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Hirono, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Disinter Ineligible Veterans from National Cemeteries

~ Introduction comes after Sen. Hirono joined Reps. Tokuda and Case in urging VA to remove former psychiatrist from Punchbowl Cemetery over sex abuse allegations ~

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), John Cornyn (R-TX), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), John Fetterman (D-PA), Rick Scott (R-FL), and Adam Schiff (D-CA) introduced the Restoring the Sanctity of Public Entombments, Cemeteries, and Tributes (RESPECT) Act, which would extend the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) retroactive authority to disinter the remains of veterans from national cemeteries who would have been deemed ineligible for such a burial under current law, usually due to having committed a serious crime.

“Rather than setting an arbitrary cutoff for disinterment requests, this legislation will help ensure that the process is available to everyone,” said Senator Hirono. “I’m glad to join my colleagues in this bipartisan effort to implement this commonsense fix and grant the VA the authority to carry out these requests.”

Under current law, the VA can only reconsider eligibility determinations for burial in national cemeteries for cases dating back to 2013. Families and victims’ advocates seeking disinterment of individuals who committed serious crimes prior to that date must secure a specific act of Congress, creating unnecessary delays and inequities. This legislation would extend the VA’s retroactive authority back to June 18, 1973, covering the date when the National Cemeteries Act was signed into law.

There are currently at least seven outstanding disinterment petitions across multiple states, including Hawaii, Alaska, Pennsylvania, Florida, and California, underscoring the need to address this issue. The bill introduction comes after Senator Hirono joined Representatives Jill Tokuda (D-HI) and Ed Case (D-HI) in urging the VA to remove Dr. Robert Browne, a former school psychiatrist, from Punchbowl Cemetery over sex abuse allegations. Dr. Browne was accused of sexually assaulting Kamehameha Schools students from the late 60’s through the mid-80’s. Browne committed suicide in 1991, and was subsequently buried at Punchbowl due to his Army service.

Specifically, the RESPECT Act would:

  • Grant the VA retroactive authority dating back to June 18, 1973, to reconsider burial eligibility determinations;
  • Correct statutory language to avoid constitutional challenges regarding tier III sex offender classification; and
  • Repeal a now-duplicative provision of the Alicia Dawn Koehl Respect for National Cemeteries Act.

The full text of the legislation is available here.

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