with the department of the interior. to raise the standards, -- i hope that we could all be at your standard with the battle monuments commission. let's rise, and ray's that standard. we will raise that with the department of the interior for those cemeteries. i want to thank you and the ranking member for bringing to light, not only to allow max cleveland -- cleveland -- cleland to talk about this, and there is also the limited budget that they have had. let us know what your needs are, and we will be working together here, not only on the appropriations committee, but also with secretary salazar to make this right. >> thank you. i would like to remind all the

panelists that they can make -- that the complete written statements have been made, so that you can change your remarks, so that we can have time to follow the questions with everyone. the first panel includes max cleland. he honorable max cleland, who has served this country in many capacities currently as secretary of the battle line commission congratulations on your position, sir, but also as senator and soldier and we all americans i think are grateful for your service. also, mr. john metzler, superintendent at the arlington national cemetery accompanied by his -- [inaudible]

deputy secretary for personnel oversight department of the army u.s. department of defense and the katherine stevenson assistant director for business services of the national park service u.s. department of interior. and i forgot to mention former secretary of the va for mr. cleland, long and illustrious resonate. we go with five minute rule as closely as we can and secretary cleland, you are recognized for five minutes. >> i will say that the kind words why buyer are welcome. i can take credit for none of that. the american battle monuments commission has been of around since 1923 when general pershing when the effort after leading the american expeditionary force in world war i. and he put it together and was the chairman for many years.

i'm the secretary and i am honored to be a part of that. the rule of the american battle monuments commission is truly incredible. most americans never see an american cemetery abroad. we invite all of you to come. members of congress and members of the public and if you can't come access us on the internet. we, are there, ibmc.com. my mother is also at the cemetery because my father preserved pearl harbor after the attack so we thank you for those works. and mr. chairman, i will say that coming to the house is an interesting experience because in the senate we are not limited by the five minute rule, however i will try to control myself the first time i came to this

hearing room i was up for being the head of the va. i was 34 years of age. that is a time when i encountered all the issues that you're dealing with in terms of the va cemetery system. now i am much older, old enough to think that dance with me and you're still the one, author by our chairman, are oldies but goodies, savitt is an honor to be here. we are the overseas guys. if you want to know the american battle lines the commission does, it maintains and commemorates america americans who in many ways to light in place and are buried pretty much where they fell. we also from monuments and memorials. in more and more ways now that generations are succeeding world war i and world war ii generations who are buried in

our cemeteries, many of them, members of those generations, our main mission becomes not only the green grass and white crosses, and we do that as mr. buyer pointed out better than anybody in the world. but our main mission now is to tell that story for succeeding generations so they will understand why there is a cemetery there in manila, in hawaii, why there is an american battle mines commission to veterans from world war ii in the pacific in hawaii, and the panama canal, in mexico city in terms of the mexican war, tunisian, north america and throughout western europe. so, america through the 20th century especially, has been over the world, and americans have lost their lives all over the world.

and toward those who primarily lost their lives in world war i and world war ii and the family did not want to repatriate their remains to america. beginning with the end of world war ii, with the corrine and war , technology made it possible for us to fly the remains home to read from the korean war on throughout iraq, through afghanistan, we fly the remains home. but in a certain way that makes ferre loss of that loved one and that service man or woman even more anonymous. so, it is appropriate that we gather here today to think about how we can better honor the fallen and how we can better take care of those who gave as lincoln said the full measure of devotion. for those who want to read on the american battle monuments commission, each of you has the

annual report and citizens can get it from us if they request it and we are glad to provide it. this is an age-old problem, mr. chairman. i have been looking at some various quotes that i like very much. one dates from about 2500 years ago where and or a tour tried to describe -- or orator tried to describe his community and his nation and it is the periclean oratory that we remember, the story of the polynesian war. for the heroes have the whole earth and in a land far from their own where the columns with its epitaph declares it there is enshrined in every breath a record on written with no tablet to preserve it except that of

the hartel. in so many ways we have the tablets, we have the cemeteries, we have the memorials. but we have our part as well. and for those who have lost loved ones, their heart will take until their death, and for the rest of us, too, there is a sense of which we all try to make meaning out of suffering. we try to make meaning out of war. archibald macleish, the great american poet, lost a brother, younger brother in world war i, and he is buried in one of our cemeteries at flanders' fields. and archibald macleish in dealing with that grief wrote a poem but his last lines are very meaningful to me. and he said about the yong did they say we leave you our death,

