As the profession’s leading advocate for veterans’ funeral and burial benefits, NFDA has been invited to testify before the U.S. House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs. This important legislative hearing takes place on Wednesday, March 26, at 10:15 a.m. EST and we encourage you to watch live!

Lesley Witter, NFDA Senior Vice President of Advocacy, will testify in support of three key bills that aim to enhance burial benefits and ensure veterans and their families receive the recognition and dignity they deserve. Witter is the only representative of the funeral service profession set to testify before the subcommittee. 

• Ensuring Veterans’ Final Resting Place Act of 2025 (H.R. 647): This pro-veteran legislation ensures the families of deceased veterans are not constrained when deciding how their loved one is laid to rest. It allows a veteran’s survivor who initially chose to receive an urn or plaque from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to also have their loved one interred at a VA national cemetery at a later date.
• The Dennis and Lois Krisfalusy Act (H.R. 1344): This bipartisan bill permanently expands the VA burial benefits, allowing the agency to provide memorial headstones or markers for veterans, their spouses and dependent children, regardless of when they passed away. This will ensure military families can be laid to rest together and memorialized with dignity.
• Prioritizing Veterans’ Survivors Act (H.R. 1228): This bill would move the Office of Survivors Assistance (OSA) from the Veterans Benefits Administration back to the Office of the VA Secretary, thus ensuring the OSA has direct access to the Secretary to fix policy and program-wide problems.

These three bills are among the key legislative priorities NFDA members will advocate for during the upcoming Advocacy Summit, April 9-11, in Washington, D.C.

How to Watch Live

Don’t miss this opportunity to see NFDA advocate on behalf of veterans. Tune in live at: Veterans.House.gov/Calendar/Eventsingle.aspx?EventID=6670.

For decades, NFDA has been a leading voice for funeral service and veterans on Capitol Hill, working closely with Congress, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and veterans’ organizations. Our advocacy ensures that funeral professionals - dedicated to honoring those who served - are heard and supported.