To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for a consistent eligibility date for provision of Department of Veterans Affairs memorial headstones and markers for eligible spouses and dependent children of veterans whose remains are unavailable.
Public Law 115-136 · H.R. 3656 · 115th Congress · began in the House
Signed by Donald Trump (R) on Mar 16, 2018 · Armed Forces and National Security
Sponsor: Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN-3)
Cosponsors (1): Rep. Aumua Amata Radewagen
Passage votes
- HouseVoice vote
- SenateUnanimous consent
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
(Sec. 1) This bill expands eligibility for memorial headstones and markers provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs to certain family members of veterans. Eligibility for dependent children and remarried spouses whose remains are unavailable is expanded to include all those who die on or after November 11, 1998.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Veterans' Affairs Committee · House · markup by, referred to, reported bySubcommittee: Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Related bills
1 bill the Library of Congress relates to this one.
S. 2247Related bill
A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for a consistent eligibility date for provision of Department of Veterans Affairs memorial headstones and markers for eligible spouses and dependent children of v…
Data notes
Related bills are identified by the Congressional Research Service, the House and the Senate: companion and identical bills, bills with similar text, bills that were folded into this law, and rules that brought it to the floor. A bill that is itself a public law in this site’s data links here; the others link to Congress.gov.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 21 actions.
- Mar 16, 2018Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 115-136.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Mar 6, 2018FloorFloor · Presented to President.
- Mar 5, 2018FloorFloor · Message on Senate action sent to the House.
- Mar 1, 2018FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.
- CommitteeCommittee · Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs discharged by Unanimous Consent.
- Nov 7, 2017CommitteeCommittee · Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
- Nov 6, 2017FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote.
- FloorFloor · DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 3656.
- FloorFloor · Considered under suspension of the rules.
- FloorFloor · Mr. Roe (TN) moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
- CalendarCalendar · Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 284.
- CommitteeCommittee · Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. H. Rept. 115-387.
- Oct 12, 2017CommitteeCommittee · Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute by Voice Vote.
- CommitteeCommittee · Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
- Sep 13, 2017CommitteeCommittee · Subcommittee Hearings Held.
- CommitteeCommittee · Hearings by Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee
- Aug 18, 2017CommitteeCommittee · Referred to the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs.
- CommitteeCommittee · Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in House
Data notes
Every action the Library of Congress lists for the bill, from introduction to signing, plus the dated committee hearings. The source lists many steps twice (the chamber’s own entry and the Library of Congress copy, or a presidential and a became-law entry with the same words); those are shown once. Amendments are listed in their own section.
Amendments
No amendments to this bill are on record.
Data notes
Amendments offered to this bill in either chamber, as the Library of Congress records them: each with a status read from its last recorded step: agreed to, rejected, withdrawn, ruled out of order, fell with another amendment, or offered with no vote recorded (most Senate amendments are only ever offered). The wording of each amendment is the source’s. Amendments to amendments and amendments to other bills are not listed.
Official record
The bill’s full text is on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.