October 3, 2005
Contact: Jeff Schrade (202)224-9093

(Washington, DC) A bill to prevent those who commit murder from being buried in military cemeteries and receiving military honors at their funerals has been introduced by U.S. Senator Larry Craig, chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

The legislation, cosponsored by Kansas Senators Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts, would effectively prohibit Dennis Rader and others like him, from being buried at Arlington or any of the nation's military cemeteries. Rader, who served in the Air Force for four years and was honorably discharged in 1972 with the rank of sergeant, is known as the BTK killer for the techniques he used ? "Bind, Torture and Kill." He was recently convicted in Kansas of murdering ten people between 1974 to 1991. Although sentenced to 175 years in prison, Dennis Rader is technically eligible for parole.

"My legislation will close the ?parole loophole' in the law that now allows capital offenders to be buried in America's national cemeteries," said Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho).

In 1997, Congress passed legislation which prohibited Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, who killed 168 people in a bomb blast, and other murderers like him, from burial in the nation's military cemeteries. But that legislation applied only to those who, under state law, had received the death penalty or a life sentence with no possibility for parole.

"My legislation will ensure that no one who may be given a life sentence or who may be sentenced to death for murder will be honored at their funerals by the presence of a military funeral detail. We should not bury brutal murderers alongside America's honored dead and we should not provide memorialization benefits to those who have so dishonored themselves through their own post-service conduct," Craig said.

Craig's bill would prohibit the military from playing Taps or presenting an American flag at the funeral of those who have, or who could been, sentenced to death or life in prison. The legislation applies to both national cemeteries run by the federal government and cemeteries for veterans run by state governments which were funded with VA grants.

"Let me be clear that while the effect of the legislation would be to take away benefits that were otherwise earned by honorable military service, the intent of it is not punitive. Rather, my intention is to preserve the dignity of America's national cemeteries," Craig said.

Last week Sen. Craig introduced legislation (S. 1759) which would require the remains of double-murderer Russell Wayne Wagner to be removed from Arlington National Cemetery.

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