give them their meaning. i think that is what we are all about, mr. chairman. thank you very much. >> thank you, mr. secretary. next witness is mr. metzler. your statement is entered in the hearing record and you are now recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. members of the committee. i appreciate the opportunity to testify before the subcommittee today on behalf of the secretary of the army in support of arlington national cemetery. it is an honor for me to represent arlington national cemetery, our nation's premier cemetery. with me today is the deputy secretary of the army for personnel oversight. the management of arlington national cemetery presents unique challenges among national and military cemeteries. arlington continues to serve as

an active burial place for today's solitary men and women and reserves as a very heavily visited national shrine honoring the past service of men and women in our armed forces and fiscal year 2008 there were 4,123 interments, and in 2000, 781 and are meant in love berryman's. the current fiscal year 2009 we estimate there will be more than 7,000 funerals conducted at arlington national cemetery. tannin formal requests for exceptions to the internment policy were received during the current year seven of which were extended family members to go into existing graves. they were approved at my level as a superintendent. three others were requested and not approved by the secretary of the army which will have required a new graves. since the funeral of president kennedy of 1963 arlington national cemetery has become a major tourist attraction. during this past fiscal year,

arlington accommodated over 4 million visitors, making arlington one of the most acidic historic sites here in the national capital region. also during this year, it will be conducted almost 3,000 ceremonies at the arlington national cemetery. thousands of letters visitors foreign and american have come to produce pete in various events ranging from a simple ceremony at the tomb of the unknown soldier to the national veterans day memorial programs which are attended to by the president. over 127 fall in service members serving in operation enduring freedom and over 445 paulen service members serving in operation iraqi freedom have been laid to rest at arlington national cemetery. among those buried at arlington is specialist ross mcginnis awarded the medal of honor for his her would act in iraq. sergeant first class paul r. donnelly and other is memorialized in section d at the

cemetery for his deeds and operation iraqi freedom. on january 1st, 2009 secretary of army authorized all service members who were killed in action or died as a result of wounds to receive full military honors at arlington cemetery whether they are in toward, or memorialized. this would include s-corp platoon, culbert team, ban, qassam as well as firing party, casket team, bugler and chaplain. this concludes my remarks and i would be pleased to respond to questions. >> thank you.

operations on national cemeteries and also orders had stones from the same facilities that produce headstones were the nca cemetery. we adhere to standards for placement in the alignment of stones and replaces headstones that need second inscriptions for spouses. i ask the nation's lead historic preservation agency the national park service has great value on the historic significance, historic appearance and historic headstones of the national cemeteries we manage. consequently, we clean the headstones as gently as possible. we realigned headstone's by hand and maintain the historic

landscape appearance, the contour and the trees to the greatest practical extent. our maintenance workers avoid using long tremors near the headstone's as the marble trips and is thus more susceptible to erosion. we also avoid chemican@ @ @ @ @ >> thank you, and is stevenson. i will recognize myself for a round of questions starting with secretary cleland.

you're written testimony is just as public as your oral testimony was and covered a lot of extra ground, but i will just focus on a couple of things. the normandy visitors center represents the efforts to tell a better story of those brave souls who fought in this historic and bloody battle. i know that the abmc was considering expanding its program to several other sites so that the many visitors to the abmc properties would gain even further insight into our overseas veterans' sacrifice. does the commission still intend to expand its interpretive program to these other sites, and could you provide us with a status update on this effort? >> yes, sir, we do. the wonderful staff that i inherited has worked very hard to get into the third phase of what we do. first of all, we do white crosses and and green grass but the ultimate story that we tell

for succeeding generations is probably what we will be remembered by. when we tell that story in various ways through the internet, through interactive internet access. but we also tell that story through what we call the interpretive program. we stole that idea from the park service. [laughter] and they have a whole series of interpretive programs throughout the park service, and they have an interpreter of promotion system within the park service. so wasteful that idea in order to tell the story. now we have an interpretive program. the first real interpretation of what a visitor sees when they come to an american battle monuments cemetery is at normandy. some $30 million was spent. we thank the house and the senate for putting that together in terms of money. and now it has tremendous

visitation. normandy itself has tremendous visitation. i was there with the president on june 6, and he looked at me and said "great job," and i said thank you, mr. president but i have been the secretary for 48 hours. .. >> basically we have

