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handle is hein.crs/crsmthmansm0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 


CRS INSIGHT


Display of the Confederate Flag at Federal Cemeteries

in the United States

August 31, 2016 (IN10313)




Related Authors


    Laura B, Cora

    Scott D. Szymendera

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I


Laura B. Comay, Analyst in Natural Resources Policy (Lcmay cr     7-6036)
Scott D. Szymendera, Analyst in Disability Policy (aszymendra  r  c g, 7-0014)
Barbara Salazar Torreon, Senior Research Librarian (b, 7-8996)

The National Park Service (NPS), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and the Department of the Army all
administer federal cemeteries that sometimes display the Confederate flag. There are 147 national cemeteries in the
United States. Fourteen are maintained by the NPS, in the Department of the Interior. The VA, through its National
Cemetery Administration (NCA), administers 131 cemeteries. The Army, in the Department of Defense (DOD),
administers 2 national cemeteries. In addition, the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) operates 25
American military cemeteries in 16 foreign countries. The NPS, the VA, and the Army all have policies concerning the
Confederate flag's display. Following the June 17, 2015, shooting deaths of nine people in a historically black church in
Charleston, SC, the display of Confederate flags at federal cemeteries came under scrutiny.

National Park Service Policy

(CRS contact: Laura Comay, 7-6036)

The NPS policy (P Dire      Order #61 and related referenc man u1) allows the Confederate flag to be displayed in
some national cemeteries on two days of the year. If a state observes a Confederate Memorial Day, NPS cemeteries in
the state may permit a sponsoring group to decorate the graves of Confederate veterans with small Confederate flags.
Additionally, according to the NPS reference manual (p. 33), such flags may also be displayed on the nationally
observed Memorial Day, to accompany the U.S. flag on the graves of Confederate veterans. In both cases, a sponsoring
group must provide and place the flags, and remove them as soon as possible after the end of the observance, all at no
cost to the federal government. At no time may a Confederate flag be flown on an NPS cemetery flagpole.

Following the June 2015 shootings, the NPS asked its concessioners and other partners to voluntarily end sales of items

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