have a national cemetery. This leaves
over 230,000 veterans without the option of being buried in one of our
Nation's prestigious national cemeteries within their home state.
In total, 11 states with a combined Veteran population of 1.8
million are without an active national cemetery.
There are 131 National Cemeteries in the United States. New York
has seven active national cemeteries. Three other states have six
active national cemeteries, and Puerto Rico has two.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts on ways to improve access
to national cemeteries for all veterans, especially those that live in
states that currently do not have one.
With that said, I am also well aware of some of the recent
challenges that the VA has faced in regards to the audits that the
National Cemetery Administration self-initiated. Though it is always
disturbing and unacceptable to hear of those instances in which
Veterans were incorrectly interred, or that the incorrect markers were
placed, I applaud the VA for taking the initiative to identify the need
for this review, identifying these issues, and promptly working to
correct them.
I also applaud the VA-OIG in working with VA to improve the audit
process. Most important, is that these instances are identified and
corrected immediately, allowing loved ones the peace of mind that they
deserve. I ask that VA continue to conduct these audits on a rolling
basis, while also identifying quality controls to ensure that these
mistakes do not happen again, and that the Committee be apprised of
your findings.
At the end of March, I sent a letter to Secretary Shinseki
commending him for allowing the first same sex burial at a national
cemetery. I was joined by 40 of my colleagues to urge the Secretary to
grant similar waivers in the future. It is only right that those who
bravely serve their country should be laid to rest next to the person
they love.
Today I also welcome our witnesses from Arlington National Cemetery
and the American Battle Monuments Commission. I commend the work that
you do in upholding the sacred trust and look forward to hearing more
of your insights on how current budget constraints affect your
missions.
Lastly, I would like to offer my thanks to Ms. Kari Lin Cowan for
sharing her troubling story regarding her experiences at National
Memorial Cemetery, and to Ms. Zumatto and Ms. Neiberger-Miller for
their work with our veterans and their survivors. I hope that your
testimony provides the Committee the perspective we need to ensure that
these facilities are serving our Nations Veterans and their families
with the kindness, respect and sensitivity that they deserve.
I yield back.
Prepared Statement of Steve L. Muro
Chairman Runyan, Ranking Member Titus, and distinguished members of
the Subcommittee, I am pleased to be here today to share with you
several recent accomplishments of the National Cemetery Administration
(NCA). I am accompanied by Glenn Powers, Deputy Under Secretary for
Field Programs.
Over the past year we completed our first national Headstone and
Marker Review of all 3.2 million gravesites, increased our ability to
meet the burial needs of our Nation's Veterans and Servicemembers,
enhanced our partnerships with other Federal, state, and tribal
providers of burial benefits, expanded communications with our funeral
director stakeholders, and implemented an innovative program to provide
employment opportunities for homeless Veterans.
NCA's primary mission is to honor our Veterans and Servicemembers,
as well as their eligible family members, with final resting places
that memorialize their service and sacrifice. We are responsible for
managing the largest cemetery system in the United States. Our
organization is comprised of 131 VA national cemeteries and 33
soldiers' lots, burial plots, and monuments. More than 3.7 million
people, including Veterans of every war and conflict--from the
Revolutionary War to the war in Iraq and Afghanistan--are memorialized
by burial in VA's national cemeteries. Since 1973, VA has furnished
nearly 12 million headstones and markers for the graves of Veterans and
other eligible persons around the world.
In Fiscal Year 2012, we conducted over 118,000 interments,
processed requests for over 355,000 headstones, markers, and
medallions, and provided nearly 719,000 Presidential Memorial
Certificates. NCA maintains over 8,600 acres of developed cemetery
grounds.
NCA continues to implement the largest expansion of its national
cemetery system since the Civil War. At present, approximately 90
percent of the Veteran population--about 20 million Veterans--has
access to a burial option in a national, state, or tribal Veterans
cemetery within 75 miles of their homes. Just in 2004, only 75 percent
of Veterans had such access. This dramatically increased access over
just 8 years is the result of a comprehensive strategic planning
process that analyzes the best use of resources to reach the greatest
number of Veterans, as well as the continued support of the
Administration and Congress. We are seeing the results of the policy
decision to lower the threshold for establishing a new national
cemetery from 170,000 to 80,000 Veterans within a 75 mile radius, which
has allowed us to close the gap between the populations served by
national cemeteries and those served by state and tribal Veterans
cemeteries.
We established six new national cemeteries since 2009 and are in
the land-acquisition and planning phases for five additional national
cemeteries based on our new policy. We have acquired property for three
of the five new national cemeteries near Omaha, Nebraska, Tallahassee,
Florida, and Central East Florida. We are moving forward with
initiatives to meet the unique needs of Veterans in highly rural and
urban areas. We continue to partner with states and tribes to fund
construction of Veterans cemeteries in areas where national cemeteries
do not meet the full demand. Since 2009, 15 new state and tribal
cemeteries have opened. Taken together, these efforts will allow us to
attain our strategic target of providing 95 percent of Veterans with a
burial option within 75 miles of their home by 2015.
As a complement to the national cemetery system, NCA administers
the Veterans Cemetery Grant Service (VCGS). There are currently 88
operational state and tribal cemeteries in 43 states, Guam and Saipan,
with six more currently under construction. Since 1978, VCGS has
awarded grants totaling more than $500 million to establish, expand or
improve Veterans cemeteries. In Fiscal Year 2012, these cemeteries
conducted over 31,000 burials for Veterans and family members.
New columbarium-only cemeteries will be constructed in five urban
locations where the existing national cemetery location has proven to
be a barrier to burial and visitation. This new Urban Initiative to
alleviate time and distance barriers is being implemented in New York,
Los Angeles, San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose, Chicago, and Indianapolis.
Most recently, the Rural Burial Initiative was launched that will
provide access for 132,000 Veterans who reside in sparsely populated
areas where access to a national, state, or tribal Veterans cemetery
does not exist. National Veterans Burial Grounds may be located within
or adjacent to existing public or private cemeteries and operated by
NCA. We are moving forward with implementing the Rural Burial
Initiative in eight States: Maine, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Montana,
Wyoming, Nevada, Idaho, and Utah. Six of these sites are in states that
currently have no VA national cemetery presence and this initiative
will now allow VA to expand its ability to provide a burial option to
Veterans, Servicemembers, and eligible family members in these states.
NCA continues to leverage its partnerships to increase service for
Veterans and their families. NCA provides Government-furnished
headstones and markers for all federally-administered cemeteries,
except the American Battle Monuments Commission. In Fiscal Year 2012,
NCA was honored to provide over 38,000 headstones and markers to other
federal and state Veteran cemeteries, including Department of Defense
(DoD) cemeteries and Department of Interior's National Park Service
(NPS) national cemeteries. NCA's National Training Center and annual
conference provide opportunities to share best practices and standards
among all agencies. NCA manages a congressionally mandated advisory
committee, on which representatives from ABMC, NPS, and Arlington
National Cemetery (ANC) are ex officio members. NCA and ANC have
formalized a working group to ensure the organizations share
information and collaborate on shared goals.
NCA works closely with funeral directors and private cemeteries,
two other significant stakeholder groups. Funeral directors are often
the spokespersons for the Veteran or next of kin and assist in the
delivery of NCA services through the coordination of committal services
and interments. Funeral directors may also help families in applying
for headstones, markers, and other memorial benefits. NCA partners with
private cemeteries by furnishing headstones and markers for Veterans'
gravesites in these private cemeteries. In January of this year, NCA
announced the availability of a new online funeral directors resource
kit that may be used by funeral directors nationwide when helping
Veterans and their families make burial arrangements in VA national
cemeteries.
Veterans Service Organizations are key stakeholders and partners in
the VA mission. These organizations act as a voice for Veterans and
their families, and as advocates for their needs and expectations. At
many national cemeteries, they are important partners in providing
support for military funeral honors, and we value the services they
provide to our Veterans.
NCA continues its extraordinary record of customer service. This
has been underscored by results achieved through external and internal
survey instruments. NCA received the highest score--94 out of 100
possible--in the 2010 American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI)
sponsored by the University of Michigan. This is the fourth time NCA
participated and the fourth time it received the top rating in the
Nation. NCA was recognized by ACSI for a decade of superlative
performance. NCA continues to achieve high levels of client
satisfaction as measured by our annual surveys of Veterans or their
next of kin who recently selected a national cemetery for the interment
of a loved one, and the funeral directors who provided assistance at
their time of need. NCA's 2012 client satisfaction survey results show
that 99 percent of respondents rate the appearance of national
cemeteries as excellent and 96 percent rate the quality of service as
excellent. Ninety-nine percent of respondents would recommend a
national cemetery to other Veteran families.
NCA's committed, Veteran-centric workforce is the main reason we
are able to provide a world-class level of customer service. We
continue to maintain our commitment to hiring Veterans. Currently,
Veterans comprise over 74 percent of our workforce. Since 2009, we have
hired over 400 returning Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans. In addition, 82
percent of our contracts in Fiscal Year 2012 were awarded to Veteran-
owned and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned small businesses.
NCA achieves such high-levels of customer satisfaction because we
constantly examine our operational processes to ensure efficient and
accurate benefit delivery. For example, NCA continues to improve
benefit delivery processes in order to reduce the number of inaccurate
or damaged headstones and markers delivered to the gravesite. In Fiscal
Year 2012, 95 percent of all headstones and markers were delivered
undamaged and correctly inscribed; inscription data for 99 percent of
headstones and markers ordered by national cemeteries were accurate and
complete, and nearly 719,000 requests for Presidential Memorial
Certificates were processed. These certificates bear the President's
signature and convey to the family of the Veteran the gratitude of the
Nation for the Veteran's service. To convey this gratitude, it is
essential that the certificate be accurately inscribed. The accuracy
rate for inscription of Presidential Memorial Certificates provided by
VA is consistently 99 percent or better.
In 2009, NCA assumed responsibility for processing First Notices of
Death to terminate compensation benefits to deceased Veterans. This now
allows for the timely notification to next-of-kin of potential survivor
benefits. Since taking on this responsibility, NCA has advised families
of the burial benefits available to them, assisted in averting
overpayments of some $142 million in benefit payments and, thereby,
helped survivors avoid possible collection actions.
We are looking to the future needs of our Veterans. This year, we
plan to survey Veterans about their preferences on emerging burial
practices, including `green' burial techniques that may be appropriate
and feasible for planning purposes. The completed study will provide
information and analysis for leadership consideration of potential new
burial options.
NCA's Homeless Veterans Apprenticeship Program, established in
2012, supports the Department's strategic priority of ending Veteran
homelessness by 2015. The Apprenticeship is a 1-year paid employment
training program for Veterans who are homeless or at risk for
homelessness. This program has created paid employment positions as
Cemetery Caretakers for 21 homeless Veterans who are enrolled in VA's
Homeless Veterans Supported Employment programs around the country.
Apprentices who successfully complete 12 months of competency-based
training will be offered permanent full time employment at a national
cemetery. Successful participants will receive a Certificate of
Competency which can also be used to support employment applications in
the private sector. The program will be completed at the end of this
fiscal year and we will be able to better evaluate its success rate as
the first class graduates in October 2013.
In addition to these recent accomplishments, NCA completed its
first system-wide comprehensive review of the entire inventory of
gravesites within the national cemetery system. It was self-initiated
with a goal to ensure each headstone and marker was in its proper
location. It was the first-time in the 150-year history of national
cemeteries that such a review was undertaken.
This ambitious and thorough review took many dedicated hours of our
employees' time and multiple steps to validate the data. NCA leaders
played a critical role in validating findings and conducted
statistically-valid sampling of each national cemetery to increase
assurance in the accuracy of the reported data. The review confirmed
that the vast majority of work completed during recent ``raise and
realign'' renovation projects was accomplished accurately and according
to contract. The information gained was invaluable in validating
current operations and ensuring we have a clear path forward to
ensuring a sustainment plan is in place to enhance our management
practices.
Out of 3.2 million gravesites, a total of 778 errors were found.
These errors included 632 gravesites which were identified as mismarked
and 131 gravesites that were discovered to be unmarked, and up to 15
sets of remains that NCA determined may require reburial. A mismarked
grave is one that is marked with a headstone or marker that was
intended for another grave. An unmarked grave is one with a recorded
interment which has no headstone or marker. Generally, an unmarked
grave occurs when a headstone is damaged or removed but not replaced;
or was intended to be set, but never set for a variety of reasons, for
example, not ordered or not delivered. While no error is acceptable,
the total number of errors--less than 800 out of 3.2 million in a
system that was begun during the Civil War--provides confidence of the
management practices in place. For those areas that we determined
weaknesses were present, solutions are being implemented.
