Evidence of meeting #7 for Veterans Affairs in the 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was buried.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative David Sweet
Ladies and gentlemen, we'll call this meeting to order. We'll be continuing our comparison study of veterans affairs programs throughout the G8, and I believe we've gone more broadly than that as well.
We have with us today Lindee Lenox, who is the director of the memorial programs service.
Welcome, Ms. Lenox.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative David Sweet
The United States has several areas that are quite complex, so we're going to be doing multiple meetings. This one will be focused specifically on the National Cemetery Administration, and I believe on that of remembrance as well, if I have that correct, Ms. Lenox.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative David Sweet
Traditionally we allow the witnesses to present for 10 minutes, but certainly you have leeway if you'd like a little bit more time to make your initial presentation. Then we have a rotation system, whereby members from different parties can ask questions. They are limited as to time, but you are not limited as to time in your response. We keep the time on this, so you don't have to worry about it. You can be as brief or as robust as you would like in your answers in order to advise us.
As well, I'd like to say on behalf of the committee how much we appreciate the fact that you're taking this time to help us with this study so we can be of better service to our veterans here in Canada.
If you'd like to begin, feel free to go ahead at your convenience.
As an Individual
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I really appreciate being here. I always enjoy talking about the National Cemetery Administration.
I'll give you just a little bit about my background. I am the director for the memorial programs service. The programs I administer are the government headstone and markers program, which I'll talk a little more about here, and the presidential memorial certificate program, which I'll also talk some more about.
I am an army veteran, and I have been with the federal government for 33 years in addition to my federal military service, so that's who I am.
Do you have the slide presentation here that I'm going to go through?
As an Individual
Okay.
First I'm going to tell you about our responsibilities and then I'll go into a little more depth on them.
Our first and most visible responsibility is to provide burial space for veterans and to maintain our cemeteries as national shrines. We also administer the grants program, in which we provide funding to states to build veterans cemeteries within the states. We furnish headstones and markers that can be placed at national cemeteries, state cemeteries, and private cemeteries.
We administer the presidential memorial certificate program, and we have a new function that we recently took over from the Veterans Benefits Administration, which is managing what we call the first notice of death program. That is really just a matter of making sure that VA's information systems capture when a veteran dies. We weren't doing a really good job of that, so NCA has taken it over, and we'll be doing a much better job now.
The next slide shows you that our 128 national cemeteries are organized under five memorial service networks, as shown on the map. A memorial service network is like a region. As you can see, it's broken up across the country. It's mainly split up by population area. That's why you have some small ones, but they're in a large population area.
We execute our responsibilities with a workforce of approximately 1,500 employees nationwide. We maintain 2.9 million gravesites. In fiscal year 2008, we provided more than 103,000 interments in our cemeteries.
The next slide shows the status of our national cemeteries. We currently have 68 that are open. We have 21 additional ones that are open, but only for cremation. We have 39 that are closed, and these are historic sites. We have three that are in development. We're not burying in them yet.
“Closed” does not mean that the cemetery is completely closed. It may accept a second interment if a loved one is already buried there and we're going to inter the spouse who has died.
The three cemeteries under development that we're--
Conservative
The Chair Conservative David Sweet
Ms. Lenox, if I could just interrupt you for just a second, it seems that we might be having some trouble with translation here. I'll just ask you to pause for a moment. I'm sorry to interrupt you.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative David Sweet
You can begin again. Please pick up where you left off. Thank you very much.
As an Individual
We're on slide number four--the status of the national cemeteries.
This picture shows two different types of cemeteries. The top one is Fort Bliss National Cemetery, which has what is called water-wise landscaping. It's in the desert's southwest. This cemetery used to have grass. We converted it to xeriscaping; we call it water-wise. That's because there's not sufficient water out there to maintain this cemetery with grass. We also have a cemetery like that in Phoenix, Arizona, and we're building a new one with the water-wise landscaping in Bakersfield, California.
Other than those cemeteries, the one below, with the green grass, is typically what our cemeteries look like.
We in the National Cemetery Administration are very, very proud of the American customer satisfaction index 2007 survey results. Cemetery employees are committed to providing caring and compassionate service during the most difficult and emotional times in the life of a family. That commitment is reflected in the many expressions of customer satisfaction our employees earn. But this one is particularly important and meaningful. NCA earned a customer satisfaction rating of 95 out of a possible 100 points in the American customer satisfaction index. This is conducted by the University of Michigan. It's the highest rating in customer satisfaction ever received by a federal agency or private corporation, as recorded by the American customer satisfaction index. This achievement repeated the scores that were earned in the last survey, conducted in 2004, in which NCA also achieved a customer satisfaction score of 95.
