National Cemeteries Preservation and Protection Act of 2022
Public Law 117-355 · S. 4949 · 117th Congress · began in the Senate
Signed by Joe Biden (D) on Jan 5, 2023 · Armed Forces and National Security
Sponsor: Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT)
Cosponsors (1): Sen. Mike Rounds
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.
National Cemeteries Preservation and Protection Act of 2022
This act addresses the administration and jurisdiction of national cemeteries.
Specifically, the act requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to pay a plot or interment allowance for a veteran if the veteran was buried before March 15, 2022, in a cemetery on trust land owned by, or held in trust for, a tribal organization, and the organization that maintains or operates the cemetery applies for such allowance. Such allowance is only authorized if a plot or interment allowance was not already paid for the burial of such veteran.
The act also authorizes the VA to designate green burial sections in national cemeteries (i.e., sections of cemeteries in which the remains of individuals have been prepared for interment in a manner not involving chemicals or embalming fluids and have been interred in a natural manner or completely biodegradable burial receptacle).
The act authorizes the Department of the Army to transfer certain lands to the VA to expand the Fort Bliss National Cemetery.
In addition, the act authorizes the Department of the Interior to transfer certain land to the VA for the land to be used as a national cemetery.
Finally, the act prohibits persons who have committed certain crimes from being interred or memorialized in a cemetery in the National Cemetery Administration or in Arlington National Cemetery.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
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
The record lists no related bills.
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. 15 actions.
- Jan 5, 2023Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 117-355.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Dec 28, 2022FloorFloor · Presented to President.
- Dec 22, 2022FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote.
- FloorFloor · DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on S. 4949.
- FloorFloor · Considered under suspension of the rules.
- FloorFloor · Mr. Takano moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.
- Dec 21, 2022FloorFloor · Held at the desk.
- FloorFloor · Received in the House.
- Dec 20, 2022FloorFloor · Message on Senate action sent to the House.
- Dec 19, 2022FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.
- CommitteeCommittee · Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs discharged by Unanimous Consent.
- Sep 27, 2022CommitteeCommittee · Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in Senate
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.