As I committed to doing, we provided our oversight committees with
updates every 60 days on the status of the review. Throughout the
process, the next of kin were our priority. I appreciate the oversight
provided by the full Committee and this Subcommittee on this issue that
allowed the families to remain everyone's top concern.
We conducted comprehensive notifications of congressional oversight
committees and local congressional members. For each error found,
cemetery directors called the next-of-kin on record and followed up
with certified letters where we were unable to reach a family member.
Corrective actions were done in consultation with the families.
NCA's entire self-initiated review concluded on December 31, 2012.
The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) also completed an audit of
Phase I of the review. On February 7, 2013, OIG issued the ``Audit of
Internal Gravesite Review of Headstone and Marker Placements.'' NCA
concurred with the findings of the OIG audit of the headstone and
marker review, and has already adopted many of the recommendations. OIG
found that NCA's Burial Operations Support System and our records of
interment were sufficiently reliable for this audit. NCA's experience
during the headstone and marker review was similar; when mismarked or
unmarked graves were discovered, NCA was able to determine what
corrections needed to be made by examining our records of interment and
comparing them to our gravesite layout plans.
During its audit, the OIG provided a management advisory letter in
July 2012 and NCA began implementing recommendations immediately, which
included an independent review of each cemetery. NCA strengthened the
Phase II gravesite review procedures based on experience in
implementing the Phase I headstone and marker review. NCA directed
Memorial Service Network executive leaders to conduct independent
gravesite reviews at every national cemetery and soldiers' lot
administered by VA using statistically-valid sampling of gravesites or
complete `re-audits.' These independent reviews increased assurance in
the accuracy of both the Phase I and Phase II headstone and marker
reviews conducted by the cemetery directors.
As part of NCA's goal to ensure the accountability of remains, NCA
leadership has implemented a number of actions to ensure future
sustainment:
Additional Reviews. NCA leaders will conduct additional
full audit reviews at 17 facilities to achieve reasonable assurance
that all gravesites are accurately marked at those facilities.
Accountability Procedures. Among the updated April 2011
procedures are steps designed to alert interment crew members to the
potential for misaligned markers, either at the interment site or in an
adjacent row.
Contractual Requirements. To minimize errors associated
with ``raise and realign'' projects, contracts for renovation projects
require the headstones and markers to remain at the gravesite.
Quality Improvement Initiatives. In October 2012, NCA
integrated a gravesite validation step in a quality improvement
process, which requires reviewers to confirm that all markers match the
arrangement on the gravesite layout map.
Contracting Officer Representatives. To help ensure
compliance with contractual requirements, NCA is hiring certified
contracting officer representatives at each Memorial Service Network
office to oversee future gravesite renovation projects, additional
reviews, and to assist in integrating new technologies (GIS/GPS) that
NCA will leverage in the future.
To further enhance the accountability of remains, NCA leadership
will proceed with the following actions:
Mapping Certification. NCA will establish a certification
procedure and reporting process ensuring gravesite layout maps are
routinely updated, accurate, and provided to the cemeteries.
Leveraging Information Technology. To ensure that future
headstone and marker reviews are comprehensive, NCA must leverage
information technology to access VA's extensive historical records of
interment to automate checks of the match between a gravesite, its
marker, the record of interment for that gravesite, and the overall
gravesite layout plan for that cemetery. The Memorial Affairs Redesign
(MAR) will allow NCA to electronically map a gravesite to the record of
interment and the layout map for the cemetery. The MAR mapping solution
will include a Geo-Spatial Information System (GIS) interface that will
layer the interment data, burial maps, and cemetery engineering
drawings into a single view allowing a real time comprehensive review
and analysis of the interment workflow process.
I am committed to ensuring we move forward on all fronts facing our
organization. We will implement the actions outlined in the sustainment
plan that resulted from our headstone and marker review. We will
continue to expand access to burial options for our Veterans. We have
and will continue to make progress in opening up the 18 new NCA
facilities over the next several years and reach more Veterans who are
currently unserved with a burial option.
Our National Training Center in St. Louis, Missouri, will continue
to offer critical competency-based training for our employees. This
allows us to ensure there will be a new generation of cemetery
practitioners that are ready to continue the operation and management
of our system of National Shrines.
Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you. I look forward
to answering any questions that you may have.
Prepared Statement of Kathryn A. Condon
Chairman Runyan, Ranking Member Titus and distinguished Members of
the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to provide an update on
Arlington National Cemetery and our efforts to sustain the sacred trust
of our Veterans and Families. We have continued to build upon our
tremendous progress since my last testimony before this subcommittee a
year ago. We have implemented processes to better serve our Veterans,
Families and the public. We are using technology to share the data
validated through our accountability efforts. We are institutionalizing
Army processes and procedures to ensure all changes will endure. We are
also setting the industry standards for best practices while working
closely with our partner Veterans organizations who I am honored to
testify with today.
All at Arlington are committed to constantly improve our
operations. The pace of requests and burials at Arlington remains at an
all-time high as we enter our busiest time of the year: the spring and
summer months. I am concerned that possible Sequestration furloughs
will severely impact our workforce as we enter this busiest season for
the Nation's hallowed grounds. Yet, Arlington's workforce remains
committed to provide our Veterans, Families and visitors the honored,
solemn experience they deserve.
OUR FOUNDATION HAS BEEN RESTORED
Across all facets of the operation, in less than three years
Arlington's transformation could not be more striking. We are
developing and using industry-leading and externally-validated
standards and auditable business practices. Our newly-trained and
dedicated workforce is finally using equipment appropriate for the
rolling hills and high water table of Virginia. With the help of the
Center of Military History, we have catalogued and are helping restore
and preserve 44 boxes and 846 folders of maps, pictures and papers
documenting almost 150 years of Arlington's history. We are
implementing energy, environmental and sustainability initiatives
across this inherently Green space: hybrid vehicles, sidewalks of
recycled materials, earth- and wildlife-friendly landscaping, digital
read-aheads and briefs, and environmentally-sensitive supplies. Most
importantly, we remain committed to maintaining the chain-of-custody
process for all remains, ensuring that a non-negotiable standard of
accountability is beyond reproach for everyone resting in solemn repose
at Arlington.
These improvements at Arlington have been acknowledged in major
inspections conducted over the past year, including those required by
and reported to Congress. For instance, the September 2012 Department
of the Army Inspector General's (DAIG) report, submitted in compliance
with Public Law 111-339, noted the changes ``have transformed
(Arlington National Cemetery) and the (Soldiers' and Airmen's Home
National Cemetery) into premier institutions of excellence capable of
setting the standards for federal cemeteries across the Nation.'' The
DAIG concluded Arlington had made ``wholesale improvements across
Cemetery operations--in gravesite accountability, contracting,
information and technology, transparency, management, oversight, and
interaction with Family members and loved ones.''
Arlington continues to implement recommendations from the
inspection by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). For instance,
the U.S. Army Manpower Analysis Agency and Force Management Support
Agency completed their organizational assessment, which will allow
Arlington in April to codify a refined organizational structure more
appropriate for our current and future missions. We have started our
Organizational Inspection Program, which serves as the basis for
Arlington to complete self-assessments and others to complete oversight
inspections of Arlington. We continue to work closely with our partner
organizations, and have formalized the support relationships with
Memorandums of Agreement. I have also continued using our strategic
Campaign Plan to lead, manage and resource change across the
organization, using the continuously staff-updated metrics and
milestones. As noted in the GAO report, the Campaign Plan is my key
planning, synchronizing and resourcing document, helping to ensure
Arlington maintains standards expected of this national shrine and
allocate resources for mission achievement, now and for the future.
As noted also by GAO, Arlington continues to improve its
acquisition processes and procedures to remain compliant with
Departments of Army and Defense regulations and guidelines. With
assistance from the Army Contracting Command and other Army Acquisition
organizations, we are achieving greater fidelity in our contracting
management and reporting efforts. Of note, we are using the Electronic
Defense Automated Requirements Tracking System (eDARTS) to process all
requirements packages. The eDARTS process has increased our efficiency
and creates auditable records, helping Arlington ensure it remains a
responsible steward of all funds provided.
The Advisory Committee on Arlington National Cemetery, under the
leadership of the Honorable Max Cleland, continues to provide valuable
insights and strategic guidance for Arlington's future. Now as a non-
discretionary committee, the Committee endorsed Arlington's efforts to
pursue designation as an arboretum by the Cemetery's 150th anniversary
in 2014, helping preserve the cemetery's cultural and natural history.
The Committee is also helping guide our planning for the commemoration
of the John F. Kennedy assassination and Arlington burial, monumental
events for our Nation and Arlington that occurred fifty years ago this
November.
The Advisory Committee was also pivotal in our recent renovation of
our Welcome Center. In coordination with the US Army Center of Military
History, on Inauguration Weekend we dedicated this improved facility
that brings to life the honor, history, traditions and events
associated with our Nation's premier military cemetery. By combining
Army expertise and ingenuity with Arlington's history and beauty, we
completed the first major upgrade to the historical displays in over 20
years.
Cemetery Expansion and Critical Infrastructure Repair
The Army is committed to maintaining Arlington as an active
cemetery for as long as possible for our Nation's military heroes. We
have three ongoing expansion projects: Columbarium Court 9, the
Millennium Project and Navy Annex. Once complete, these projects are
expected to extend Arlington's first interment burials through the
2050s. In less than two years, we broke ground on the ninth Columbarium
Court and will hold its dedication ceremony on May ninth. Its 20,296
niches will extend Arlington's above-ground burial space to 2024.
Working closely with the Norfolk District of the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, the National Park Service, the Commission of Fine Arts, the
National Capital Planning Commission, our Advisory Committee, and other
agencies on the design for Millennium Project, we have reached the 65%
design point. We are taking great care to create an environmentally-
responsible design, incorporating the area's natural beauty and
historic nature. With funding requested in the President's FY13 budget,
we will complete the Millennium Project design and be able to begin
construction this Fiscal Year. Finally, demolition began on the Navy
Annex building in November 2012 and is scheduled to be completed by
August 2013. We continue to work closely with Arlington County, as well
as our other partners from the Millennium Project, awaiting funding to
complete the Navy Annex's design.
As directed by Congress and the Secretary of the Army, we are also
nearing completion of our new Master Plan, last updated in 1998, and we
will provide that plan upon its completion. We are coordinating with
forty federal, District of Columbia, Virginia, Arlington County, and
non-governmental organizations to complete the Master Plan, which will
provide us a valuable roadmap to more deliberately manage and request
resources for these hallowed grounds. Finally, we will soon complete
our first-ever Integrated Cultural Resources Management Plan (ICRMP).
In addition to helping Arlington more systematically maintain the
historic and cultural items already in our care, our efforts to
complete the ICRMP will start our application to finally be registered
on the National Register of Historic Places.
Arlington continues to work diligently to complete the most
critical repairs to our aging infrastructure. While compiling the
breadth of our maintenance needs, we used the more than $32.6 million
recovered from un-liquidated obligations to fund the repairs most
critical to our health, safety and public outreach missions. For
instance, we repaired the leaking roof in the Welcome Center for the
first time since the 1970s and installed its new Heating, Ventilation,
and Air Conditioning (HVAC) unit, after both had catastrophic failures.
We replaced over 230,000 square feet of the flagstone walkway at the
Memorial Amphitheater, improving the beauty and safety of this national
treasure. We have replaced a small percentage of our antiquated 2-inch,
6-inch and 16-inch water lines located throughout the cemetery, whose
almost weekly failures create unsightly geysers and unsafe conditions
for Families and visitors. We are completing repair of the John F.
Kennedy Eternal Flame, ensuring this iconic memorial remains
functional, safe and more energy-efficient for future generations. We
replaced fire alarm systems across all offices and workspaces at
Arlington. We are also finishing renovations to our two lodges,
allowing Arlington's Superintendent to live on-site and increasing our
available workspace for the additional staff validated by the manpower
study.
Information Technology as an Enabler
On March 12, 2012, Arlington National Cemetery became the first
national cemetery to geospatially (digitally) manage cemetery
operations. Geospatial information system (GIS) technology, coupled
with the authoritative data we validated during our accountability
efforts, now form a single, state-of-the-art, authoritative digital ANC
map. This GIS-based system helps synchronize all phases of our
operations, from scheduling to headstone placement to authoritative
documentation. Through these efforts, Arlington has also been able to
transfer its paper records to the National Archives and Records
Administration, ahead of the President's Managing Government Records
Directive.
