WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) announced today she has joined Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho) to offer an amendment to the Department of Defense Authorization Bill that would eliminate burial benefits and funeral honors for any veteran convicted of a federal or state capital offense. The proposal, currently pending on the floor of the U.S. Senate, closes the loophole, which has allowed convicted murderers to receive full burial honors at national military cemeteries like Arlington National Cemetery.

“Every day, brave soldiers are honored and laid to rest in our national military cemeteries and we have precious little to offer in comfort for their grieving loved ones. What we can do is to insist that these sacred resting places, and the honors our nation rightfully bestows on those who have died in its service, are preserved as sanctuaries and monuments to the values they died protecting,” said Senator Mikulski. “Placing the remains of a cold-blooded murderer in this hallowed ground makes a mockery of that service.”

Senator Mikulski initially brought this issue to the Veterans’ Affairs Committee’s attention in August 2005 following the controversial placement of convicted killer Russell Wagner’s remains in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors. Wagner killed Daniel and Wilda Davis, two elderly residents of Hagerstown, Md. Their son, Vernon Davis, joined Senator Mikulski in testifying before the committee in September 2005.

The Craig-Mikulski amendment takes away burial eligibility for any veteran convicted of a capital crime, whether in federal or state court, regardless of whether parole is a possibility. It also denies funeral honors to veterans being buried in private cemeteries if they have lost eligibility due to a capital conviction.

The amendment requires the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to write regulations ensuring that no one is placed in a military or veterans’ cemetery, or provided funeral honors, unless a good faith effort has been made to ensure that the person is eligible for receiving that honor.

“Our national cemeteries are hallowed ground,” testified Senator Mikulski. “They should not be tainted by the remains of convicted murderers. Arlington is for heroes.”

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