ms. titus, dr. ruiz, mr. walz and mr. o'rourke. in addition, i want to acknowledge the contributions of representatives johnson, butterfield, latta, frank. h.r. 677, as amended, incorporates legislation that chairman miller introduced which would expand the eligibility for a medallion provided by v.a. for private headstones that have been identified the deceased as a veteran. these medallions may be attached to privately purchased headstones to veterans in and would be endescribed veteran at the top and the branch at the bottom. the medallions have proven to be very popular with many families choosing to have the medallion to honor the service of their loved one. unfortunately current law only authorizes medallions for veterans who died before november 1, 1990. during the disability assistance and memorial affairs subcommittee hearing, v.a. testified that it has been forced to deny 91% of applications for me dal -- medallions because the requests were made by families of veterans who died before november 1, 1990. h.r. 677, as amend