Leveraging this technology, on October 22, 2012 we also launched
ANC Explorer. The first version of this free, web-based application
allows Families and the public to locate gravesites, events or other
points of interest throughout the Cemetery; generate front-and-back
photos of a headstone or monument; and receive directions to these
locations. We have installed kiosks with ANC Explorer in our Welcome
Center, and we are also working with industry to field several outdoor
kiosks throughout the cemetery. Recognized by the Federal Mobile
Computing Summit as its 2013 ``App of the Year,'' we are already
working to add and refine the application. Since launching ANC
Explorer, over 23,150 users have downloaded the application. We have
also received 452 feedback comments, which are helping inform
subsequent versions of the application.
Information Technology (IT) will buttress and help integrate all
aspects of Arlington's mission in the future. Long-gone are the
typewriters, 3x5 cards and paper maps: Even our most die-hard paper
enthusiasts, having worked at Arlington for three decades, now pride
themselves on the accuracy and efficiency of our geospatial (digital)
capabilities. To ensure our IT investments enhance and support our
priority efforts, in May we published our enterprise architecture (EA)
plan, also completing this GAO recommendation. As with our other
strategic documents, Arlington remains committed to keeping the EA
updated to ensure our IT program remains focused and synchronized with
our desired future state business processes.
Accountability
Establishing gravesite accountability has been at the core of
Arlington's efforts to sustain the sacred trust with our veterans and
families. Over the past year we have remained focused on completing the
authoritative data set of all gravesites at Arlington, validated using
a transparent and auditable process. The effort has three critical
parts: 1) Ensuring we have dispositive records that support each
individual interred or inurned at that location, 2) validating that the
grave marker is consistent with available records, and 3) verifying the
marker location is accurately recorded in our GIS system.
This undertaking required a review of all existing gravesites. Due
to the complexity and fidelity of historical data, by the end of April
we expect to complete the final phase of this accountability process.
As with earlier phases of this baseline accountability effort, the
authoritative information is added to our GIS system. This system,
coupled with our existing quality assurance procedures and
Organizational Inspection Program, will help ensure end-to-end fidelity
in our operations going forward.
WORK REMAINS
I could not be more proud of the men and women of Arlington who
have worked diligently to restore the honor and dignity across every
aspect of this national shrine. And while we have made great strides,
work remains to improve our service to our Veterans and Families. For
instance, while Families are willing to wait for burials at Arlington,
including for an Old Post Chapel service or a specific date, the
sustained demand for burial services at Arlington has resulted in wait
times that can be up to six months. We need to improve on keeping pace
with the average of 220 weekly scheduling requests, which can result in
hundreds of families with cremated remains waiting to be scheduled.
This is our top priority and we are making progress in reducing this
backlog and wait time. We are also working with the Department of the
Army for hiring freeze exception requests to backfill critical
positions left open through attrition. Rest assured, reducing wait
times is now our highest priority issue to fix.
We are also focusing on our long delay in ordering and placing
headstones, helping Families bring closure to their loved one's
passing. Until recently, our cumbersome process to input manually the
headstone request from within our Army scheduling system to the
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) ordering system created a multi-
month lag. Through extended partnering efforts with the VA's Virtual
Lifetime Electronic Record Program Management Office, last month
Arlington finally began integrating our headstone ordering within our
GIS system. Without losing our connectivity with the VA, once fully
implemented this month, our cemetery personnel will be able to enter
burial data one time into a single application, which is then used for
scheduling and conducting the service, ordering the marker, placing the
marker, and capturing the headstone photo. This will reduce
dramatically a family's wait to see their loved one's marker in place.
Using this new system for ordering markers also eliminates errors
caused by manually entering data into a second application. By April,
this capability will allow us to eliminate the headstone backlog.
From a facilities perspective, we must also complete significant
infrastructure projects to improve the functionality and workplace
environment. For instance, we have recently replaced three HVAC units,
yet two additional HVACs in our maintenance area need replacement. Many
roads are in disrepair and crumbling, creating safety hazards and
detracting from the national shrine's expected appearance. Over 40,000
linear feet of waterlines are more than 50 years old. We have replaced
only the most deteriorated 2,500 linear feet to date. Moving forward,
we are using our Master Plan and 10-year Capitalization Plan to plan
and prioritize major repairs and routine maintenance.
THE IMPACTS OF THE CONTINUING RESOLUTION AND SEQUESTRATION
As with most Federal organizations, Arlington is facing significant
fiscal uncertainties. Our fiscal year 2013 President's Budget included
several critical requests that are not funded under the current
Continuing Resolution (CR). These requests include the previously
authorized $25 million for critical infrastructure restoration and
modernization and $103 million for expansion projects: $84 million to
begin the Millennium Project construction and $19 million to begin the
Navy Annex planning and design. In the event of a full year CR for
FY13, our funding will be reduced to $45.8 million from the requested
$173.8 million.
Arlington is also scheduled for a 5% Sequestration decrement,
further reducing FY13 available funding to $43.5 million, or
approximately 25% of the original budget request. The potential of
mandated Sequestration furloughs to Arlington's civilian workforce
could also severely impact Arlington's ability to serve our Veterans
and Families in the professional and timely manner expected.
Furloughs could not come at a worse time for Arlington.
Historically, April to September is Arlington's peak period of funeral
and tourist activity. Arlington completes its seven-day a week mission
with only 142 assigned civilians, already reduced due to the hiring
freeze. In addition, Arlington's Monday through Saturday burial
operations must adjust based on weather events--including those working
outside and those providing direct logistical, technology and
operational support--making 20% reductions that much more devastating.
Based on historical burial demand, furloughs will require Arlington to
reduce the number of burial services it conducts by 35 each week. Forty
families each week will also not be scheduled for burials, further
delaying their wait time.
CONCLUSION
Through diligent efforts, adherence to established procedures and
by leveraging technology, Arlington will do all within its power to
sustain the sacred trust it has recently reclaimed. Despite the
challenges the Sequestration presents, the Arlington staff can assure
the Nation of this: burial services at Arlington will continue to be
conducted with honor and dignity for our Veterans and their Families.
Executive Summary
Hearing Subject: To testify on the state of Army National Military
Cemeteries (ANMC) as part of broader testimony on upkeep and areas for
improvement by leadership from various Veterans' cemeteries.
The pace of requests and burials at Arlington National Cemetery
(ANC) remain at an all-time high. Despite this continued aggressive
pace, Arlington remains committed to providing Veterans, Families and
visitors the honored, solemn experience they deserve.
Broad Scale Transformation: Arlington has developed and
now is using industry-leading and externally-validated standards and
auditable business practices. As part of its efforts, ANC has
catalogued and is helping restore and preserve historically-significant
maps, pictures and papers documenting almost 150 years of its history.
Arlington is implementing energy, environmental, and sustainability
initiatives and continues to improve its acquisition processes and
procedures to remain compliant with Departments of Army and Defense
regulations and guidelines. Most importantly, Arlington remains
committed to maintaining the chain-of-custody process for all remains,
ensuring that a non-negotiable standard of accountability is beyond
reproach for everyone resting in solemn repose at Arlington.
ANC Expansion: ANC has three ongoing expansion projects:
Columbarium Court 9, the Millennium Project and Navy Annex. Once
complete, these projects are expected to extend Arlington's first
interment burials into the 2050s. The Columbarium Court 9 Project will
add more than 20,000 above-ground burial spaces when it is completed in
May of this year.
Information Technology: On March 12th, 2012 ANC became
the first national cemetery to geospatially (digitally) manage cemetery
operations. This GIS-based system helps synchronize all phases of ANC's
operations, from scheduling to headstone placement to authoritative
documentation. Through these efforts, Arlington has also transferred
its paper records to digital format. In October 22, 2012 ANC launched
ANC Explorer, the free web-based application which allows Families and
the public to locate gravesites, events or other points of interest
throughout the Cemetery; generate front-and-back photos of a headstone
or monument; and receive directions to these locations.
Accountability: Over the past year, ANC has remained
focused on completing the authoritative data set of all gravesites,
validated using a transparent and auditable process, which includes
three critical parts: 1) Ensuring there are dispositive records that
support each individual interred or inurned at that location, 2)
validating that the grave marker is consistent with available records,
and 3) verifying the marker location is accurately recorded in the GIS
system.
Sequestration / Continuing Resolution Impact: Furloughs
could not come at a worse time for ANC. Historically, April to
September is the peak period for funeral and tourist activity. Based on
historical burial demand, furloughs will require Arlington to reduce
the number of burial services it conducts by 35 each week. Forty
families each week will also not be scheduled for burials, further
delaying their wait time.
Prepared Statement of Raymond J. Wollman
Introduction
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee . . .
Thank you for this opportunity to discuss the mission, operations
and programs of the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
I begin with a statement that serves as the foundational vision for
all that we do:
Time will not dim the glory of their deeds
These words of our first chairman, General of the Armies John J.
Pershing, speak eloquently to the Commission's purpose since its
creation in 1923--to honor our Nation's fallen overseas, at sites
entrusted to our care by the American people.
ABMC's core mission is commemoration - honoring service and
sacrifice by maintaining magnificent shrines to our Nation's war dead
and preserving their stories so that the glory of their deeds is not
diminished by the passage of time.
We execute our mission by maintaining commemorative sites to an
unparalleled standard of excellence, and by providing historical
context for why our monuments and cemeteries were established, why
those memorialized within them died, and the values for which they
died.
Telling Their Story
Maintaining our monuments and cemeteries is our core mission and
top priority. But we also have a responsibility to tell the stories of
those we honor.
HONOLULU MEMORIAL
On November 11, 2012, during the Veterans Day Ceremony at the
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific - the Punchbowl - ABMC
dedicated Vietnam Battle Maps that now complete the story told at our
Honolulu Memorial. While the cemetery is maintained by the Department
of Veterans Affairs, the Honolulu Memorial is one of the 25 memorials
that ABMC maintains worldwide.
When the memorial was built in the 1960s, it included Battle Maps
and Courts of the Missing commemorating World War II in the Pacific and
the Korean War. In the 1980's, while our Secretary Max Cleland was
serving as the Administrator of the Veterans Administration, he asked
ABMC to add Vietnam War Courts of the Missing to the memorial. ABMC
honored this request, but battle maps commemorating the war were not
part of that project.
That oversight is now corrected, and those Americans who served
during the Vietnam War are appropriately honored at our most visited
memorial. We believe this is the only memorial tribute to our Vietnam
veterans paid for with Federal funds.
The message of the memorial is expressed in the haunting words of
the poet Archibald MacLeish, words now inscribed on the outside stone
face of the Vietnam Pavilion:
We Leave You Our Deaths
Give Them Their Meaning
The Vietnam Battle Maps are just part of the extensive restoration
and renovation work completed and planned at the Honolulu Memorial.
With 2010 and 2011 funding we added lifts to make all of the Courts of
the Missing accessible, and additional renovation and repair was funded
in 2012 and is planned for 2013.
VISITOR CENTER PROJECTS
In Europe, we have three visitor center projects under
construction: at Cambridge American Cemetery in England, at Sicily-Rome
American Cemetery in Italy, and at the Pointe du Hoc Ranger Monument in
France. All will be completed this year, enhancing the visitor
experience at these sites.
We recognize our responsibility to program our interpretive efforts
to fiscal and visitation realities. None of these three sites have the
visitation of Normandy American Cemetery, which receives one million
visitors annually. But Pointe du Hoc receives nearly 500,000 visitors a
year, benefiting from its proximity to Normandy; likewise, the
proximity of Cambridge and Sicily-Rome to major tourism cities provides
visitation growth potential that their new visitor centers can capture.
WEBSITE AND MOBILE APPS
Most of our cemeteries, however, receive far fewer visitors. To
better tell their stories to a broader audience we have been turning to
technology.
Our first mobile app--a tour of the Pointe du Hoc battlefield--was
released in December; a web version should be launched this month. Our
long-term objective is to produce apps and virtual tours for all of our
sites, so we can bring these national historic assets to life on our
website and in our classrooms.
Our website is undergoing a complete redesign, with more robust
educational resources planned. We expect to go live with the new
website by Memorial Day.
Concurrently, we are working to form partnerships with the
education community. Our objective is to develop curricula that matches
content based on military campaigns to core standards used in our
school systems - all in keeping with our foundational vision that
``Time Will Not Dim the Glory of Their Deeds.'' With the approaching
Centennial of World War I, our initial focus will be on World War I
curricula.
Pacific Memorials
Turning to the Pacific, there are several projects underway that
deserve mention.
UN CEMETERY MEMORIAL IN KOREA
The only United Nations cemetery in the world is located in Pusan,
Korea. Eleven countries have members of their armed forces interred at
the cemetery, including the United States. Most of those nations have
memorials in the cemetery honoring their armed forces--the U.S. does
not. We are fixing that.
Last fall, the design of the new monument was approved. We will
begin construction this spring and plan to dedicate the monument in
July on the 60th Anniversary of the signing of the Korean War
armistice. It will be a long overdue tribute to those Americans who
fought and died during ``the forgotten war,'' built on land they helped
defend.
