Honoring Our Heroes Act of 2025
Honoring Our Heroes Act of 2025 creates a seven-year pilot program giving the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) authority to furnish a headstone, burial marker, or medallion for certain veterans who do not already have a marker on their grave and who are eligible for burial in a national cemetery. The program is intended to apply to veterans who died after December 7, 1941, and whose graves have not been marked, with the VA required to implement the program under its existing authority for headstones and markers (38 U.S.C. § 2306) and to waive a specific OBRA 1990 constraint during the pilot period. The bill also directs the VA to publicly explain on the National Cemetery Administration website how the act affects eligibility. In addition, the bill extends a pension-related deadline by a few months, moving the limit from November 30, 2031 to February 29, 2032. Note: There is a drafting inconsistency between the bill’s title (which mentions veterans who died on or before November 1, 1990) and the body (which sets eligibility for those who died on or after December 7, 1941). The body-controlled provisions govern the pilot, while the title’s stated scope appears mismatched with the enacted text. This should be clarified in any floor or committee discussion.
Key Points
- 1Pilot program authority: A seven-year period after enactment during which the VA must furnish an appropriate headstone, burial marker, or medallion to eligible veterans’ graves that have not already been marked and that are eligible for burial in a national cemetery.
- 2Eligibility criteria for the pilot:
- 3- The veteran must be eligible for burial in a national cemetery.
- 4- The veteran must have died on or after December 7, 1941.
- 5- The grave must not already have a headstone, burial marker, or medallion.
- 6Regulatory/statutory changes for the pilot:
- 7- The furnishing authority is provided under 38 U.S.C. § 2306.
- 8- The program is authorized “without regard to” section 8041(b) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990, effectively waiving that constraint for the pilot.
- 9Public information requirement: The National Cemetery Administration website must indicate how this Act affects eligibility for headstones, markers, or medallions under 38 U.S.C. § 2306.
- 10Pension-related extension: Section 3 amends 38 U.S.C. § 5503(d)(7) by moving the end date from November 30, 2031 to February 29, 2032, extending certain pension payment limits by a few months.
- 11Budget/funding note: The text changes how the headstone/marker program may be funded under the pilot (and waives a constraint); however, exact funding and appropriations would still be addressed through VA budgeting and Congress’s normal appropriations process.