National Cemetery Administration

National Cemetery Administration For necessary expenses of the National Cemetery Administration for operations and maintenance, not otherwise provided for, including uniforms or allowances therefor; cemeterial expenses as authorized by law; purchase of one passenger motor vehicle for use in cemeterial operations; hire of passenger motor vehicles; and repair, alteration or improvement of facilities under the jurisdiction of the National Cemetery Administration, $258,284,000, of which not to exceed $25,828,000 shall remain available until September 30, 2014: Provided, That none of the funds under this heading may be used to expand the Urban Initiative project beyond those sites outlined in the fiscal year 2012 or previous budget submissions or any other rural strategy, other than the Rural Initiative included in the fiscal year 2013 budget submission, until the Secretary of Veterans Affairs submits to the Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of Congress a strategy to serve the burial needs of veterans residing in rural and highly rural areas and that strategy has been approved by the Committees: Provided further, That the strategy shall include: (1) A review of previous policies of the National Cemetery Administration regarding establishment of new national cemeteries, including whether the guidelines of the Administration for establishing national cemetery annexes remain valid; (2) Data identifying the number of and geographic areas where rural veterans are not currently served by national or existing State cemeteries and identification of areas with the largest unserved populations, broken down by veterans residing in urban versus rural and highly rural; (3) Identification of the number of veterans who reside within the 75-mile radius of a cemetery that is limited to cremations or of a State cemetery 127 STAT. 398 which has residency restrictions, as well as an examination of how many communities that fall under a 75-mile radius have an actual driving distance greater than 75 miles; (4) Reassessment of the gaps in service, factoring in the above conditions that limit rural and highly rural veteran burial options; (5) An assessment of the adequacy of the policy of the Administration on establishing new cemeteries proposed in the fiscal year 2013 budget request; (6) Recommendations for an appropriate policy on new national cemeteries to serve rural or highly rural areas; (7) Development of a national map showing the locations and number of all unserved veterans; and (8) A time line for the implementation of such strategy and cost estimates for using the strategy to establish new burial sites in at least five rural or highly rural locations: Provided further, That the Comptroller General of the United States shall review the strategy to ensure that it includes the elements listed above: Provided further, That this strategy shall be submitted no later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act: Provided further, That the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall issue guidelines on committal services held at cemeteries under the jurisdiction of the National Cemetery Administration to ensure that: (1) veterans’ families may arrange to hold committal services with any religious or secular content they desire; (2) the choice by a family of an honor guard and the content and presentation of military honors may not be interfered with; and (3) attendance at committal services by outside organizations dedicated to the support of veterans will not be constrained except at the request of family members: Provided further, That the Department shall not edit, control, or exercise prior restraints on the content of religious speech and expression by speakers at events at veterans national cemeteries except as provided in section 2413 of title 38, United States Code: Provided further, That actions permitted by the foregoing provisos shall be subject to compliance with Department security, safety, and law enforcement regulations.