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S. 1471: Alicia Dawn Koehl Respect for National Cemeteries Act

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S. 1471: Alicia Dawn Koehl Respect for National Cemeteries Act

113th Congress · introduced 2013-08-01 · Armed Forces and National Security · Latest: Became Public Law No: 113-65.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

  1. Where it came from: introduced 2013-08-01 · official record
  2. Who proposed it: Sen. Coats, Daniel [R-IN] · what a sponsor is
  3. What happened next: 1 recorded vote in our records. Latest: House roll call 634 (2013): On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, S1471 (2013-12-11), Passed. See all
  4. Where it stands now: Became Public Law No: 113-65. (final step reached)
  5. If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Alicia Dawn Koehl Respect for National Cemeteries Act

Plain summary

Alicia Dawn Koehl Respect for National Cemeteries Act - Authorizes the appropriate federal official (either the Secretary of Veterans Affairs [VA] or the Secretary of the Army) to reconsider a decision to inter or honor the memory of a person in the National Cemetery Administration or in Arlington National Cemetery upon receiving information that such person may have committed a federal or state capital crime but was not convicted by reason of unavailability for trial due to death or flight to avoid prosecution. Requires such official, upon finding, after an opportunity for a hearing, that the person committed but was not convicted of such crime, to provide notice to the individual's next of kin or other person authorized to arrange burial or memorialization of the deceased person of the decision to disinter such person's remains or remove a memorial headstone or marker. Allows such next of kin or other person 60 days to file a notice of disagreement, which shall initiate appellate review. Authorizes the appropriate federal official, when a decision becomes final, to disinter the remains or remove the memorial headstone or marker. Modifies the exception to the prohibition against interment or memorialization in the National Cemetery System or Arlington National Cemetery of a person convicted of a federal or state capital crime to require receipt of written notice of a conviction before interment or memorialization takes place (currently, receipt of such notice is required before the appropriate federal official approves an application for interment or memorialization). Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs: (1) to disinter the remains of Michael LaShawn Anderson from Fort Custer National Cemetery (Michigan); (2) to notify his next of kin of the impending disinterment; and (3) upon disinterment, to relinquish the remains to the next of kin or, if the next of kin of record is unavailable, arrange for the appropriate disposition of the remains.

Congressional Research Service summary (Passed Senate amended), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Alicia Dawn Koehl Respect for National Cemeteries Act

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Passed Senate amended)

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Coats, Daniel [R-IN] · 2 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Recorded votes

Words on this page, explained (2)
Appropriation
Money a legislature sets aside by law for a specific purpose. Government agencies may spend public money only as it has been appropriated.
Authorization
A law that creates or continues a government program and says what it may do, often with a suggested spending ceiling. An authorization alone does not provide money; a separate appropriation does.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Record fed-us-cong113-s1471 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong113 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong113