STAND. COM. REP. NO.  408

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2013

RE:   H.B. No. 160

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Veterans, Military, & International Affairs, & Culture and the Arts, to which was referred H.B. No. 160 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO VETERANS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to remove the uncertainty of burial provisions for veterans and their families.  Specifically, this measure:

     (1)  Makes permanent the residency requirement for the burial of members of the United States Armed Forces and their dependents in veterans cemeteries in Hawaii; and

     (2)  Ensures that the criteria for the burial of members of the United States Armed Forces and their dependents in veterans cemeteries in Hawaii conform with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs' eligibility requirements for burial in a national or state cemetery.

The State Office of Veterans Services, Oahu Veterans Council, and Military Officers Association of America, Hawaii Chapter testified in support of this bill.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Veterans, Military, & International Affairs, & Culture and the Arts that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 160 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Veterans, Military, & International Affairs, & Culture and the Arts,

____________________________

K. MARK TAKAI, Chair