visitors primarily in the western european operation that they say themselves the spot visitors speak in two or three languages and we will be interpreting america's contribution to their security and safety to the program through visitor center and through the brochures that we put together that is well under way mr. chairman. >> thank you. in june 2009 gao released a report identifying 13 deficits with the internal control procedures several involved the trust fund and banking investments and transactions they then recommended 24 corrective actions. what is the response to the report and what steps have been taken to fix these problems? >> first of all, you are

correct and we will provide that for the record one of the things that i found when i came here is there was a number of recommendations. some of them, a lot of it had to do with eight automatic data processing operation in western europe. i just determined fed chief intimation an officer should be in western europe and healthcare on top of this we will be glad to provide that for the record or if there is a member of our staff present in the audience that would like to speak to that, i will welcome that. >> sens i only have 45 seconds left and this is not a the senate, i will ask one more question after other members have a chance but secretary, one final thing could you explain how the current economic climate has

affected the currency fluctuation and has congress given do enough authority to manage those? >> guess we do pay the foreign service nationals to help maintain the cemeteries around the world as monuments and memorials it is a gold standard around the world in terms of that we do have to adjust our currency to there's to the host nation and shall we say. and to the foreign labor force that we deal with so congress has given us plenty authority for the currency fluctuation and we are in good shape in terms of the foreign-currency. >> thank you so much i will now recognize the ranking member for five minutes of questions. >> thank you, mr. chairman i will give my time to the

ranking member in addition to whatever time he may need on his own if that is the case. >> mr. beyer? >> [inaudible] what is a started very four meristem's, it is truly extraordinary good grass is finely manicured it is

extraordinary was the grave markers, it is absolutely an extraordinary place that shows true dedication to the sacrifice of so many of these men. not only were they on the beaches. [inaudible] is there was also a memorial so as is said and the opening statement. >> when you think of the

cemetery people really feel those who have sacrificed a minimum of liberty. >> that is the second standard, the third standard out from san diego. it was beautiful and then it showed an excellent job to make sure seven magma national cemetery, it should

not matter of somebody who died in the civil war. this should not matter if they died in the revolution. >> it should not matter if they die in mexico city. this is not the standard.

>> if you make a lot of guys and complain about something , i complain about all of these we took a weed record two it. walker to it. >> i just want to say all that we need to do that is the focus. tell us what you need for the requirements going forward. if you need to reset the

standard let us know and we will help you. we want to make sure this is an active cemetery we want there to be standards. okay? >> this is classic and very par fall and one thing i could not articulate that but when you see if you can begin to understand. unasked comment tell the committee here what do you believe your needs are? to raise the standards? >> the report that i just mentioned will have some recommendations for finding

and it will have recommendations for increase treatment of cleaning and so on. >> what are your goals? >> the same as the goals set by the national cemetery administration. we have the same three standards alignment, clean stones. [inaudible] >> how many cemeteries day you go to in the review? >> for. >> company in the system? >> 14. >> why did you go to all 14? >> we wanted to get a sense of what was going on so we took one that was fairly close. >> what are the four? >> andersonville, for donald cent and stone river. >>

>> a one and tennessee? >> had do cent increase out? >> nosair no more than usual >> you have 14. i will not fight you. i want us to raise the standards so when this report comes out i am going through it. , my immediate sense when the secretary tells me he will do a review it is of all 14 cemeteries i don't want something done quick and easy. all right? i want this to be done correctly and if your sense is that for is sufficient that is fine but what you

are asking me when you get the report you will be satisfied? ã# @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ p

the worst photograph. it is easy. i was extremely upset the day that i saw a that to being buried in the cemetery on the day that i saw. it is one thing. we have all been to cemeteries and we have seen the conditions but to think this is an active cemetery under the stewardship of the federal government is extremely disheartening. pause i will give you the end of the time back. i will await your report to and work with the chairmen and ranking member and mr. miller and others of the committee but in particular because of the appropriations committee. this is not going to be an issue of money but an issue of desire and to achieve the

highest standard possible part without will yield back my time. >> thank you mr. buyer. ms. stevens, i want to thank you for coming and testifying before us and a note for the record this committee does not have jurisdiction over the national park service and we appreciate you coming to testify before us. but we all share the same goal and terms of standards and quality high of the facilities that you manage. says the fsn help with replacing the headstones when they break gordy terrie? >> i do not believe that they do. we order the headstones from the same company, but we do all of that workforce all. >> as on the the a advisory committee do feel this is a good vehicle for addressing