THE PHILIPPINES
We have a long term plan to bring Manila American Cemetery and the
Pacific Memorials up to ABMC standards. Master plans for the cemetery
and four memorials are complete and under review. With fiscal year 2013
funding, we are addressing encroachment issues at the cemetery and
renovating the Cabanatuan Memorial.
To protect the cemetery and address security concerns, the
Commission is replacing the current chain link fence, which defines the
border, with a robust perimeter wall. Unless marked by a substantial
``permanent'' wall, local culture ascribes a ``temporary'' definition
to the boundary that will continue to subject our commemorative site to
degradation by such intrusions as local highway projects, development,
and squatters.
The memorial at the site of the Cabanatuan Prison Camp honors those
who died during internment in the Second World War. The Commission
accepted responsibility for its operation and maintenance in 1989. The
renovation includes replacing and upgrading cladding materials,
addressing deficiencies in the memorial text, and making site
improvements.
WEST COAST MEMORIAL
The West Coast Memorial on the grounds of the Presidio overlooking
the entrance to San Francisco Bay was erected in memory of those who
died in the American coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean during World
War II. A project to address Americans with Disabilities Act upgrades
and landscaping improvements is underway and should be completed by
Memorial Day.
Clark Cemetery
Public Law 112-260, the Dignified Burial and Other Veterans'
Benefits Improvement Act of 2012, authorizes ABMC to restore, operate
and maintain Clark Veterans Cemetery in the Philippines. As required by
law, the U.S. Government is negotiating an agreement with the
Philippine Government to allow ABMC to begin maintaining the cemetery.
If and when such an agreement is reached, we intend to use existing
funds to----
- begin minimum maintenance with crew from our Manila cemetery,
about an hour from Clark, and
- contract for a full assessment of the site to determine
restoration and annual maintenance requirements.
The Congress authorized $5 million for restoration and amounts
necessary to operate and maintain the cemetery. This may be
insufficient for a cemetery that is partially covered in volcanic ash
and may have other unknown infrastructure issues. However, we have no
prior involvement at this cemetery, so we are not able to estimate the
true costs until we complete a comprehensive site assessment.
We again applaud the dedicated efforts of U.S. veterans in the
Philippines who have been maintaining Clark cemetery for many years.
The mission has now been assigned to ABMC. We will work toward
executing that mission when an agreement allowing us to do so has been
reached with the Philippine Government.
Fiscal Year 2013 Funding
ABMC's total budget authority for FY 2013 is $73.37 million, a
$230,000 decrease from our FY 2013 budget request level. The $73
million takes into account funding provided under the Consolidated and
Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013 (P.L. 113-6) and the March
1, 2013 sequestration order.
Our mission is to ensure that our commemorative cemeteries and
memorials remain fitting shrines to those who have served our Nation.
In meeting the requirements of sequestration and the rescission, the
Commission is not planning to furlough staff - staff that maintains our
cemeteries to the highest standards that reflect this Nation's core
values - staff that keeps our grass green and our headstones white. The
reduction will come from areas with the least impact on cemetery
operations.
Conclusion
The essence of the Commission's mission success does not change
from year to year: keep the headstones white; keep the grass green; and
tell the story of those we honor.
With the support of the Administration and the Congress, we will
continue to ensure that the Commission's overseas shrines to American
service and sacrifice remain unparalleled in their beauty, reflecting
our Nation's willingness to sacrifice to protect our freedoms and the
freedoms of others, and our Nation's commitment to honoring those who
made that sacrifice on our behalf.
Mr. Chairman, Members of the Subcommittee, as always we invite you
to visit these inspirational sites during your overseas travels. You
will never forget the experience.
Thank you for allowing me to present this summary of our mission,
operations and programs.
Executive Summary
Telling Their Story
Honolulu Memorial at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific
November 11, 2012, Veterans Day, ABMC dedicated Vietnam
Battle Maps
Additional restoration and renovation work completed and
planned
Visitor Center Projects
3 visitor center projects under construction:
Cambridge American Cemetery in England
Sicily-Rome American Cemetery in Italy
Pointe du Hoc Ranger Monument in France
All will be completed this year, enhancing the visitor
experience at these sites
Website and Mobile Apps
1st mobile app--a tour of the Pointe du Hoc battlefield--
released; web version due later in March
Objective is to produce apps and virtual tours for all of
ABMC sites
Website is undergoing a complete redesign, expect to go
live by Memorial Day
Partnerships with the education community to develop
curricula
Pacific Memorials
UN Cemetery Memorial in Korea
- Design of the new monument was approved
- Begin construction this spring and dedication planned for July,
60th Anniversary of the armistice
The Philippines
- Master plans complete and under review
- Addressing encroachment issues at cemetery and renovating the
Cabanatuan Memorial in FY 2013
West Coast Memorial
- Americans with Disabilities Act upgrades and landscaping
improvements
Clark Cemetery
Negotiations underway to allow ABMC to begin maintaining
the cemetery
If and when such an agreement is reached, ABMC intends
to:
- begin minimum maintenance
- fund assessment to determine restoration/maintenance requirements
Fiscal Year 2013
ABMC's total FY 2013 budget authority is $73.37 million
Includes funding provided by Consolidated and Further
Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013 (P.L. 113-6) and the March 1, 2013
sequestration order
$230,000 decrease from the FY 2013 budget request level
No planned furloughs
Prepared Statement of Linda A. Halliday
INTRODUCTION
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the
opportunity to discuss the issues related to the National Cemetery
Administration's (NCA) internal gravesite reviews that were identified
in an Office of Inspector General (OIG) audit report, Audit of NCA's
Internal Gravesite Review of Headstone and Marker Placement, issued
February 7, 2013. I am accompanied by Ms. Cherie Palmer, Director, OIG
Chicago Audit Operations Division, who directed the preparation of the
report.
BACKGROUND
NCA's mission is to honor veterans and their families with final
resting places in National shrines and with lasting tributes that
commemorate their service to our Nation. NCA is responsible for
maintaining approximately 3.2 million gravesites at 131 National
cemeteries in 39 states and Puerto Rico and 33 soldiers' lots and
monuments. In fiscal year 2012, NCA conducted approximately 118,000
interments and processed about 355,000 applications for headstones and
markers for placement in cemeteries. NCA's cemeteries are organized
under five Memorial Service Networks (MSNs). The network provides
direction, operational oversight, and engineering assistance to the
cemeteries located in their geographic areas.
NCA conducts major renovation projects to raise and realign
headstones and markers to ensure they are maintained at proper height
and alignment. These projects are critical to NCA's ability to meet its
National Shrine standards and, more importantly, to honor veterans. NCA
uses its employees and contractors when conducting raise and realign
projects.
In October 2011, NCA directed MSN directors and cemetery directors
to conduct a review to verify headstone and marker placement in all
burial sections where raise and realign projects were completed. This
review included a requirement for cemetery directors to certify the
accuracy of their review results. NCA self-initiated the review in
August 2011 following the discovery of 47 markers that were offset by
one gravesite in a burial section at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery
in San Antonio, Texas. This resulted in placing the remains of four
decedents into the wrong gravesites.
NCA's independent gravesite review was conducted in two phases.
Phase One reviewed burial sections where raise and realign projects
were completed and Phase Two reviewed the remaining burial sections at
those cemeteries as well as cemeteries that did not undergo
renovations. Our work examined NCA's Phase One review results. We did
not review NCA's results for Phase Two.
OIG WORK
Our audit was conducted to determine whether NCA adequately
identified and addressed issues found during its Phase One review. In
this phase, NCA reviewed nearly 1.6 million of approximately 3.1
million gravesites at 93 National cemeteries and identified 251
gravesite errors at 13 of 93 National cemeteries. Initially NCA
reported 218 misplaced headstones, 25 unmarked gravesites, and 8
misplaced veteran remains. NCA notified congressional committees,
contacted next of kin where possible, and implemented corrective action
plans once MSN staff verified the errors.
We found Phase One review procedures did not identify and report
all misplaced headstones and unmarked gravesites. While NCA reviewed
all gravesites that were raised and realigned, we conducted a sample of
200 gravesites at 12 National cemeteries to ensure headstones were
accurately placed. After completing a review of the 12 National
cemeteries, we identified 7 additional misplaced headstones and
unmarked gravesites (see Table 1). We determined that NCA's procedures:
Lacked controls to ensure independence - Independent
reviews increase objectivity and provide impartial judgment associated
with conducting and reporting results. However, NCA limited the review
process to the cemetery or the acting cemetery director.
Did not provide adequate time and resources to conduct a
national review of this magnitude - NCA did not provide sufficient time
and resources needed to conduct the reviews. NCA planned the reviews
without considering the size, complexity, and age of the cemeteries.
Cemetery directors reviewed a range of 2,700 to nearly 124,000
gravesites for the 12 cemeteries we visited. NCA's October 2011 policy
memorandum instructed each cemetery director or acting cemetery
director to complete the review and certify the accuracy of the results
in 78 days, from October 14, 2011, through December 31, 2011, without
considering cemetery size. Cemetery staff at nearly every site we
visited told us that completing the review concurrently with continuing
standard cemetery operations proved challenging.
Did not provide updated gravesite layout maps to cemetery
directors - MSNs did not provide cemetery directors with updated and
accurate gravesite layout maps. These maps reflect interment usage of
gravesites and memorial sites. Cemetery directors' are responsible for
ensuring gravesite layout maps are maintained and updated daily and
updates are provided to the appropriate MSN staff at least semi-
annually. However, gravesite layout maps used to conduct the review at
4 of 12 cemeteries we visited were not accurate.
At one cemetery, the gravesite layout maps were illegible and were
not updated since 1970. At another cemetery we observed four rows of
headstones that were not included on the map used by the cemetery
director to conduct the review. In addition, a cemetery director told
us the updated maps received from the MSN do not always include all the
updates provided by the cemetery. This resulted in reliance on
inaccurate gravesite layout maps. We found discrepancies when using the
maps to conduct our reviews. For example, maps showed reserved
gravesites when the burial space was occupied; obstructed gravesites
when the burial space was occupied; duplicate gravesites; and maps did
not include all gravesites.
As stated earlier, this review included a requirement for cemetery
directors to certify the accuracy of their review results. When we
identified additional gravesite errors that were not reported in
cemetery directors' required certifications, we questioned the validity
of the directors' certifications. For example, two cemetery directors
certified that they found no errors, yet we identified three at one
location and two at the other. When we asked why the error was not
identified during the initial Phase One review, the directors could not
explain why it was not reported.
In July 2012, we issued a Management Advisory Memorandum to the
Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs because we were concerned that the
Phase One internal gravesite review procedures did not identify and
report all misplaced headstones and unmarked gravesites. We recommended
NCA revise current internal gravesite review procedures to ensure the
accuracy of gravesite reviews and reporting of results; secondly, that
NCA plan and complete another review of all Phase One and Two National
cemeteries using revised procedures; and finally, that NCA research the
reasons the Directors' certifications did not disclose the same
conditions we identified and take administrative action as deemed
appropriate.
In response to our Management Advisory Memorandum, NCA revised
their procedures and tested them at 9 of the 12 cemeteries that we
visited or planned to visit during our audit. They used independent
teams to conduct these follow-up reviews instead of relying solely on
the cemetery director. Using the revised procedures at 9 cemeteries,
NCA identified 146 additional gravesite errors at 4 cemeteries compared
to initially identifying a total of 251 errors during Phase One (see
Table 2). We have also been told by NCA officials that they have
completed their reviews of why Directors' certifications did not
identify all errors, and that one director has been reassigned to other
duties.
In response to our report recommendations, the Under Secretary for
Memorial Affairs agreed to and provided an appropriate action plan to:
Implement the three recommendations in the July 5, 2012,
Management Advisory Memorandum.
Take corrective actions regarding the additional errors
identified in the audit report, including the notification of
congressional committees and contacting families when possible.
Implement procedures to assess cemetery size and cemetery
director responsibility to ensure adequate time and resources are
available before conducting future gravesite reviews.
Implement controls, including a certification, to ensure
gravesite layout maps are routinely updated, accurate, and provided to
the cemeteries.
In addition, NCA reported implementing corrective actions such as
requiring contractors to ensure headstones and markers remain at
gravesites during raise and realign projects. Previously, headstones
may have been removed from the site during raise and realign projects.
CONCLUSION
NCA's internal gravesite review procedures were not adequate to
identify all errors, which affected the validity and accuracy of the
review. Consequently, NCA reported unreliable and understated results
to Congress in March 2012 following the completion of the Phase One
review. NCA did take action once we identified additional errors and
concerns about their procedures. However, NCA needs to take further
actions as recommended in our report to identify and prevent gravesite
errors to ensure VA properly fulfills its mission.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my statement. We would be pleased to
answer any questions that you or other Members of the Subcommittee may
have.
