New bill proposes national veterans cemetery in Las Vegas

The bill reflects a campaign by its sponsor, Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., to place more national cemeteries in western states, and specifically one in Southern Nevada, where former service members are buried at the state-run Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City.

Eleven states do not have national cemeteries, and six of them are large states in the West. The others are in New England and the state of Delaware.

“You need to look at the map to see how much geography is not covered by a national cemetery,” Titus said Tuesday. “Our argument is you serve the nation, you don’t serve a state, when you go into the armed forces. And so these people, just because they happen to live in the west, that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have access to a national cemetery.”

“While state cemeteries are fine, national cemeteries have more stature, have more administration, they are just maintained at a different level,” added Titus, who sits on the House Committee on Veterans Affairs and who buttonholed VA officials on the topic during a hearing in October. She is seeking re-election this year.

The VA, in the midst of a major expansion of burial grounds, is planning national cemeteries for central Florida, Omaha, Neb., Tallahassee, Fla., western New York and southern Colorado. The Titus bill would order the VA to rearrange its priorities.

The bill does not name Las Vegas outright. Rather, it directs the agency to place the next two cemeteries in states that do not have one, with priority to states that have the highest population of veterans. That would be Nevada and Connecticut, according to Department of Veterans Affairs figures as of Sept. 30.

Within those states, it says further the cemeteries should be within 10 miles of where “a significant amount” of people are expected to live in the next 25 years.

Titus said a veterans cemetery should be placed closer to Las Vegas than in Boulder City, about 25 miles or more away from the city. “That’s a long way for little widows to make a trip,” she said “It doesn’t seem like that far but psychologically that’s far because it’s not easily accessible.”

Besides, Nevada, Connecticut and Delaware, states with no national veterans cemeteries are Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, New Hampshire, Vermont and Rhode Island.

Rep. Rob Bishop of Utah is chief Republican co-sponsor of the bill that’s expected to be introduced on Wednesday. Other original co-sponsors include Reps. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, Chris Stewart, R-Utah and Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., according to Titus’ staff.

Titus said she expects opposition from the VA. “But the VA doesn’t have a whole lot of credibility these days with its policies or its numbers or its oversight,” she said.

Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at STetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760. Find him on Twitter: @STetreaultDC.