Hawaii veterans finally get equitable burial access after 30-year gap
H.R. 6921 — Hawai‘i National Cemetery Act · Filed by Ed Case (D-HI) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Dec 23, 2025 · Hearing held
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What it does
This bill directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a new national cemetery in Hawai'i to serve veterans and eligible family members. Hawai'i's only national cemetery has been closed to casket burials since 1991 and will stop accepting cremated remains by 2036, forcing Hawai'i veterans who want in-ground burial in a national cemetery to travel 2,500+ miles at significant cost. The bill requires the VA to identify suitable sites within one year, consult with the Hawai'i governor and veterans organizations, and submit progress reports until the cemetery is operational.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core function is to remedy a documented geographic inequity in burial access for a specific veteran population by mandating construction of a new federal facility. It is a straightforward public-benefit infrastructure directive with no private carve-outs or immunity provisions.
What the text implies
- The bill does not specify funding source or appropriation amount; implementation depends on future budget allocation and may compete with other VA priorities.
- Eight-year construction timeline means cemetery will not be operational until approximately 2033, leaving current Hawai'i veterans without relief during the interim.
- Site selection criteria (proximity to population centers, accessibility, minimal environmental impact) may be difficult to satisfy simultaneously in Hawai'i's constrained geography, potentially extending timeline further.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Hawai'i veterans and their families gain equitable access to burial benefits without prohibitive travel costs and logistical burdens. The bill aligns with the VA's stated strategic goal of ensuring 95% of veterans live within 75 miles of a national, state, or tribal cemetery, addressing a documented geographic inequity.
Named in the bill
Department of Veterans Affairs, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, National Cemetery Administration, National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, State of Hawai'i, House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Democrats.
- Dec 23, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Dec 23, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Veterans' Affairs · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs”
- Jun 25, 2026 — Hearing held · Congress.gov: “Subcommittee Hearings Held”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $50,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 17 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Ed Case, the sponsor, reported $489,146 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- National Funeral Directors Assn — $50,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 13, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (4,702 characters) on Sep 27, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 13, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Hawaii veterans finally get equitable burial access after 30-year gap” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr6921 Report an error
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