{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.burr.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.PressReleases&Type=Press Release&ContentRecord_id=7197f74e-fb90-c507-6879-5054bf4e2c79", "Coats Bill to Protect Integrity of National Cemeteries Clears the Senate", "2013-11-19", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Richard Burr", "B001135", "www.burr.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "11.19.13\n\t\t\t Coats Bill to Protect Integrity of National Cemeteries Clears the Senate \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t Senate passage of Alicia Dawn Koehl Respect for National Cemeteries Act one step closer to law\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t \r\nSenator\r\nDan Coats (R-Ind.) today praised the Senate's passage of the Alicia Dawn\r\nKoehl Respect for National Cemeteries Act, (S.1471), legislation he\r\nintroduced that would give the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the\r\nU.S. Department of the Army the authority to disinter veterans buried in\r\nnational cemeteries who have committed a Federal or State capital crime. The\r\nbill passed the Senate unanimously on Monday evening.\r\n\r\n\r\n\"I\r\ntruly wish the events that prompted the need for this legislation never\r\noccurred in the first place,\" said Coats. \"My office and I have been working\r\nfor more than a year with the Koehl family and the VA to remedy this\r\nunacceptable mistake. I am pleased the Senate unanimously passed my bill to\r\nhelp give the Koehl family a sense of closure and to protect the integrity of\r\nour national cemeteries.\"\r\n\r\n\r\n\"The\r\nmen and women who have served our country are heroes and deserve to be honored\r\nwhen they pass; however, veterans who have committed a capital crime should not\r\nbe allowed to be laid to rest in one of our national cemeteries among these\r\nbrave individuals,\" said Senator Richard Burr (R-N.C.), ranking member\r\nof the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs and a cosponsor of the bill. \"A\r\nmilitary burial is one of the greatest honors we can bestow on our men and\r\nwomen in uniform and should not include those who have committed such heinous\r\nacts.\"\r\n\r\n\r\nSpecifically,\r\nthe bill would give the VA the authority it needs to exhume the remains of\r\nMichael LaShawn Anderson, who shot and killed Indianapolis resident Alicia Dawn\r\nKoehl on May 30, 2012. After learning that Anderson was buried at Fort Custer\r\nNational Cemetery, the Koehl family requested that the VA disinter his remains.\r\nThe VA rejected the request, claiming it does not have the authority to exhume\r\nthe remains of an ineligible veteran who is mistakenly buried in one of their\r\ncemeteries.\r\n\r\n\r\nCurrent\r\nlaw prohibits persons who \"have committed a Federal or State capital crime but\r\nwere unavailable for trial due to death\" from being given the honor of a burial\r\nin a national cemetery.\r\n\r\n\r\nCoats\r\nadded,\r\n\"As a veteran myself, I have the deepest respect for those who have worn the\r\nuniform to serve our country, but no veteran who commits a state or federal\r\ncapital crime should be given the honor of a military burial and be laid to\r\nrest next to our nation's heroes. That is the law today and my bill allows the\r\nVA and Defense Department to ensure the law is followed.\"\r\n\r\n\r\nCoats\r\nintroduced the Alicia Dawn Koehl Respect for National Cemeteries Act on August\r\n1, 2013. Representative Susan W. Brooks (R-Ind.) introduced companion\r\nlegislation in the House of Representatives.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nClick\r\nhere for a copy of the\r\nlegislation.\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article\n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tNext Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.burr.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.PressReleases&Type=Press Release&ContentRecord_id=7197f74e-fb90-c507-6879-5054bf4e2c79"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8581329602748156, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}