Whether we're interacting with a veteran or a family member in arranging an interment, with visitors, or employees of funeral homes, our employees work hard to get it right the first time. We know in NCA that we have to get it right the first time, because you don't get a do-over. That is recognized in these scores.
Eligibility. Any member of the armed forces who dies on active duty is eligible for burial in one of our cemeteries. Any veteran who is discharged under conditions other than dishonourable is eligible, with certain exceptions. Service must be for a minimum of 24 continuous months, or the full period for which the person was called to active duty if he or she was a reservist or National Guard member. As you know, many reservists and National Guard were called to active duty for Iraq and Afghanistan. If they were called for a month and served the full time, then they would be eligible for burial. That's different from a regular enlisted person or officer in the military, who must serve 24 months in order to be eligible.
Spouses and minor children are eligible for burial in our cemeteries. State veteran cemeteries generally have eligibility requirements and provide benefits similar to our national cemeteries. Arlington National Cemetery is administered by the Department of the Army, and they have special rules of eligibility that are slightly different from ours.
The burial benefits we provide include a gravesite, opening and closing of the grave, a grave liner, a headstone or marker, perpetual care of the gravesite, a U.S. flag, and a presidential memorial certificate. These are all free of charge to the veteran or family member. On the cemetery grounds, there is no cost. They do have to incur the expenses related to the funeral home and those kind of arrangements.
On page eight is the memorial program service. As I said, I am the director for memorial programs, so this has a special place in my heart. We provide all the headstones and markers that are placed in the national, state, and private cemeteries around the world. In fact, two-thirds of the headstones and markers we provide go to private cemeteries. The full range of products is available for private cemeteries. The family and the cemetery select what is allowable. Of those two-thirds provided outside the national cemeteries, we get claims for them. We adjudicate those claims and make those decisions. We place those orders individually and send them out individually.
We manage all of the contracts. Last year we were close to $50 million in contracts for the headstones and markers and the transportation. That, of course, has been going up every year.
Families can also receive a presidential memorial certificate. You can see the picture of one there. This expresses the nation's gratitude. It is signed by the sitting President. The family of every veteran who is buried in one of our national cemeteries or state veterans cemeteries will automatically get one of these certificates in the mail. We're working on an automated system to also provide these certificates for those who are buried in private cemeteries. Right now, anyone can request a presidential memorial certificate on behalf of a veteran, so it can be a family member; it can be a friend; it can be anyone who requests it on behalf of the veteran. They can write us a letter, fill out a form, or apply on line; they can get that in any number of ways.
Turning to page nine, this shows the new cemetery construction. Our three newest cemeteries are located at Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina, and Jacksonville and Sarasota, Florida. These cemeteries just opened in January 2009. Sacramento Valley and South Florida national cemeteries are fully operational, even as the phase one construction is being completed. They're still in phase one. Three additional cemeteries are now under construction or soon will be. These are the ones that are not yet open but where we have broken ground: Alabama National Cemetery, which will serve the Birmingham area in Alabama and is projected to open in May 2009; Bakersfield National Cemetery, which as I said will be one of our water-wise cemeteries and is projected to open in summer 2009; and Washington Crossing National Cemetery, which is in the Philadelphia region and is projected to open in fall 2009.
The next page presents the state cemetery grants program, which I talked a little bit about. VA provides 100% of the development costs to the states to build a cemetery. There are requirements associated with that. They have to build it to our standards; they have to maintain it to our standards. We don't buy the land, the state has to come up with the land. We'll then build it, and then it's a turnkey operation and we turn it over to the state. They then maintain it. Since 1980, $344 million has been awarded in 172 grants.
These cemeteries augment our national cemeteries, and they are to serve veterans who lived in less densely populated areas. Grants have been used to establish, expand, or improve 72 cemeteries. There are 70 operational today.
Right now, we're projected to open five additional state cemetery grant cemeteries this year: Fort Riley, Kansas; Abilene, Texas; Springvale, Maine; Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri; and Alliance, Nebraska. So this is a great program for the states, and it really helps serve our veteran population.