TABLE 1
Gravesite Errors Identified by NCA and OIG
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gravesites Reviewed by Errors Identified by Errors Identified by
MSN National Cemetery NCA NCA OIG
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Philadelphia. PA 11,041 13 1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Winchester, VA 5,097 - 3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 Bay Pines, FL 27,304 - -
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 Beaufort , SC 17,410 4 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 Marietta, GA 16,960 - -
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 Fort Logan, CO 62,741 - -
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 Santa Fe, NM 32,322 13 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4 Jefferson Barracks, MO 123,851 - -
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4 Wood, WI 25,531 - 2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4 Zachary Taylor, KY 10,655 - -
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 Riverside, CA 37,711 1 1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 Roseburg, OR 2,723 - -
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 373,346 31 7
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TABLE 2
Results of Subsequent Additional Errors Identified by NCA
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MSN National Cemetery MSN Gravesites Reviewed Errors Identified by MSN
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Winchester, VA 5,097 60
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 Riverside, CA 400 52
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4 Wood, WI 25,531 32
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Philadelphia, PA 11,041 2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL 42,069 146
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prepared Statement of Diane M. Zumatto
Chairman Runyan and Ranking Minority Member Titus and distinguished
members of the subcommittee, as an author of The Independent Budget
(IB) with responsibility for the NCA, I thank you for this opportunity
to share with you AMVETS' views on the state of our National
Cemeteries.
The most important obligation of the NCA is to honor the memory of
America's brave men and women who have so selflessly served in the
United States armed forces. Therefore there is no more sacrosanct
responsibility than the dignified and respectful recovery, return and
burial of our men and women in uniform. This responsibility makes it
incumbent upon NCA to maintain our NCA cemeteries as national shrines
dedicated to the memory of these heroic men and women.
Unfortunately, more often than not, our National Cemeteries, many
of which are richly steeped in history and containing historic
architecture, monuments, markers, landscapes and related memorial
tributes, are under-valued and unappreciated by the majority of
Americans. These venerable commemorative spaces are part of America's
historic material culture; they are museums of art and American
history; they are fields of honor and hallowed grounds and they deserve
our most respectful stewardship.
The Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA) National Cemetery
Administration (NCA) maintains 131 of the nation's 147 national
cemeteries, as well as 33 soldiers' lots. The 131 NCA operated
cemeteries are composed of approximately 3.1 million gravesites and are
located in 39 states and Puerto Rico. As of late 2011, there were more
than 20,191 acres within established installations in the NCA. Nearly
60 percent are yet to be developed and hold the potential to provide
approximately 5.6 million more gravesites, composed of 5 million casket
sites and nearly 601,000 in-ground cremation sites. Of these 131
national cemeteries, 72 are open to all interments, 18 can accommodate
cremated remains only, and 41 perform only interments of family members
in the same gravesite as a previously deceased family member.
VA estimates that approximately 22.2 million veterans are alive
today, and with the transition of an additional 215,000 service members
into veteran status over the next 12 months, this number is expected to
continue to increase until approximately 2016 at which point It will
begin declining for the next few years. These veterans have served in
World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, Operation
Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation New Dawn, and
hostile conflicts around the world as well as during times of peace. On
average, 15.2 percent of veterans choose to be laid to rest in a
national or state veterans' cemetery. As new national and state
Veterans cemeteries open, this percentage is expected to increase. In
addition, NCA plans to further increase access for rural Veterans by
establishing National Veterans Burial Grounds in existing public or
private cemeteries in eight sparsely populated rural locations across
the country.
Out of the 117,400 interments conducted in FY 2011, 65.5 percent
were in the 20 busiest national cemeteries: Riverside, CA.; Florida
National; Calverton, NY.; Fort Snelling, MN.; Jefferson Barracks, MO.;
Fort Logan, CO.; Fort Sam Houston, TX; Willamette, OR.; Dallas-Fort
Worth, TX; Fort Rosecrans, CA.; National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona;
Abraham Lincoln, IL.; Tahoma, WA.; Houston, TX; Great Lakes, MI.;
Sacramento Valley, CA.; Massachusetts; South Florida; Ohio Western
Reserve; and Indiantown Gap, PA.
As of Sept. 30, 2011, eight national cemeteries each contained more
than 100,000 occupied gravesites, collectively accounting for 39
percent of all NCA gravesites maintained: Long Island, N.Y.; Calverton,
N.Y.; Riverside, Calif.; Fort Snelling, Minn.; Jefferson Barracks, Mo.;
Willamette, Ore.; Golden Gate, Calif.; and Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
VA estimates that approximately 22.4 million veterans are alive
today and with the transition of an additional 1 million service
members into veteran status over the next 12 months, this number is
expected to continue to rise until approximately 2017. On average, 14.4
percent of veterans choose a national or state veterans' cemetery as
their final resting place. As new national and state cemeteries
continue to open and as our aging veterans' population continues to
grow, we continue to be a nation at war on multiple fronts. There is no
doubt that the demand for burial at veterans' cemeteries will continue
to increase.
AMVETS would like to acknowledge the dedication and commitment
demonstrated by the NCA leadership and staff in their continued
devotion to providing the highest quality of service to veterans and
their families. It is the opinion of AMVETS that the NCA continues to
meet its goals and the goals set forth by others because of its true
dedication and care for honoring the memories of the men and women who
have so selflessly served our nation. We applaud the NCA for
recognizing that it must continue to be responsive to the preferences
and expectations of the veterans' community by adapting or adopting new
interment options and ensuring access to burial options in the
national, state and tribal government-operated cemeteries.
One of the areas that NCA does a good job in is forcasting the
future needs of our veterans by:
securing land for additional cemeteries, including two
new national cemeteries in Florida and working in CO & NY;
getting the word out on burial benefits to stakeholders.
Including developing new online resources for Funeral Directors;
making it easier for family members to locate and
chronicle loved ones by partnering with Ancestry.com to Index historic
burial records. This partnership will bring burial records from
historic national cemetery ledgers (predominantly of Civil War
interments) into the digital age making them available to researchers
and those undertaking historical and genealogical research. From the
1860s until the mid-20th century, U.S. Army personnel tracked national
cemetery burials in hand-written burial ledgers or ``registers.'' Due
to concern for the fragile documents and a desire to expand public
access to the ledger contents, VA's National Cemetery Administration
(NCA) duplicated about 60 hand-written ledgers representing 36
cemeteries using a high-resolution scanning process. The effort
resulted in high quality digital files that reproduced approximately
9,344 pages and 113,097 individual records. NCA then transferred the
original ledgers to the National Archives and Records Administration
(NARA) where they will be preserved. In addition to the NCA's ledgers,
NARA was already the steward of at least 156 military cemetery ledgers
transferred from the Army years ago.
awarding grant money for State and Tribal Veterans
Cemeteries; and
expanding burial options in rural areas - The Rural
Initiative. This program provides full burial services to small rural
Veteran populations where there is no available burial option from
either a VA national, State or Tribal Veterans cemetery. This
initiative will build small National Veterans Burial Grounds in rural
areas where the unserved Veteran population is less than 25,000 within
a 75-mile radius. VA's current policy for establishing new national
cemeteries is to build where the unserved Veteran population is 80,000
or more within a 75-mile radius.
A National Veterans Burial Ground will be a small three to five
acre NCA-managed section within an existing public or private cemetery.
NCA will provide a full range of burial options and control the
operation and maintenance of these lots. These sections will be held to
the same National Shrine Standards as VA national cemeteries. Over the
next six years VA plans to open eight National Veterans Burial Grounds
in: Fargo, North Dakota; Rhinelander, Wisconsin; Cheyenne, Wyoming;
Laurel, Montana; Idaho Falls, Idaho; Cedar City, Utah; Calais, Maine;
and Elko, Nevada. This option will increase access to burial benefits
to rural veterans and will help NCA to reach its strategic goal of
providing a VA burial option to 94 percent of Veterans within a
reasonable distance (75 miles) of their residence.
AMVETS also believes it is important to recognize the NCA's efforts
in employing both disabled and homeless veterans, which is another area
that NCA leads the way among federal agencies. Programs include:
The Homeless Veteran Supported Employment Program (HVSEP)
provides vocational assistance, job development and placement, and
ongoing supports to improve employment outcomes among homeless Veterans
and Veterans at-risk of homelessness. Formerly homeless Veterans who
have been trained as Vocational Rehabilitation Specialists (VRSs)
provide these services;
VA's Compensated Work Therapy (CWT) Program is a national
vocational program comprised of three unique programs which assist
homeless Veterans in returning to competitive employment: Sheltered
Workshop, Transitional Work, and Supported Employment. Veterans in CWT
are paid at least the federal or state minimum wage, whichever is
higher; VA's National Cemetery Administration and Veterans Health
Administration have also formed partnerships at national cemeteries,
where formerly homeless Veterans from the CWT program have received
work opportunities; and
The Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E)
VetSuccess Program assists Veterans with service-connected disabilities
to prepare for, find, and keep suitable jobs. Services that may be
provided include: Comprehensive rehabilitation evaluation to determine
abilities, skills, and interests for employment; employment services;
assistance finding and keeping a job; and On the Job Training (OJT),
apprenticeship, and non-paid work experiences.
Veterans Cemetery Grant Programs
The Veterans Cemetery Grants Program (VCGP) complements the
National Cemetery Administration's mission to establish gravesites for
veterans in areas where it cannot fully respond to the burial needs of
veterans. Since 1980, the VCGP has awarded more than $482 million to 41
states, territories and tribal organizations for the establishment,
expansion or improvement of 86 state veteran cemeteries. For example,
the NCA can provide up to 100 percent of the development cost for an
approved cemetery project, including establishing a new cemetery and
expanding or improving an established state or tribal organization
veterans' cemetery. New equipment, such as mowers and backhoes, can be
provided for new cemeteries. In addition, the Department of Veterans'
Affairs may also provide operating grants to help cemeteries achieve
national shrine standards.
In FY 2012, with an appropriation of $46 million, the VCGP funded
15 state cemeteries and one tribal organization cemetery. These grants
included the establishment or ground breaking of one new state cemetery
and one new tribal organization cemetery, expansions and improvements
at ten state cemeteries, and six projects aimed at assisting state
cemeteries to meet the NCA national shrine standards.
In fiscal year 2011, NCA-supported Veterans cemeteries provided
nearly 29,500 interments. Since 1978 the Department of Veterans Affairs
has more than doubled the available acreage and accommodated more than
a 100 percent increase in burial through this program. The VCGP faces
the challenge of meeting a growing interest from states to provide
burial services in areas not currently served. The intent of the VCGP
is to develop a true complement to, not a replacement for, our federal
system of national cemeteries. With the enactment of the ``Veterans
Benefits Improvement Act of 1998,'' the NCA has been able to strengthen
its partnership with states and increase burial services to veterans,
especially those living in less densely populated areas without access
to a nearby national cemetery. Through FY 2012, the VCGP has provided
grant funding to 88 state and tribal government veterans' cemeteries in
41 states and U.S. territories. In FY 2011 VA awarded its first state
cemetery grant to a tribal organization.
This is an extremely cost effective program which will need to
continue to grow in order to keep pace with ever increasing needs.
Veteran's Burial Benefits
Since the original parcel of land was set aside for the sacred
committal of Civil War Veterans by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862,
more than 4 million burials, from every era and conflict, have occurred
in national cemeteries under the National Cemetery Administration.
In 1973, the Department of Veterans' Affairs established a burial
allowance that provided partial reimbursement for eligible funeral and
burial costs. The current payment is $2,000 for burial expenses for
service-connected deaths, $300 for nonservice-connected deaths and a
$700 plot allowance. At its inception, the payout covered 72 percent of
the funeral costs for a service-connected death, 22 percent for a
nonservice-connected death and 54 percent of the cost of a burial plot.
Burial allowance was first introduced in 1917 to prevent veterans
from being buried in potter's fields. In 1923 the allowance was
modified. The benefit was determined by a means test until it was
removed in 1936. In its early history the burial allowance was paid to
all veterans, regardless of their service connectivity of death. In
1973, the allowance was modified to reflect the status of service
connection.
The plot allowance was introduced in 1973 as an attempt to provide
a plot benefit for veterans who did not have reasonable access to a
national cemetery. Although neither the plot allowance nor the burial
allowance was intended to cover the full cost of a civilian burial in a
private cemetery, the recent increase in the benefit's value indicates
the intent to provide a meaningful benefit. AMVETS is pleased that the
111th Congress acted quickly and passed an increase in the plot
allowance for certain veterans from $300 to $700 effective October 1,
2011.