the concerns or do they need a more developed in partnership with the the a regarding cemeteries? >> fairly recently in 2004 the interagency committee was established and we look forward to working with that committee but the head of that committee became ill before it was resolve labor like to see the committee reconstituted so we can discuss some of these concerns. >> when will the review of the cemeteries be complete? when you expect to share that with mca? >> we did a review of the four cemeteries that is complete as it is just moving through formal review through office of management and budget. >> thank you. based on serious issues that are raised regarding the

grave marking what has been done to reassure families buried at arlington that their loved ones have them properly entered in a properly marked have you coordinated efforts with the mba offered -- at the office of survivor assistance and have any of your a real jeffords talked with the counselors to are authorized to see families when there has been a an act of theft? >> we're not chordata with the veterans administration member of the army does have counselors but we are not to my knowledge are not talking to the veterans administration for that. >> when problems arise with the the a providing headstones are markers with the inscription error, what is the records and how is that situation handled? >> we go to veterans of ministration for all headstones when we make an

initial mistake we ask for the expedited replacement they are very timely to replace it within a month. >> mr. metzler if there are errors an inscription can make the request for repairs or does the family have to be informed? >> if we are informed about the mistake we will make an immediate correction to the family satisfaction and. >> are there instances at arlington with a veteran without dependants have requested that benefits be passed to the parent? >> we have been asked that but that does not within the guidance. the burial benefit is to the better and they cannot pass on to other family members >> starting with you mr. metzler is it something you would recommend that the

committee do to help you to do your job better or to halt memorialized in our veterans better? >> the continuation of the national shrine commitments that has been a great shot in the arm and helped us to get a lot of things done we have not been able to doing the past. i would ask for your continued support in that program. >> one sentence mr. secretary? the same question. >> we are proud of the cemeteries. the scope of america's involvement around the world in particular the 20th century is staggering. going to normandy or any

other cemeteries around the world to realize how much america has paid four. its service and sacrifice around the world. we think the house and the senate for all of the help they have given in the past. we are honored to serve mr. chairman. i will say that our motto is what was said at the outset of the commission from 1923 talking about the veterans of world war i, that 29 shall not dimmed the glory of their deeds so that is the standard we have tried to adhere two. >> we have a vote to that has been called as a one to quickly ask ms. stevens and i will ask mr. miller but as there something that the subcommittee or the a can do to help you do your job

better? >> real-life to see the interagency working group reestablished. >> okay. we will try to make that happen. >> mr. miller? >> two quick questions thank you for your hospitality. anytime this body can go out to arlington we appreciate what you do. one deals with the policy eye and a stand it took almost 10 years to come up with the policy. could you now quickly describe why it took so long and what the policy is and how you go through that process? >> was an informal process of it is now formalized through the secretary of the army. there is a group of senior officials within the army that would receive the request after they have come to my office with the

recommendation i forwarded on to the secretary of army and then turn and they will take that recommendation request and send it to the senior panel. they will make the recommendations back to the assistant secretary of all working independently then in turn he will bring it to the secretary of the army for a final decision. the process should take some more and the neighborhood of four or five working. >> can you elaborate on the length of time it took to establish the policy? >> several years but was done in conjunction with a rewrite of the federal code of regulations that has been completed and under review right now by the department of defense. >> any other questions we are concerned about the lack of land availability around arlington. are there any other parcels identified that could be available for acquisitions and? >> the two that we currently

have better working is the millennium site which is already under our jurisdiction from fort myer and to come on line which is federal building #2 scheduling to come on line at 2012 rugrats the same time the outgoing secretary of the army has ordered a new master plan to look at the issues that will start next year in 2010. >> if we need to help the new secretary of the army we will be happy to visit with him as well. thank you. >> we have two votes and six minutes remaining so we will ask the second and third panel to be patient. it will be about 20 minutes. thank you to the panel for your work and a service to our veterans and to their memory and to their families felt we are now in recess until we come back from both. >> thank you, mr. chairman.@pn@@

>> that is the first time i have ever hit the gavel three times. it felt good. the subcommittee on and disability assistance will come to order again. thank you for your patience. joining us on the second panel is mr. john wilson

legislative director for disabled americans and veterans mr. kelly and national legislative director, said chairmen for gold star wives of america and a director from political affairs from the national funeral directors association and john nikolai from local 2241 from the american federation of government employees. welcome the wall. two hour first panel your statements are already entered into the personal record and feel free to edit or change you're whenever you wish and we will try to keep it up five minutes and we have time for questions. we have boats coming up in one hour i hope to get through both panels before thence you do not have to wait again. mr. wilson?

