03.28.23

Hoeven: $1.86 Million Grant to ND Veterans Cemetery Marks Milestone for VA National Cemetery Administration

Senator’s Burial Equity for Guard and Reserves Act Enabled Federal Grant for Columbarium at ND Veterans Cemetery

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven today joined Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs Matt Quinn in marking the VA National Cemetery Administration’s billionth dollar in grants, a milestone reached as a result of the $1,860,775 grant to the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery (NDVC) in Mandan. Earlier this month, Hoeven announced the grant to the NDVC in Mandan, which will be used to provide 1,440 columbarium niches, landscaping and infrastructure improvements on approximately one acre of land, supporting additional burial options for the state’s veterans and eligible family members.

As a member of the Senate Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Committee, Hoeven worked to secure the grant for the NDVC, including introducing and successfully passing the Burial Equity for Guard and Reserves Act, to ensure cemeteries like the NDVC remained eligible for VA grants.

These grants are awarded through the Veterans Cemetery Grant Program. Beginning in 1978, the program has since provided 475 grants to 122 state, territorial, and Tribal Veterans cemeteries.

“With North Dakota’s rich tradition of military service, it is vital that we provide our veterans with a final resting place that honors their courage and sacrifices,” said Hoeven. “We have the finest state veterans cemetery in the nation, and we worked hard to secure this $1.86 million grant to provide additional burial options there for our state’s veterans at the NDVC. It took an act of Congress for NDVC to receive this grant. We had to introduce and pass our Burial Equity for Guard and Reserves Act to ensure the NDVC, and cemeteries like it, continued to be eligible for these VA grants. It is only fitting that our cemetery’s grant marks such an important milestone for the National Cemetery Administration.”

“It was my distinct honor to speak at the 30th anniversary of the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery at Mandan last August, a cemetery established in partnership with the state using VA grant funds,” said Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs Matt Quinn. “In the past 30 years, the thousands of North Dakotan Veterans buried there have made it truly hallowed ground. So I find it particularly fitting that it was another grant to this same cemetery, announced just two weeks ago, which got us across the $1 billion threshold in total funding provided by the VA to states, territories, and Tribes for Veterans cemeteries since 1978.  We look forward to continuing this partnership to ensure all Veterans continue to have easy access to their burial and memorial benefits, in North Dakota and all across the United States.” 

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