However, we believe that there is still a serious deficit between
the original value of the benefit and its current value. In order to
bring the benefit back up to its original intended value, the payment
for service-connected burial allowance should be increased to $6,160,
the nonservice-connected burial allowance should be increased to $1,918
and the plot allowance should be increased to $1,150. AMVETS believes
Congress should divide the burial benefits into two categories:
veterans within the accessibility model and veterans outside the
accessibility model.
AMVETS further believes that Congress should increase the plot
allowance from $700 to $1,150 for all eligible veterans and expand the
eligibility for the plot allowance for all veterans who would be
eligible for burial in a national cemetery, not just those who served
during wartime. Congress should increase the service-connected burial
benefits from $2,000 to $6,160 for veterans outside the radius
threshold and to $2,793 for veterans inside the radius threshold.
Additionally, AMVETS believes that Congress should increase the
nonservice-connected burial benefits from $300 to $1,918 for all
veterans outside the radius threshold and to $854 for all veterans
inside the radius threshold. The Administration and Congress should
provide the resources required to meet the critical nature of the
National Cemetery Administration's mission and to fulfill the nation's
commitment to all veterans who have served their country so honorably
and faithfully.
Finally, AMVETS calls on Congress and the Administration to provide
the resources required to meet the critical nature of the NCA mission
so that it can fulfill the nation's commitment to all veterans who have
served their country so honorably and faithfully.
Does this mean that there are no areas needing improvement at NCA -
absolutely not. From October 2011 through March 2012, NCA conducted an
internal gravesite review of headstone and marker placements at VA
National cemeteries. During that review a total of 251 discrepancies at
93 National cemeteries were discovered which included:
218 misplaced headstones;
25 unmarked graves;
8 misplaced veteran remains
While these incidents were corrected in a respectful, professional
and expeditious manner, the initial phase of NCA's internal review
failed to identify, and therefore to report, all misplaced headstones
and unmarked gravesites. Additional discrepancies came to light thanks
to the diligent oversight of Chairman Miller and the HVAC which had
tasked the IG with conducting an audit of the internal NCA review. The
IG report highlighted several concerns and made corrective
recommendations. Based on those recommendations, the Under Secretary
for Memorial Affairs developed an appropriate action plan and AMVETS
recommends continued oversight to ensure the carrying out of all
corrective actions. This issue will be further explored in my oral
remarks.
This concludes my written statement.
4 March 2013
The Honorable Representative Jon Runyan, Chairman
Subcommittee on Disability Assistance & Memorial Affairs
U.S. House of Representatives, Veterans Affairs Committee
335 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Chairman Runyan:
Neither AMVETS nor I have received any federal grants or contracts,
during this year or in the last two years, from an agency or program
relevant to the upcoming 7 March 2013, Subcommittee on Disability
Assistance & Memorial Affairs hearing on Sustaining the Sacred Trust:
An Update on our National Cemeteries.
Sincerely,
Diane M. Zumatto, AMVETS
National Legislative Director
Prepared Statement of Ami D. Neiberger-Miller
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee:
I am pleased to have the opportunity to submit this testimony on
behalf of the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS).
TAPS is the national organization providing compassionate care for
the families of America's fallen military heroes. TAPS provides peer-
based emotional support, grief and trauma resources, grief seminars and
retreats for adults, Good Grief Camps for children, case work
assistance, connections to community-based care, and a 24/7 resource
and information helpline for all who have been affected by a death in
the Armed Forces. Services are provided to families at no cost to them.
We do all of this with no financial support from the Department of
Defense. TAPS is funded by the generosity of the American people.
TAPS was founded in 1994 by a group of surviving families following
the deaths of their loved ones in a military plane crash. Since then,
TAPS has offered comfort and care to more than 40,000 people. The
journey through grief following a military death can be isolating and
the long-term impact of grief is often not understood in our society
today. On average, it takes a person experiencing a traumatic loss five
to seven years to reach his or her ``new normal.''
TAPS has extensive contact with the surviving families of America's
fallen military service members, making TAPS uniquely qualified to
comment on issues affecting the survivors left behind. TAPS receives an
average of 13 newly bereaved survivors per day both from our
relationship with the Services casualty officers and direct contact
from those who are grieving the death of someone who died while serving
the Armed Forces.
In 2012, 4,807 new survivors came to TAPS for comfort and care.
Thirty percent of the survivors coming to TAPS were grieving the death
of a loved one in combat or in hostile action. Nineteen percent of the
survivors coming to TAPS were grieving a loved one who died by suicide
or in a suspected suicide under investigation. Fifteen percent of
survivors reported a cause of death as ``unknown'' for their service
member which often means a death is under investigation. Twelve percent
were grieving the death of a loved one by sudden illness, and nine
percent lost a loved one in an auto accident. Six percent lost a loved
one in an accident and four percent were grieving someone who died in
an aviation accident (typically a military training accident). Three
percent were grieving the death of a loved one by homicide. One percent
were grieving a death in a non-hostile incident, 0.7 percent lost a
loved one in a noncombat incident, and 0.3 percent to friendly-fire.
In 2012, approximately sixty-two percent of the family members
coming to TAPS for support were grieving the death of a loved one who
served in the Army. Sixteen percent of the families were grieving a
loved one who served in the Marine Corps. Thirteen percent were
grieving a loved one who served in the Navy, six percent were grieving
the death of someone who served in the Air Force, and three percent
were serving in the Coast Guard or another area.
My name is Ami Neiberger-Miller, and I am the director of outreach
and education at TAPS. I am a surviving family member of our fallen
military. Tragedy struck my family in 2007 when my 22-year old brother,
Army Specialist Christopher Neiberger, was killed in action in Baghdad,
Iraq. My brother is buried in section 60 at Arlington National Cemetery
among hundreds of others who gave the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq or
Afghanistan. My father-in-law, Marine Corps Captain (retired) Norman
Vann Miller, who died in 2003 of natural causes, is buried in section
66 at Arlington National Cemetery. I began working with TAPS in October
2007. In my role as a staff member with TAPS, I have supported many
surviving families of our fallen military and veterans in communicating
with Arlington National Cemetery and represented TAPS at meetings with
the National Cemetery Administration.
We have been asked by the subcommittee to discuss the state of
``various Veterans' cemeteries, including upkeep and areas for
improvement,'' including both the national cemetery system administered
by the VA and Arlington National Cemetery, administered by the Army.
The subcommittee staff also asked TAPS to provide comments on how
cemetery errors and mistakes impact the bereavement journey for
survivors and to highlight policy matters worthy of future attention.
I. Feedback about the national cemeteries that are administered through
the VA's National Cemetery Administration
Our perspective at TAPS is anchored in our expertise - which is
providing emotional support to anyone grieving the death of someone who
died while serving in the Armed Forces. Our role is to support families
in their grief - and when something goes wrong at a cemetery - we know
it impacts how families cope with their loss.
Since our founding in 1994, TAPS has worked cooperatively with the
National Cemetery Administration (NCA) administered by the Department
of Veterans Affairs. The national cemetery system is the ultimate
metaphor for the TAPS model of honoring the service and sacrifice of
all those who died while serving in the Armed Forces, regardless of
where or how they died. The national cemetery system - with its
pristine cemeteries and identical headstones - truly honors all who
have served and died and are part of our nation's legacy of service and
sacrifice.
NCA inters service members and veterans, side by side, regardless
of rank, cause of death, or station in life. Service is an equalizing
factor in the VA cemetery system, and that is commendable, at a time
when the military still presents different gold star pins based on
cause of death and others reserve certain honors only for the families
of those who are killed in action. The VA cemetery system recognizes
all who have served their country and died and we applaud this spirit
of equality and honor. The shrine status of our national cemeteries is
deeply appreciated by survivors and reflects the care and devotion of
our nation to honoring its war dead.
Earlier this month, the VA announced that a review of every grave
in the national cemetery system found 15 sets of remains buried in the
wrong spots and nearly 800 other problems. We were concerned by the
recent VA Office of the Inspector General report, ``National Cemetery
Administration: Audit of Internal Gravesite Review of Headstone and
Marker Placement.''
The inspector general's office found that the VA's examination in
its self-review was marred by a lack of ``an impartial and independent
review procedure.'' VA officials also did not ``provide sufficient time
and resources,'' and ``cemetery directors were overwhelmed and felt
pressure to complete the review by the target date.'' The Office of the
Inspector General found that at four of twelve national cemeteries,
there were seven misplaced headstones or unmarked gravesites, as well
as outdated and illegible maps.
While the VA should be praised for initiating a review after
problems were discovered at a cemetery in Texas, the haste of the
review and lack of resources devoted to supporting the review is
concerning. While VA has made adjustments and improvements in response
to the Office of Inspector General report, the situation remains
troubling.
II. Arlington National Cemetery
We continue to be encouraged by progress being made at Arlington
National Cemetery under new leadership. The new telephone system, GPS
mapping system, website, and plans for growth with the Millennium
project are moving the cemetery's management from being behind the
times, to becoming a leader in innovation and development. We feel this
track record of progress is helping surviving families move forward
beyond the scandals and revelations of 2010. TAPS has worked
proactively with surviving families and the administration of Arlington
National Cemetery for many years. We hosted a public forum in 2010 for
families to meet the new superintendent and executive director of the
Army Cemeteries Program. We also supported families grappling with the
burial issues at the cemetery, including two families who dis-interred
their loved ones to determine if they were buried in the correct
locations. We are relieved to be beyond those difficult days and to see
improved management and financial oversight in place at Arlington
National Cemetery.
Survivor Representative Needed on the Arlington National Cemetery
Advisory Committee
The community of surviving families was saddened greatly by the
death from cancer of Janet Manion in April 2012. Mrs. Manion was a gold
star mother who served on the Advisory Committee for Arlington National
Cemetery. Her son is buried at Section 60 among the many other heroes
who gave their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan in these recent wars. Some
of the families with loved ones buried at Section 60 participate in
programs with the foundation that Mrs. Manion established in memory of
her late son. Mrs. Manion was the only identified surviving family
member of a service member buried at Arlington National Cemetery on the
committee, and no survivor has been named to replace her. The seven
current members of the committee all have exceptional credentials with
the military and veterans service, but none are identified as a
surviving family member. This important stakeholder population - the
families that are grieving their loved ones at Arlington National
Cemetery - is impacted by decisions made by the advisory committee and
could contribute greatly to the decisions this committee makes, and we
believe they should have a representative on the committee.
Plans for the Section 60 Historical Memento Collection Project
We would like to see plans finalized for the Army's historical
collection project at Section 60, which pick up artifacts and mementoes
of historical significance once per week and archive them. The project
has been in a pilot phase now for a few years and while it has received
positive feedback from families, its future remains unknown.
III. How Cemetery Errors and Mistakes Impact the Bereavement Journey
for Survivors
It should be noted that most of the families TAPS works with are
very pleased with the level of care and service they receive from the
National Cemetery Administration and Arlington National Cemetery.
We regularly file requests to help families address errors on
headstones and grave markers, talk with VA staff about family concerns,
and offer feedback and family input to VA officials and staff. TAPS
attends the quarterly briefings conducted by the National Cemetery
Administration with veterans' service organizations, where we are
updated on activities within the cemetery system and can offer
feedback.
When problems arise, we work with NCA staff and Arlington National
Cemetery staff to try to resolve matters. If a loved one's name is
misspelled on the headstone, it can become a stumbling block for a
family's grief. The newly-bereaved may struggle with completing what
appears to be a relatively simple form to request a correction, because
of the shock and struggle they are going through with their grief.
Even more concerning, when a loved one's grave or memorial marker
is mismarked, unmarked or moved without the knowledge of the family,
trust is broken between the family and the institution that they have
entrusted to care for the gravesite or interment site.
If the family's trust in the institution of the cemetery is broken,
then it is very hard to restore it. In some cases, this lack of trust
can lead to families becoming angry and disillusioned. They may step
away from completing the tasks of grieving, and focus on the cemetery
and what has happened. This can be detrimental on a personal level and
to the entire family - because instead of contemplating how to re-
assemble their lives after the death of a close loved one, the family
is caught in addressing these other issues.
Sometimes when issues arise, it is because cemetery staff or others
want to spare survivors any pain. In our experience, it is always
better to be honest with surviving families than to avoid telling them
the truth. Over and over, we have seen families get upset and hurt, not
when they are told difficult things and given updates, but when they
are led to believe that someone is hiding information from them, when
someone is not listening to them, and or when someone is not telling
them the truth.
How cemetery staff and leaders respond when something goes wrong
can play a pivotal role in helping families step forward beyond their
hurt over an error. Cemetery staff would benefit from training in how
to work with surviving families when problems arise so they can
communicate clearly with families. TAPS is able and willing to provide
training at a national level to assist national cemetery or Arlington
National Cemetery staff.