you are recognized for five minutes to my think you mr. chairman and members of the committee i'm glad to be here on behalf of the dav you to share our views of it with the cemetery policy and the way the the a and their services and survivors are served they maintain more than 2.9 million gravesides at 130 cemeteries in 33 installations and in 39 states and in pr. there are more than 7,000 acres established and just more than half is undeveloped. including available gravesite and the undeveloped land there is potential to provide more than 4 million resting places in addition, the state cemetery grant program the head stone marker program, presidential memorial marker program and to the burial receptacle

reimbursements. of must be allocated the resources it needs to have graveside men's and related essential elements of cemetery operations in. some such as the one in pr face immediate expansion through and acquisition. we understand the t.r. inc has a project for 2010 that would give added quiet burial space prnc will remain open for second interments after completion of the project prnc will remain open and two cremations at through 2030 although it is an option veterans and survivors do not make this day by of alternative to religious beliefs they are seeking 100 acres within a 25-mile radius. the rapid acquisition of this land is essential to this veteran population. all those the $250 million

shrine initiative was not adopted the nca spent tours the original list as well as other emerging priorities over the last year. it was a large part due to congressional action to reduce years of neglect it requested $181 million fy 2009 congress understanding the sacrifices of the few honored by granting nca 280 million with an additional 50 million of stimulus funds. the administration request for fy 2010 is 242 million granting that will sustain the important progress nca has made and we urge congress to do so. the next subject is burial benefits it was only 6% what was provided when nca started to pay this benefit while it was never the intent of congress to/k%)r

seriously eroded by inflation because of a house not been regularly adjusted for inflation and so we support the legislation to increase the burial allowance and to provide for automatic annual adjustments index two cost-of-living. that concludes my statement mr. chairman it is a pleasure to appear before

this honorable committee today. >> thank you, mr. chairman wilson. mr. kelly your recognized. >> thank you for the opportunity to present our views on the national cemetery policy. i will commit my time to two major points. . .

reducing the population threshold. lowering the population threshold to 1,000 veterans would immediately make several eligibles for a cemetery regardless of changes to the mile radius threshold. the threshold must be implemented so more of our veterans will have access to this benefit. in 1973 nca established a burial allow once that provided partial reimbursements for burial costs. the current payment is $2,000 for burial expenses for service connected death, 304 non-service

connected death and 300 for plot allowance. the payout covers 72% of the payout cost for service connected death, 22% from on service connected death and 54% for a burial plot cost. in 2007 these benefits were lowered to 23%, 4%, and 14% respectively. it is time to bring these benefits back to their original value. the national average cost for a funeral and burial in a private cemetery has reached over $8,500. and the cost for a burial plot is $2,100. at the inception of the benefit the average cost was $1,100, and to enter a $80 respectively. by the cost of a funeral has increased nearly seven times the real benefit has only increased two and a half times. to bring both allowance and plot allowance back to the 73 value the service connected burial benefit payment will be $6,160. dimond service connected

benefits payment will be $1,918 the plot allowance will be increased to $1,150. based on accessibility and need to provide quality burial benefits, amvets recommends the va separate burial benefits into two categories: veterans who live inside the accessible the threshold model and those who live of sight the threshold. for those veterans who live outside the threshold, the service connected benefits should be increased $66,160, on service connected benefits increased to 1,918 and the ploch alliance should increase to 1,150 to match the original value of the benefit. for veterans who live within reasonable accessibility to a state or national cemetery, just able to accommodate the real needs but the veteran would be rather buried in a private cemeteries for burial benefits should be adjusted. these veterans' burial benefits should be increased the average cost for va to conduct a

funeral. the benefit for servers connected burial would be to thousand $793 provided for all servers connected burial would be $854 plot elements would be $1,150. this will provide the real benefits that equal percentages but based on average cost for va funeral not on private funeral cost this concludes my testimony. thank you for the privilege to present amvets views and i would be happy to answer any questions you have at this point. >> thank you, mr. kelley. mize cisneros wersel come you are recognized. >> good morning. im vivian cisneros wersel, chairman of the government committee. thank you for the opportunity to present a statement. we are here to provide input what can be done better to help families of the fallen, our answer is simply this.

