House Bill hb0905

    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                 HM 905

        By Representative Jordan






  1                          House Memorial

  2         A memorial to the President and Congress of the

  3         United States, urging the President and

  4         Congress to direct the Secretary of Veterans

  5         Affairs to establish a national cemetery in

  6         Duval County, Florida, to serve the needs of

  7         veterans and their families in northeast

  8         Florida and southeast Georgia.

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10         WHEREAS, veteran deaths are increasing each year,

11  especially as World War II and Korean War era veterans

12  continue to advance in age, resulting in a corresponding

13  increase in the demand of burial services in national

14  cemeteries, and

15         WHEREAS, based on national census data, annual veteran

16  deaths are not expected to peak until the year 2008 before

17  beginning a possible decline; during the next decade, annual

18  deaths are expected to increase 10.5 percent from a total of

19  561,000 in 1999 to 620,000 in 2008, notwithstanding any future

20  national emergencies, and

21         WHEREAS, according to the Florida Department of

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

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

24         WHEREAS, Florida has the second largest population of

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

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

27  Pines national cemeteries in the year 2000, and

28         WHEREAS, Florida has two smaller national cemeteries at

29  Pensacola and St. Augustine; Pensacola is nearing capacity and

30  St. Augustine is already closed, and

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                 HM 905

    771-106A-02






  1         WHEREAS, South Florida was recently awarded a national

  2  cemetery following nearly 14 years of being identified as a

  3  geographic area in which the need for burial space for

  4  veterans was greatest, and

  5         WHEREAS, Governor Jeb Bush praised the efforts of the

  6  Florida Department of Veterans' Affairs in helping secure

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

  8  national cemetery in South Florida, and

  9         WHEREAS, the National Cemetery Administration considers

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

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

12  first interment option in a national or state veterans'

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

14  of residence, and

15         WHEREAS, the nearest open national cemeteries serving

16  northeast Florida and southeast Georgia veterans are located

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

18  Georgia, a distance of 365 miles, and

19         WHEREAS, according to the National Cemetery

20  Administration, the development of new national cemeteries

21  generally takes five to seven years for establishment, and

22         WHEREAS, according to the Florida Department of

23  Veterans' Affairs, there are more than 325,000 veterans from

24  Florida and Georgia living within 75 miles of Duval County,

25  and

26         WHEREAS, the Jacksonville City Council recently adopted

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

28  Duval County and urging federal legislation to accomplish this

29  goal, NOW, THEREFORE,

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31  Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                 HM 905

    771-106A-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 memorial be

  7  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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