Senator Hassan Highlights Experience of Granite Stater After Passage of Bipartisan Law to Help Open Eligibility for Burial in State Veterans Cemeteries to All Service Members

WASHINGTON – Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) today highlighted the experience of a Granite Stater from Nottingham at a Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing about access to VA cemeteries for veterans and their families.

To watch Senator Hassan’s hearing questions, click here.

“Every time I visit our New Hampshire State Veterans Cemetery in Boscawen, I am obviously reminded of the incredible sacrifices that our service members and their families make,” said Senator Hassan. “I’m also reminded of how important the cemetery is to our state and our communities… people come and they’re remembering what’s important: freedom and family and home.”

Senator Hassan highlighted the experience of Sergeant David LeBlanc and his wife Cheryl, of Nottingham, New Hampshire. Despite David’s six years of service as part of the National Guard, he was not eligible for burial at Boscawen until the bipartisan Burial Equity for Guards and Reserves Act was signed into law in 2022, which enabled states to expand burial eligibility to additional members of the National Guard and Reserves without losing their VA funding. Senator Hassan, along with the New Hampshire Congressional Delegation, helped introduce and pass this bipartisan legislation. After Cheryl stored David’s remains in an urn at home for years, David was the first Granite Stater to benefit from the legislation and was laid to rest at Boscawen on the sixth anniversary of his death. Senator Hassan highlighted, “As Cheryl put it, this expanded eligibility helps to show that these service members are never forgotten.”

Senator Hassan spoke to Matthew Quinn, Undersecretary for Memorial Affairs at the National Cemetery Administration (NCA), about the Veterans Cemetery Grants Program that supports state veterans cemeteries.

“The partnership between the federal government and the state, tribal, and territorial governments through the Veterans Cemetery Grants Program, I think is one of the best relationships that’s out there,” said Mr. Quinn. “I mentioned 94 percent of veterans have a cemetery within 75 miles of where they live. Through the NCA, we would only be at about 77 percent, so the states have augmented that, and we see states continuing to want to build those cemeteries.”

Next, Senator Hassan discussed ways to spread the word about burial eligibility at VA cemeteries for veterans and their family members.

“Only 22 percent of veterans take advantage of interment within a national or grant-funded cemetery,” said Mr. Quinn. “Sixteen percent in a national cemetery, about 6 percent in grant-funded cemeteries.” He discussed the importance of informing veterans of their benefits, including doing end-of-life planning to consider burial in national and grant-funded cemeteries.

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