11/22/13 The Senate Monday night unanimously passed legislation introduced by Indiana’s U.S. Senators Joe Donnelly and Dan Coats, the Alicia Dawn Koehl Respect for National Cemeteries Act.
“I thank my colleagues for passing the Alicia Dawn Koehl Respect for National Cemeteries Act,” said Donnelly. “My office has worked with the Koehl family on this legislation for many months, and I know this action will provide relief to the Koehl family and a solution to tragic circumstances. It will also preserve one of our nation’s greatest honors – being buried in a veterans’ cemetery. I urge the House to move quickly to pass this bipartisan bill into law.”
The bill would give the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the U.S. Department of the Army the authority to disinter veterans buried in national cemeteries who committed a Federal or State capital crime. Current statute prohibits burying veterans who committed a Federal or State capital crime, but does not allow the VA or Army to correct a mistake that has been made. Under the legislation, the VA would have the authority it needs to exhume the remains of Michael LeShawn Anderson, a veteran who shot and killed Indianapolis resident Alicia Dawn Koehl last year before committing suicide. The Koehl family later discovered that Anderson was buried at Fort Custer National Cemetery in Michigan.
Representative Susan Brooks (IN-05) introduced a companion bill in the House of Representatives.