Page 11 deals with the national shrine commitment. This is an initiative to maintain the appearance of VA cemeteries in a manner befitting their status as national shrines. We do consider them national shrines. VA national cemeteries are operated and maintained as national shrines befitting the veterans whose service we honour and commemorate. In a survey conducted recently by the National Cemetery Administration, 98% of visitors rated the appearance of VA national cemeteries as excellent. NCA's goal for this measure of performance is 100%.
This photograph is of the avenue of flags at Fort Custer National Cemetery in Michigan. Many cemeteries feature an avenue of flags, which is typically located on the main boulevard of the cemetery. During each interment service, the family is presented with an American flag as a symbol of gratitude for the service of the deceased veteran, and many families later donate the funeral flags for display at the cemetery. Most of the flags you see on the avenue of flags are, in fact, donated flags from family members.
This briefing has provided a summary of the mission and services of the National Cemetery Administration. With the expansion of national cemeteries and a culture of service that is second to none, veterans today have greater access to the kind of burial and memorial services they've earned and fully deserve.
That's all I have. I'd be pleased to answer any questions.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative David Sweet
Thank you very much.
You mentioned in your introduction that you are a veteran yourself, so we'd like to also thank you for your service to, of course, the United States of America.
Now we'll get to our questions. For the first round, and the Liberal Party, Madam Sgro, for seven minutes.
Liberal
Judy Sgro Liberal York West, ON
Thank you very much, Ms. Lenox. It's very interesting to have you communicating with us via teleconferencing so that we're saving everybody's time, and being able to hear your comments and ask our questions.
Could I ask you what your budget is to deal with the cemetery administration?
As an Individual
You can ask me that, and I'm going to have to get back to you on that. I apologize, I don't have that number for you. Mr. Muro would have it if he were here, and I do apologize for his not being here. He was called to a very important meeting. But I will get that answer for you.
Liberal
Judy Sgro Liberal York West, ON
Thank you.
It's certainly very interesting. I have visited a few of the national cemeteries, and it's a pretty terrific experience, I guess, in the sense that certainly you are doing a great job of ensuring that veterans are buried in a respectful way. I think anyone who visits these cemeteries cannot leave without being clearly moved by the number of veterans who are buried there.
This is an odd question for me to ask you. You've committed to the construction of 12 new national cemeteries. How did you arrive at the number of 12?
As an Individual
We identify areas where cemeteries are needed based on the population. It's 170,000 veterans within a 75-mile radius. So we look at those population areas, we have a model, and that's where we identified the need. We identified the need for that many cemeteries with those population areas. That's where that came from. Congress did give us the authority for those, in those areas where we had identified the need.
Liberal
Judy Sgro Liberal York West, ON
In identifying, then, if you have a lot of soldiers in Alabama, you look at it and say, who have you got in the ranks of the forces? And that's how you would decide where you would need to have a cemetery?
As an Individual
We look at the veteran population. If you have an active duty military installation, they are considered part of the veteran population. So yes, again it's 170,000 or more, of course, within a 75-mile area. That's the model.
Liberal
Judy Sgro Liberal York West, ON
What is the difference between the eligibility criteria for veterans who are buried in a national cemetery versus a state cemetery?
As an Individual
It's the same in almost all instances. Some of the states may vary slightly, and I couldn't tell you from state to state what those variances might be, but for the most part it's going to be exactly the same.
Liberal
As an Individual
Yes, they do, absolutely. An eligible veteran can be buried in any national cemetery as long as they're eligible. If they live in California they can be buried in a national cemetery in New York.
Some of the states are a little stricter about whether veterans from outside of their state can be buried there, but there may only be a few who fall into that category now, because we're trying to encourage them to allow veterans from across the state lines to be buried there. And they've been pretty cooperative about that.
Liberal
Judy Sgro Liberal York West, ON
I have a question for our chair.
Part of the role of the study is being able to compare what's happening in various other jurisdictions to what's going on in Canada. At what point would we have a grid to be able to do that comparison?
Conservative
The Chair Conservative David Sweet
I think what we've noticed is that there are quite a few differences, and researcher Michel pointed that out. I believe that at the end of the study we'll ask our researchers to aggregate all the information. I think it will be after we've finished all of our witness testimony, and they'd have to comb through the blues so they can actually develop that grid for us. Of course, then we'd have to do the job of ferreting through the information about what is equivalent and what isn't.