how families navigate the benefit process, increase benefits for burial and other associated costs this ptc offset include the word survivors and va publications, documentation, speeches and testimony by va personnel. im the surviving spouse of lieutenant colonel marine corps who died suddenly in 2005 when a week after he returned from his second tour of duty in iraq. that day was it just like any other day for me, however it was a date to determine here, today, before, after all of my hopes and dreams had to change and was readjusted. my new life, my old life and now my new life as a gold star wife. goldstar why this is an all volunteer organization that

provides a service, support and friendship. surviving spouses look to us as a link to benefit information and their ways in congress. we are the vanguards of survivor benefits, educating the public as well as elected officials, on issues relating to military survivors committee's efforts however cannot be accomplished without you and your support. improvements have been made in our benefits process, however the important in staying vigilant as i also know grieving spouse falls through the cracks. important decisions are made by each grieving spouse immediately after casualty notification. many of these decisions are permanent and impact their future as well as their children. these families need accurate information, procrit documentation and expedited benefits. this information should be provided in more than one format. and on more than one occasion for full comprehension by the surviving spouse. goldstar wives seeks accurate

information, pravachol resistance and increases allowable cost associated with military funerals and burials. we understand the va is in process developing a much needed brochure providing more information explaining the use of shelters. another issue being addressed by the va as a possibility of creating new va cemeteries in areas that normally would not qualify. gold start wives seeks and increases the bureau allowance. the number-one concern of our core families is financial stability. the removal of the dependent compensation dollar for dollar offset of the survival benefit plan s off said would have the impact. additionally h.r. 2243 surviving spouse's benefit improvements act of 2009 introduced by representative would increase the dic to provide payment of 55% of the 100% disability

compensation bringing the di see in the line with other federal survive your programs. dic has not been increased since the flat rate dic was established in 1993. this will also remove the dic benefit of the surviving plan. recently the court claims decision with regards too sharp versus united states ordered the department of defense to refund sbp of military spouses also receiving dic. the court found these widows were entitled to sbp benefits without the dollar for dollar reduction of the dic. we recognize jurisdiction free sights elsewhere on fi sbp dic off said. the gold star wives would like each member to be aware of the important decision of this case and worked diligently to and the inequity for the small group of military survivors. lastly, survivors are not

synonymous as dependent or family members and many government publications. documents or even speeches. this group is not new and must be recognized, not forgotten. we commend the va that the new 2,009 addition of the federal benefits for veterans, dependent and survivors that i've brought here, it now states federal benefits for veterans, dependent and survivors on the front cover of the handbook. this is for less a moral victory. last year, you can look at the difference, it says federal benefits for veterans and dependents, so we have come a long way. thank you for this. thank you for this opportunity to testify. gold start wives and i are appreciative of the compassionate work of the members and staff of the subcommittee accomplishing on our behalf we hope that you look to us as the voice of military

survivors. i have 16 seconds i will say something quick. last time i testified i was an audiologist with a master's degree. i'm still an audiologist, but now i have my doctorate. i am a doctorate of audiology and i did it with a va using my chapter 35 benefits and i thank you. >> thank you, ms. wersel. and thank you you and your organization's work to keep the fabric of the support systems strong for all of our military families. i was at dinner last night with a number of veterans and gold star wives, gold star mothers and one gold star bader and am grateful for the sacrifices you and your loved ones have given for the country.

ms. witter, you are recognized. >> thank you for the opportunity to testify before do this morning about how we can better serve america's veterans and their families. i am of leslie witter director of political affairs for the national funeral directors association. i am testifying today on behalf of over 19,000 funeral directors and funeral service personnel who are members of nfda. we help make sure each veteran has the care and dignity different because their sacrifice in the defense of the freedoms we enjoy today. while the responsibility of providing appropriate funeral and burial benefits and proper military honors falls on the va and the dod is funeral directors who help the family organized a personalized funeral and burial that celebrates the life of their loved one and honors the

service to the country. funeral directors contact the va to schedule funeral and burial times come help family filed benefit claims come ensure each veteran receives appropriate grave markers and works with the dod and the veterans service organizations to provide appropriate military honors. in preparation for my testimony today, nfda created and on the scientific survey of membership regarding their opinions on how we can better serve our veterans and their families. i am happy to report nfda members provided thoughtful and detailed responses on this important issue. i will now highlight some of the key findings of the survey i have supplied detailed findings in my written testimony. approximately half of the nfda members surveyed said that they had assisted in planning 21 or more funerals in 2,008. most funeral