Advocates For Bill Keeping National Cemeteries Open on Federal Holidays
U.S. SENATE – U.S. Senator Steve Daines today chaired a Senate National Parks subcommittee hearing, where he spoke with Mike Caldwell from the National Park Service and urged his colleagues to support his bill requiring national cemeteries to be open on federal holidays.
Watch his opening remarks HERE.
Daines’ opening remarks:
Today’s subcommittee hearing is the first in the 119th Congress. I want to thank my co-chair, Senator King, for joining me today. I look forward to continuing our long streak of bipartisan work. Specifically, I am excited to continue our work on reauthorizing the Legacy Restoration Fund to address Park Service deferred maintenance in our strongly bipartisan America the Beautiful Act.
The Legacy Restoration Fund has been a historic investment in our parks and public lands. I look forward to working with Chairman Lee and Ranking Member Heinrich as well as all my colleagues to get our America the Beautiful Act to President Trump’s desk before the country’s 250th birthday on July 4th. On today’s agenda we have 26 bills, many of which are bipartisan or have the support from the state delegation. I am excited to hear more about S.290, the Making National Parks Safer Act, led by Senators Barrasso and King. One of the first hearings I led as Chairman of the Parks Subcommittee was on “Encouraging the Next Generation to Visit the Parks” where we talked about technology in the parks including emergency communications and digital park passes. We have made progress since that hearing in 2015, Senator King and I were successful in getting our bill signed into law last year to allow a digital America the Beautiful Pass, but we still have significant issues with emergency communications. I look forward to hearing how this bill will help expand next-generation 9-1-1 and other emergency communications systems. Finally, I want to mention one bill that’s not on today’s agenda but has important Park Service equities. S. 1858, requires National Cemeteries, including those administered by the National Park Service, to be open to visitors during federal holidays so family and friends can visit their loved ones during special remembrance days. S.1858 was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs but as it mandates cemeteries administered by the Park Service to remain open, and specifically the Custer National Cemetery in Montana, I wanted to flag this important bill for the Park Service’s review and support.
Daines on his bill to keep national cemeteries open on federal holidays:
Daines: As I discussed my opening statement, Senate Bill 1858 requires the Park Service to keep the 14 national cemeteries you administer open during federal holidays. This has been a persistent issue in Montana where the Custer National Cemetery has been closed on important remembrance days like Christmas and Memorial Day itself. My question is, do you agree that national cemeteries should remain open so family and friends of service members can visit their loved ones and allow for patriotic activities such as wreaths across America to honor fallen service members and warriors on important holidays?
Caldwell: Yes, Senator.
Watch their full exchange HERE.
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Contact: Matt Lloyd, Gabby Wiggins