IV. Limitations of the Corey-Shea Act
An area that TAPS would like to bring to the attention of the
subcommittee is the limitations of the Corey-Shea Act (Public Law 111-
275, Title V, Section 502) and its impact on surviving military
families. This act permits the burial or interment of a parent with
their child who served in the military and died by hostile action or
from a training-related injury in a national cemetery. Parents are only
eligible if the service member does not leave behind a spouse or child
who would be eligible to be interred with the service member, and if
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs determines that there is space
available at the gravesite.
It is not uncommon for grieving military parents to want to be
buried with their children. TAPS supports the Corey-Shea Act for
assisting these parents in fulfilling this desire. However, not all
grieving military parents are eligible for these burial privileges,
because the Corey-Shea Act limits eligibility to only cases where a
service member dies due to hostile action or from an injury incurred in
military training.
A surviving father named Frank Contreras of Albuquerque, New Mexico
recently made contact with TAPS requesting help because he would like
to be buried with his son, Army Specialist Vincent Frank Contreras.
Specialist Contreras died at age 20 in an auto accident on September 3,
2011 while deployed in Germany for training. He is buried at Santa Fe
National Cemetery.
Mr. Contreras was initially cheered by the passage of the Corey-
Shea Act and the initial media reports about it, but then he discovered
that he was not eligible for burial because of the location and manner
of his son's death. Mr. Contreras raised his son as a single parent and
Vincent was his only child. Mr. Contreras had a close relationship with
his son. In the obituary published for Specialist Contreras, Mr.
Contreras is the only survivor and there are no other family members
listed.
When asked why he wants to be buried with his son, Mr. Contreras
said, ``This would mean a lot to be right with him. I'd like to just be
with him. One day I'll be ready to visit him, but it would be better if
I was with him . . . My only wish is to be with him when I die. He was
only twenty-years old when he died. I would like for my last thing in
life to be buried with him. It would be the greatest thing on earth.
That would mean a lot, just to know that I would be there. It's hard to
describe, but that's a man's dream to be buried - it's my dream to be
buried with my son.''
If Specialist Contreras had died on the training field, his father
would be eligible to be buried with him. But because he died on a
roadside while in Germany for training, his father is not eligible for
burial benefits. For other military families whose loved ones do not
die in combat or from a training-related injury, the same denial of
this benefit happens. If their loved one dies from a sudden illness, a
cancer potentially-related to burn-pit exposure in Iraq or Afghanistan,
by homicide, suicide, or in an accident off-base, their parents cannot
request to be buried with them in a national cemetery.
Because of its negative impact on survivors whose loved ones did
not die in combat or from a training-related injury, TAPS would support
the future expansion of the Corey-Shea Act to include surviving parents
of service members, regardless of manner of death or location of death,
in cases where the veteran does not leave behind an eligible spouse or
child, and in cases where the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, or the
appropriate representative, determines that there is space at the
gravesite for the interment of additional remains.
V. VA and Arlington National Cemetery's Burial Waiver Request Process
One might think a potential solution for ineligible parents like
Mr. Contreras, would be to apply to the Secretary of the VA for a
waiver, requesting burial with their child in a national cemetery. A
similar waiver process exists at Arlington National Cemetery. Waivers
could, in theory, resolve the matter on a case-by-case basis. However,
the process of requesting a waiver for burial or interment in a
national cemetery, or at Arlington National Cemetery, is an area where
these grieving parents can find no relief.
While Mr. Contreras and other parents ineligible for burial
benefits with their children could request waivers- they would have to
die not knowing if their requests to be buried with their children
could be granted.
In practice, the VA typically does not grant waivers until after
the person has died. Meaning - emotionally - the parent has to die
without knowing if the request to be buried with the child will be
permitted. When talking with another parent about the waiver process a
few years ago before the Corey-Shea Act was passed, a surviving mother
told me she found no relief in having to die without knowing if she
would be placed with her son.
Because the VA interprets that it must determine ``at the time of
need'' if space is available for someone who is ineligible, the people
desiring waivers have to die not knowing if their waiver requests will
be granted. Arlington National Cemetery's policies outline a similar
policy for waivers, which reference applications by a Next of Kin for a
decedent.
In a 2011 memorandum VA examined National Cemetery Administration
records from 2001 to 2009 to determine the potential impact of the
Corey-Shea Act. NCA's examination found a total of 135 requests for
waivers were received. Twenty-three of the 135 waiver requests were for
the burial of parents. VA approved only 8 of the 23 requested burial
waivers for parents. It is reasonable for a parent to expect, with only
this type of information available, that his or her request to be
buried with a child may not be granted.Dying without knowing whether
one can be buried with one's child when a parent desires it, is an
emotional burden for a grieving parent to carry.
This is an area where better defining the waiver request process
could help survivors. Perhaps the National Cemetery Administration and
Arlington National Cemetery could make a preliminary determination on a
waiver request, so parents would have more assurance before their
deaths, if their desire to be buried with their children could be
granted.
Additionally - due to the VA's recent decision to grant a waiver
for burial for a same-sex spouse, Nancy Lynchild, in the VA's
Willamette National Cemetery in Oregon, it is reasonable to believe
that more waiver requests will be filed in the next few years.
Even this landmark case illustrates the challenges found in the
waiver request process for military and veteran families. The burial
waiver was requested in December by Lynchild's spouse, Air Force Lt.
Col. (ret.) Linda Campbell, who will be eligible to be buried in a
national cemetery when she dies. Her spouse died in late December and
the VA made a decision on the waiver request in January. So Lynchild
died not knowing where her remains would be placed, and Lt. Col. (ret.)
Campbell agonized over funeral arrangements for several weeks in hopes
that the request might be granted.
While the Department of Defense has indicated that it is actively
examining the implications of providing burial benefits for same-sex
spouses, it may take a long time for the VA and the Department of
Defense to work out how these benefits will be applied in practice. As
same-sex marriage relationships are becoming more accepted in our
society, VA and Arlington National Cemetery may receive more waiver
requests for interment while these official policies are being examined
and put into place.
We believe that improving the waiver process with greater clarity
and earlier decision-making could alleviate some of the pain that
grieving families now experience in the waiver process.
VI. Recommendations for Improvement
(1) Provide sensitivity training in how to work with bereaved
families for national cemetery staff and Arlington National Cemetery
staff. TAPS has conducted training for the Fisher House staff, USO
volunteers at the Dover Port Mortuary, military casualty assistance
officers and chaplains in all services, and other volunteers in partner
organizations on how to provide compassionate and empathetic care for
surviving military families. TAPS welcomes the opportunity to provide
this training, at no cost, to VA cemetery staff who come in contact
with grieving families.
(2) Consider asking or supporting national cemetery staff or
Arlington National Cemetery staff who work directly with families to
pursue professional certification in bereavement, such as the
certification in thanatology program offered by the Association for
Death Education & Counseling.
(3) Encourage cemetery staff to connect with TAPS when emotional
issues arise, so we can help them facilitate the solution the family
seeks, while addressing the family's bereavement needs.
(4) Nominate or appoint a surviving family member with a loved one
interred at Arlington National Cemetery and a willingness to listen to
other survivors to join the Advisory Committee for Arlington National
Cemetery.
(5) Formalize the memento collection program at Arlington National
Cemetery.
(6) Consider legislatively modifying the Corey-Shea Act to include
surviving parents of active duty service members who are buried in a
national cemetery, regardless of location of death or cause of death,
in circumstances where the service member does not leave behind an
eligible spouse or child.
(7) Clarify and further define the waiver request process for the
national cemetery system and Arlington National Cemetery, so those
requesting interment or burial waivers can receive an indicator of a
decision prior to their death, even if it can not be a finalized
decision.
Thank you for the opportunity to submit this testimony on behalf of
the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS).
Executive Summary
Introduction
Because of our role in caring for thousands of surviving families
left behind by America's fallen military since 1994, the Tragedy
Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) is uniquely qualified to
comment on our national cemeteries and Arlington National Cemetery.
I. Feedback about the cemeteries administered through the VA's National
Cemetery Administration
Concern is expressed about the recent Office of the Inspector
General report, but it should be noted that most surviving families are
pleased with the care they and their loved ones receive at our national
cemeteries.
II. Arlington National Cemetery
The cemetery leadership has made stellar advancements from where we
were two and a half years ago. Discusses the Arlington National
Cemetery Advisory Committee and the memento collection project.
III. How Cemetery Errors and Mistakes Impact the Bereavement Journey
for Survivors
Discusses the impact of cemetery errors and mistakes on the grief
carried by surviving military families.
IV. Limitations of the Corey-Shea Act
Parents of service members who do not die due to hostile act or in
a training incident remain ineligible for interment in national
cemeteries with their children.
V. VA and Arlington National Cemetery's Burial Waiver Request Process
Expresses concern about the burial waiver request process, which
may see an increase in requests, due to recent developments. Recommends
changes be made so requestors can get an earlier determination on
decisions.
VI. Recommendations for Improvement
(1) Provide sensitivity training in how to work with bereaved
families for national cemetery staff and Arlington National Cemetery
staff. TAPS is willing to assist with this type of training at a
national level.
(2) Consider asking or supporting national cemetery staff or
Arlington National Cemetery staff who work directly with families to
pursue professional certification in bereavement.
(3) Encourage cemetery staff to connect with TAPS when emotional
issues arise, so we can help them facilitate the solution the family
seeks, while addressing the family's bereavement needs.
(4) Nominate or appoint a surviving family member with a loved one
interred at Arlington National Cemetery and a willingness to listen to
other survivors to join the Advisory Committee for Arlington National
Cemetery.
(5) Formalize the memento collection program at Arlington National
Cemetery.
(6) Consider legislatively modifying the Corey-Shea Act to include
surviving parents of active duty service members who are buried in a
national cemetery, regardless of location of death or cause of death,
in circumstances where the service member does not leave behind an
eligible spouse or child.
(7) Clarify and further define the waiver request process for the
national cemetery system and Arlington National Cemetery, so those
requesting interment or burial waivers can receive an indicator of a
decision prior to their death, even if it cannot be a finalized
decision.
DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
Neither Ami Neiberger-Miller, nor the Tragedy Assistance Program
for Survivors (TAPS), have received any Federal grant or contract,
relevant to the subject matter of this testimony, during the current or
previous two fiscal years.
Statement For The Record
STATEMENT OF KARI LIN COWAN
Chairman Runyan and Subcommittee Members, thank you for providing
me this opportunity to offer testimony on the important issue of
Sustaining the Sacred Trust as it pertains to our National Cemeteries.
Introduction
I am Kari Lin Cowan and I am the surviving spouse of CW3 Aaron
William Cowan, United States Army. CW3 Cowan, a 19 year member of the
United States Army, suffered a line of duty death as a result of a
combat aviation mishap in Paju, South Korea on February 26, 2005.
On May 7, 2005 my husband Aaron's cremains were interred at sea
pursuant to his wishes.
I allowed our son Logan, who was 8 years old at that time, to
choose the point of embarkation for the interment. The interment
ceremony was performed by honor guard and attendant crew of the USS
Lake Erie during a mission off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii. In keeping
with the desire to memorialize Aaron near his burial site we
subsequently chose to memorialize Aaron at the National Memorial
Cemetery of the Pacific. Logan and I traveled to Hawaii in June of 2005
at the invitation of the captain and chaplain of the USS Lake Erie to
have lunch aboard ship and to receive Aaron's burial flag and
photographs of the interment ceremony.
While in Hawaii we intended to visit the Punchbowl to visit the
memorial marker. Unfortunately we learned prior to the trip that the
marker had been engraved incorrectly. Cemetery staff informed me that
the marker had been removed and a new one would made locally.
We returned to Hawaii in February 2006 to mark the first
anniversary of Aaron's passing. I contacted the cemetery staff ahead of
my visit, had a vase installed and the cemetery staff marked the newly
made memorial marker with a flag so we could locate it upon our
arrival.
The trips I made with my son Logan to Hawaii were solely for the
purpose of remembrance and healing. Hawaii provided us with remarkable
opportunities to spend extraordinary quality time bonding and growing
together. We did not simply fly to Hawaii, visit the cemetery and leave
flowers. Our trips were meaningful. Every bouquet was hand-picked at
the farmers market and hand-made and placed by us. We learned the lay
of the land at the Punchbowl and visited every single section and
memorial site. It was a rich history lesson in a beautiful, peaceful
setting.
