Arlington National Cemetery

Since 1967, 196 waivers have been granted to allow burial at Arlington National Cemetery to persons not otherwise qualified, and at least 144 documented requests have been denied. Of the granted waivers, about 63 percent involved burials of persons in the same grave as someone already interred or expected to be interred. Although the Secretary of the Army has no explicit statutory or regulatory authority to grant waivers, it is legal for him to do so. GAO found that most waiver requests have been handled through an internal Army review process involving officials responsible for the administration of Arlington. However, this process is not followed in all cases. For example, in the case of presidential waiver decisions, the Army process is generally bypassed. Moreover, because the process is not widely understood, persons with connections sometimes appear to have an advantage. Finally, although those responsible for making waiver decisions appear to apply some generally understood criteria, these criteria, which are not formally established, are not always consistently applied or clearly documented. documented.

GAO noted that: (1) since 1967, 196 waivers have been granted for burial at Arlington cemetery, and at least 144 documented requests have been denied; (2) of the granted waivers, about 63 percent involved burial of individuals in the same grave site as someone already interred, or expected to be interred; (3) although the Secretary of the Army has no explicit statutory or regulatory authority to grant waivers, it is legal for the Secretary to do so, in part, because of the general legal authority of the Secretary for administering Arlington; (4) GAO found that most waiver requests have been handled through an internal Army review process involving officials responsible for the administration of Arlington; (5) however, this process is not followed in all cases; (6) for example, in the case of presidential waiver decisions, the Army process is generally bypassed; (7) in addition, this process is not widely known or understood, which in some cases has appeared to provide advantages to those who were persistent enough to pursue a waiver request or who were able to obtain the assistance of high-level government officials; and (8) while those responsible for making waiver decisions appear to apply some generally understood criteria, these criteria, which are not formally established, are not always consistently applied or clearly documented.