House Bill hb9013

    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                HR 9013

        By Representative Jordan






  1                         House Resolution

  2         A resolution urging the President and Congress

  3         of the United States to direct the Secretary of

  4         Veterans Affairs to establish a national

  5         cemetery in Duval County, Florida, to serve the

  6         needs of veterans and their families in

  7         northeast Florida and southeast Georgia.

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  9         WHEREAS, veteran deaths are increasing each year,

10  especially as World War II and Korean War era veterans

11  continue to advance in age, resulting in a corresponding

12  increase in the demand of burial services in national

13  cemeteries, and

14         WHEREAS, based on 1990 national census data, annual

15  veteran deaths are not expected to peak until the year 2008

16  before beginning a possible decline; during the next decade,

17  annual deaths are expected to increase 10.5 percent from a

18  total of 561,000 in 1999 to 620,000 in 2008, notwithstanding

19  any future national emergencies, and

20         WHEREAS, according to the Florida Department of

21  Veterans' Affairs, one out of every ten veteran deaths

22  nationally is a resident of Florida at time of interment, and

23         WHEREAS, Florida has the second largest population of

24  veterans, totaling 1.7 million, with more than 6,500 veterans

25  and family members being laid to rest at Bushnell and Bay

26  Pines national cemeteries in the year 2000, and

27         WHEREAS, Florida's two smaller national cemeteries at

28  Pensacola and St. Augustine have reached capacity and are

29  already closed, and

30         WHEREAS, South Florida was recently awarded a national

31  cemetery following nearly 14 years of being identified as a

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                HR 9013

    771-107A-02






  1  geographic area in which the need for burial space for

  2  veterans was greatest, and

  3         WHEREAS, Governor Jeb Bush praised the efforts of the

  4  Florida Department of Veterans' Affairs in helping secure

  5  federal funding and raising the awareness of the need for a

  6  national cemetery in South Florida, and

  7         WHEREAS, the National Cemetery Administration considers

  8  the burial needs of veterans to be met for those veterans that

  9  have reasonable access to a burial option, meaning that a

10  first interment option in a national or state veterans'

11  cemetery is available within 75 miles of the veteran's place

12  of residence, and

13         WHEREAS, the nearest open national cemeteries serving

14  northeast Florida and southeast Georgia veterans are located

15  in Bushnell, Florida, a distance of 150 miles, and Marietta,

16  Georgia, a distance of 365 miles, and

17         WHEREAS, according to the National Cemetery

18  Administration, the development of new national cemeteries

19  generally takes five to seven years for establishment, and

20         WHEREAS, according to the Florida Department of

21  Veterans' Affairs, in 2000 there were more than 325,000

22  veterans from Florida and Georgia living within 75 miles of

23  Duval County, and

24         WHEREAS, the Jacksonville City Council recently adopted

25  a resolution in support of building a new national cemetery in

26  Duval County and urging federal legislation to accomplish this

27  goal, NOW, THEREFORE,

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29  Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of

30  Florida:

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                HR 9013

    771-107A-02






  1         That the President and Congress of the United States be

  2  urged to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish

  3  a national cemetery in Duval County, Florida, to serve the

  4  needs of veterans and their families in northeast Florida and

  5  southeast Georgia.

  6         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this resolution

  7  be transmitted to the President of the United States, the

  8  President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the

  9  United States House of Representatives, and to each member of

10  the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.

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