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Griffith Statement on the Huffman Amendment to Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act
| Thursday, May 19, 2016 – Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement regarding his vote against the Huffman Amendment to H.R. 4974 – Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017: “Today, I voted no on the Huffman Amendment, which would prohibit the use of funds to implement section 8(d)(2) of the Veterans Affairs Department (VA) National Cemetery Administration Directive 3220.” “I think this is a bad amendment and I voted against it; however, it is different than the amendment offered in 2015. Last year, there was controversy regarding Confederate flag restrictions on an appropriations bill. The amendment offered at the time would have prohibited an individual from placing a Confederate flag on their ancestor’s individual grave. This year, the amendment prohibits flags from being erected by the federal government at the site of a mass grave in federal cemeteries. While I still disapprove of the amendment, this year’s amendment is not as bad as last year’s. For example, if you have an ancestor who fought in the War Between the States, this would still allow you to go to a federal cemetery on Memorial Day or Confederate Memorial Day and place the Confederate flag, the flag they fought under, on their grave. That would not have been allowed under last year’s proposed amendment.” Attached is section 8 of the 2005 Flags Directive and the text of this year’s Huffman Amendment. Section 8 of the 2005 Flags Directive Text of the Huffman Amendment " (Note that you may have to download an annoying, generally safe but potentially clunky, Adobe program to open those links.--Ed.) |
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