Honoring Our Heroes Act of 2025
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Would direct the Department of Veterans Affairs to furnish headstones, burial markers, or medallions for eligible veterans who died on or after December 7, 1941 and whose graves lack a government-furnished marker — expanding beyond the current cutoff that limits such benefits to veterans who died after November 1, 1990. The expanded authority would last seven years from enactment.
What this bill would do
What it would do
The bill would require the VA Secretary, for seven years following enactment, to provide an appropriate headstone, burial marker, or medallion for any veteran eligible for burial in a national cemetery who died on or after December 7, 1941 and whose grave has not already received a VA-furnished marker. To do so, it would set aside the restriction in section 8041(b) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990, which currently limits such benefits to veterans who died on or after November 1, 1990. The bill would also require the National Cemetery Administration website to be updated to reflect the expanded eligibility rules during that seven-year period.
A separate provision would amend 38 U.S.C. § 5503(d)(7) to extend a pension payment administrative deadline from November 30, 2031 to February 29, 2032. The bill does not appropriate funds for the program, and the expanded marker eligibility would not apply to veterans whose graves already have a VA-furnished marker.
Key provisions
- 1Would direct the VA Secretary to furnish headstones, burial markers, or medallions to eligible veterans who died on or after December 7, 1941 and whose graves lack a VA-provided marker, for seven years from enactment.
- 2Would waive the section 8041(b) restriction of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990, which currently bars the benefit for veterans who died before November 1, 1990.
- 3Would require the National Cemetery Administration website to reflect the expanded eligibility for headstones, burial markers, and medallions during the seven-year program period.
- 4Would amend 38 U.S.C. § 5503(d)(7) to extend a pension payment limit deadline from November 30, 2031 to February 29, 2032.
Who would be affected
Veterans (or their surviving family members acting on their behalf) who served honorably, died on or after December 7, 1941, are eligible for burial in a national cemetery, and whose graves currently lack a VA-furnished headstone or marker. The Department of Veterans Affairs and its National Cemetery Administration would administer the expanded program and update public-facing information about eligibility.
Why it matters
Families of veterans from World War II through roughly 1990 who were previously excluded from the VA headstone and marker program solely because of the November 1, 1990 death-date cutoff could request a government-furnished grave marker. For families whose loved ones served but were buried without recognition under current rules, this would be a meaningful symbolic and practical remedy during the seven-year window.
What would change
Changes to existing law
Amends Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990, section 8041(b) (Public Law 101-508) (Sec. 2(a))
Temporarily waived for seven years to allow VA to furnish grave markers to veterans who died before November 1, 1990.
Amends 38 U.S.C. § 5503(d)(7) (Sec. 3)
Extends an administrative deadline for limits on pension payments from November 30, 2031 to February 29, 2032.
Agencies directed to act
Effective dates
- Seven-year period for expanded headstone and burial marker eligibility
Funding and costs
Congressional Budget Office estimate
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 2721 would reduce net direct spending (mandatory outlays) by $1 million over the 2025–2035 period.
The bill has two main provisions with offsetting effects on direct spending (mandatory government outlays not requiring annual appropriations). First, it would expand VA eligibility to provide headstones or burial markers to veterans buried in private cemeteries after December 7, 1941 — a change expiring seven years after enactment — estimated to increase direct spending by $11 million over 2025–2035. Second, it would extend by three months (through February 2032) an existing requirement that reduces VA pension payments to $90 per month for veterans and survivors residing in Medicaid nursing homes; CBO estimates this would reduce VA benefit outlays but increase Medicaid spending, for a net direct spending reduction of $12 million over 2025–2035. No revenues are affected, and CBO identified no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates in the bill.
How implementation would work
The VA Secretary would fulfill requests for headstones, burial markers, or medallions under existing authority at 38 U.S.C. § 2306, while waiving the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 restriction for the duration of the program. No new rulemaking timeline is specified. The National Cemetery Administration must update its website to reflect the expanded eligibility. Requests are described as voluntary (furnished "when requested"), and the program runs for seven years from the date of enactment. A separate technical amendment adjusts an administrative deadline for pension payment limits.
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Official CRS summary
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This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish and implement a two-year pilot program to furnish, when requested, an appropriate headstone or burial marker to commemorate covered veterans. Covered veterans are veterans who died on or before November 1, 1990, and were released or discharged from service under conditions other than dishonorable. Currently, these benefits are only available to eligible veterans who died on or after November 1, 1990.
The bill requires the VA to update the National Cemetery Administration website with respect to the requirements for eligibility for a headstone or burial marker.
Legislative subjects
Armed Forces and National Security; Cemeteries and funerals; Government information and archives; Internet, web applications, social media; Veterans' organizations and recognition
Committee report
H. Rept. 119-274