On each and every trip we honored Aaron's love of aviation by doing
memorial helicopter flights in his honor. We visited a different island
each trip and did the things that Aaron would have enjoyed. We hiked
the active lava fields of Kilauea, experienced volcanic earthquakes and
visited the USGS seismographs to watch them in point of time. We made
long and difficult journeys to places like a green sand olivine beach
at the southernmost point of OCONUS. We watched the sunset and star-
gazed late into the night at the Mauna Kea observatories. On Christmas
morning we watched the sun rise at 14,000 feet on Mt. Haleakala and
then rode bikes down the mountain, 30 miles to the sea. During our
visits we lived in his spirit and in his honor. Our last trip in
December 2011 was no exception. Then everything changed forever. Again.
The Missing Marker
We visited the National Memorial Cemetery on December 28th in part
to pay our respects and to remember Aaron's December birthday. When
Aaron was interred at sea by the Navy we were given a map with the
burial coordinates. I subsequently did research in 2008 on Google Earth
and annotated the memorial marker coordinates. During our visits to the
cemetery we mapped out the location of the marker in a manner similar
to orienteering. This skill made it possible for us to navigate
directly to the marker. So when on December 28, 2011 we walked to where
we knew the marker had been, and it was not there, confusion ensued. I
immediately felt a sense of panic and disorientation and I set my son
on the task to find the marker by number. He did eventually find the
marker #366 which had previously occupied the next to last position in
row 9, 35 yards away and in the 10th row in the first position.
I left my son in the section and went to the cemetery office for an
explanation. I carried with me photographs on my smart phone that did
show the original location of the marker.
The events that transpired when I made contact with the cemetery
staff revealed a serious problem in how such issues are handled at that
particular location. I was ignored and summarily dismissed as someone
who simply ``was confused'' or ``did not remember'' where the marker
was. I was asked which section was involved and when I said MB I was
told ``oh, it's just a marker.''
I had no choice but to press the issue and refuse to leave the
office. I was told the Cemetery Director was on vacation and nothing
could be done. I refused to leave until the Director was called. He was
reached two hours later and advised of the situation but I did not
speak to him. Not only was the marker in a different location, the urn
I had purchased was not moved with it and that became a secondary
issue. I could not leave the flowers I brought because the urn was
missing. I was then told it had probably rotted or had been stolen.
Given the fact the marker had been relocated it seemed more logical and
probable that the urn had been misplaced. I returned to the MB section
with the Public Affairs Specialist. She had been recently employed and
was not familiar with the section or its layout. I took her to the
marker section and walked her to where the marker had once been
emplaced and then to the new location. I showed her the photographs I
had with me on my smart phone. She gave them a cursory glance.
The Public Affairs Specialist and I were standing next to my
husband's marker in the new location when the head groundskeeper
approached me and began to verbally assault me. He was very aggressive
and insistent that the markers had never been moved and that something
like that never happens. He stated that I just did not remember or know
what I was talking about. He got in my personal space and acted in a
menacing and hostile manner. I was so incensed that he would behave
this way in front of my husband's memorial, his son and his wife and
that the Public Affairs Specialist just stood there silently. I
demanded he get out of my face and leave me alone. I had to get very
aggressive with him to make him understand that I was absolutely not
going to condone such behavior.
I was hopeful when I left that day that although unresolved, there
would be a resolution. I was promised I would be contacted by the
Director, but I never was, and to date I never have been.
The PAS made the effort to ensure another urn was placed at the
marker and she personally placed the flowers and sent me photographs of
them the next day, December 29, 2011. She also included a statement in
her e-mail that although not explicit, made reference to the missing
urn and marker as: the ``doubly unpleasant surprise you encountered''
during the visit on December 28, 2011. That would be the last time
until April 27, 2012, when the cemetery officially acknowledged their
error, that an admission as to what happened to the marker would be
made by the cemetery staff or officials.
The Investigation
When I returned home on January 1, 2012 I began doing research,
compiled my evidence and information for a complaint and enlisted the
assistance of Congressman Gus Bilirakis' office to resolve the issue.
At the same time I filed my complaint, the Honorable Jeff Miller
ordered an investigation into all 131 national cemeteries including a
national audit. I enlisted the help of investigative reporters at the
Washington Post and the Honolulu Star. I immediately learned of the
national cemetery controversies occurring nationwide. The investigative
reporters began making inquiries of National Memorial Cemetery of the
Pacific's Director Gene Castagnetti. What ensued were serial denials
made by Cemetery Director Gene Castagnetti through the Public Affairs
Specialist to the press. I was never contacted directly after I left
Hawaii on January 1, 2012. All statements made by Director Castagnetti
were made indirectly to the press or to my congressional caseworkers in
response to investigative inquiries on my behalf.
Resolution
Subsequent to filing the Congressional, the Regional Director for
the National Cemetery Administration Bradley Phillips became involved
in my case. Director Phillips was deeply apologetic and by April 27,
2012 the NCA officially acknowledged that the marker had been moved.
Ahead of official findings, on May 3, 2012 during a conference call
with my congressional caseworkers, Director Phillips agreed to fulfill
my request to have the marker in Hawaii destroyed and a new one made
and emplaced at Fort Bayard National Cemetery.
Fort Bayard National Cemetery is in my husband's home state of New
Mexico. Now emplaced in this location, the memorial marker is easily
accessible to his immediately family.
Public Law 97-66
The decision my husband made to be interred at sea and be
memorialized with a marker at a national cemetery was made possible
under provision of Public Law 97-66 enacted on October 17, 1981. In
summary this Act expanded eligibility for memorial markers to include
all veterans; whose remains have not been recovered or identified;
whose remains were buried at sea, donated to science or cremated and
required that suitable land was set aside at each cemetery for this
purpose. Public Law 97-66 effectively established a sacred place meant
to memorialize the lives of all veterans and their distinguished lives
of service regardless of the disposition of their remains.
The Findings
In December of 2012, I was apprised by Director Phillips of the
NCA's final findings. The findings were that in fact the marker was
moved. The findings also concluded that in fact no documentation other
than what I furnished exists to explain how or when it happened.
Therein lays the breach.
I easily found past news articles in the Honolulu Star in which
Director Castagnetti indicated the renovation began in 2009. I found
another article specifically addressing the fact that the first
contractor hired for the Punchbowl Millennium Renovation project was
fired for performance failures.
The Director knew or should have known that there may have been
past and potential ongoing contractor error. No safeguards were put in
place to prevent such errors and no oversight was provided. I
personally witnessed the haphazard manner in which urns were removed
from the ground, displaced from their graves and left unmarked.
Newspaper articles frame other family members' accounts of this and the
reporter I sent to the Punchbowl witnessed this as well. The claim that
the cemetery has no documentation or information to explain the
movement of the markers in the MB section is refutable. I personally
saw a map in 2006 showing the original emplacement and on December 28,
2011 I was shown the new map with the marker in the new location.
Further, early in the investigation, Director Castagnetti stated that
the marker ``was where it belonged.'' Taken together these events
indicate that the movement was planned.
Duty and Breach of Sacred Trust
It is my understanding that the National Cemetery audit is
complete. It is also my understanding that an insignificant percentage
of errors regarding markers and burial issues are being reported by the
national cemeteries. These reported errors may be few in number but are
so egregious in nature that statistical minimization serves no
satisfactory purpose. One cannot simply say that a marker was
erroneously moved, or that it was only a few, they are just markers,
there were no remains involved and just dismiss the egregious nature of
the causal action. The breach of sacred trust is not limited to or
dependent on whether remains are involved. The sacred trust extends to
the memorial. Movement of a marker associated with remains may be more
egregious by degree than one moved without associated remains, but the
duty is the same. Barring some unforeseen natural disaster or
circumstance, I expected that a duty existed by which I would be
properly noticed if there was such an occurrence that necessitated the
removal or relocation of the memorial marker. I did have the
expectation that barring such extreme circumstances that my husband's
memorial would be in its original location of emplacement each time I
returned and perpetually thereafter.
It is my firm belief that there was a failure of due diligence and
oversight. The onus is on the director to ensure the integrity of the
sacred trust. He should be held accountable for his failure to act in a
manner consistent with the honor of accepting personal and professional
responsibility for safeguarding the sacred trust. The director was
remiss and breached that duty. The result was negative oversight of a
multi-million dollar invasive renovation project (Millennium Renovation
Project). This project caused the markers to be susceptible to
relocation; the risk of which was foreseeable. Further, the director
was careless and remains ignorant of the cause and occurrence of the
breach and failed to directly address my concerns. The director owes a
duty to the deceased and their families and he was negligent in his
conduct as director. To this day I have never had discourse with the
director regarding this issue. I credit the regional director and his
commitment to finding the facts. He conscientiously reviewed the
substantial evidence I submitted in the form of satellite and personal
photographs. Otherwise, I would have no satisfaction and the outcome
would be unresolved in favor of arrogant denial. I was not allowed to
be informed of any remedial measures at the Punchbowl other than re-
training of staff had taken place. Whether Director Castagnetti has
been held accountable remains unknown to me.
The Burden
There is no question that in such a situation as mine the burden
should have fallen on the cemetery director to compassionately address
my concerns, make a proper procedural inquiry into the matter and
acknowledge my evidence supporting the facts of the complaint. Instead
not only was the burden of proof shifted to me, I also faced a
significant hurdle caused by a culture of disrespect and disregard
toward the memorial markers in the section that lacked remains.
Through my paralegal education I was uniquely qualified to
undertake such an effort to prove my case. I had the competent
assistance of trained and experienced Congressional caseworkers to help
me achieve the end result. I was fortunate. The average family member
does not necessarily have the skills, knowledge or training or
individuals at their immediate disposal to help them facilitate a
resolution when the sacred trust is breached. There clearly exists a
lack of compassionate outreach to the families and a culture exists
that minimizes the severity of the impact of the breaches of sacred
trust in question. In all my research into VA policies and guidelines I
found nothing that would give guidance on how to proceed under the
circumstances at issue.
Future Remedies
I have been asked how I believe these incidents should be handled
in the future. There is no question that this issue speaks to an
institutional lack of common sense and a comprehensive failure of
respect for the living and the deceased. Every complaint should be
subject to the same principle. Every complaint is valid until proven
otherwise and the burden should be on the administration and not the
complainant. If common decency cannot dictate this process then some
method of procedure must be implemented. Protocols for re-training
staff how to compassionately interact with family members of the
deceased need to be developed. Every individual should be treated with
common courtesy, dignity and respect no matter what the concern. Had I
been treated with a modicum of respect and had my issue been properly
investigated rather than minimized and denied, the outcome would have
been significantly different. I may have been willing to accept the
mistake. The intervention I sought from Congressman Bilirakis's office
was an effective form of mediation without which my complaint would
have been summarily dismissed by Cemetery Officials. I would have then
been barred from receiving any resolution. While necessary this simply
is not an acceptable complaint resolution process. The VA has a long
history of reliance on congressional offices to remediate veterans'
issues. The VA should not rely on congressional offices to mediate
their disputes simply because they have failed to implement appropriate
procedures to address failures of service and breaches of trust. I
would not discount the future viability of an alternate dispute
resolution process conducted by a specially trained ombudsman or
mediators within the VA/NCA. It must be an effective process that is
easily accessible to the complainant and one that does not unjustly
burden the complainant. This would shift the burden of responsibility
back to the VA and help to eliminate or alleviate abuses of valuable
congressional resources.
Conclusion
I am grateful I was granted the request to have my husband's marker
destroyed so that another could be emplaced in NM. I have no confidence
in Director Castagnetti and I could no longer go to a place where
Aarons' memory had been disrespected and my son and I had been
mistreated. Aaron's family has benefitted greatly from the emplacement
of the new marker and they too are grateful. I have not yet had the
opportunity to see it other than in photographs. I do not expect to see
it in the foreseeable future. While I appreciate this resolution it
does not diminish the emotional impact of what occurred. It also does
not allay the concerns I have over stewardship.
I believe my complaint was met with vehement denials because the
protection of the reputation of the director was paramount to exposing,
admitting to and resolving a serious problem. It was also clear to me
that the prevailing attitude was that I would be geographically
frustrated when I returned home and the matter would be forgotten.
Logan was 15 on the day we discovered the marker was missing. Logan is
a Civil Air Patrol Cadet Officer and Air Force trained honor guardsman.
He has been instilled with deep respect for his sanctity of all
veterans lost in the line of duty. Something we found lacking at
Punchbowl. Logan was so distraught that day that I had to make
emergency flight arrangements to remove him from Oahu. There can be no
real solace for me and my son. Our loss has been compounded by these
events. For us there is no substitute for the special place we relied
on and considered to be a permanent and safe haven in which to find
peace, serenity, and healing from tragedy and where we could honor and
remember Aaron.
It was my husband's sincere desire in life to effect positive
change. Through my statement on his behalf I am confident his desire is
posthumously fulfilled. Thank you for this opportunity.