Our office has received reports from veterans’ families throughout the Sixth District who have experienced delays in burying their deceased veterans due to bureaucratic delays at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Specifically, these families have reported difficulties receiving their relative’s death certificate from the VA. These delays, which have lasted up to eight weeks in some cases, only exacerbate the hardships families face after losing a relative. During this time, the deceased veteran’s relatives face additional costs and prolonged grief as their relative cannot be buried without a death certificate.

This is unacceptable.

To address this problem, our office successfully advocated for language to be included in the fiscal year 2025 Veterans Affairs funding legislation which requires the VA to prepare a report offering solutions to this issue. This report will be submitted to Congress and will help us drill down on the root causes of this issue and prepare a legislative path to ensure our military families receive their deceased relative’s death certificates in a timely fashion. 

The pain of losing a loved one who served our country should not be compounded by bureaucratic delays in laying them to rest. Our office will continue to work on behalf of our military families and continue to work to hold the VA accountable to the veterans they serve.