Sullivan applauds long-awaited funding for Alaska Veterans Cemetery

Senator Dan Sullivan, a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee (SVAC), applauded the decision from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to invite Alaska to apply for millions of dollars in grant funding through the Veterans Cemetery Grants Program (VCGP) to establish Alaska’s first state-granted cemetery for veterans.

This announcement comes after years of work between Senator Sullivan’s office, the Alaska veteran community, and the VA, including the Senator’s language in the annual military construction appropriations bill report requiring the VCGP to prioritize states that have not yet received a state-granted VA cemetery.

Senator Sullivan previously sent a letter in November 2024 highlighting challenges posed by the grant formula that prevented Alaska from benefiting from the program. Planning for the construction of the new cemetery, which will be in Fairbanks, is taking place between the VA and the Alaska State Office of Veterans Affairs.

“Alaska is known for our service-minded patriotism and is the proud home of the highest number of veterans per-capita in the country,” Senator Sullivan said. “At the core of this service and sacrifice is the belief that every American veteran – no matter where they live – deserves a peaceful final resting place of honor.

Last year, Senator Sullivan discussed the difficulties faced by family members of Alaskan veterans in accessing on-base cemeteries with VA Secretary Denis McDonough, as well as the exclusionary VCGP formula preventing Alaska from establishing a state-granted cemetery for veterans. Secretary McDonough committed to helping find solutions to address these shortfalls.

The Senator, himself a Marine Corps veteran, followed up throughout 2024, speaking with Under Secretary Ronald Walters about the same issues, who also committed to working toward solutions, and at the end of the year, writing to both Secretary McDonough and Under Secretary Walters to again emphasize these issues and press them to act to resolve the VCGP formula discrepancy.

“This grant finally recognizes Alaska’s unique needs and ensures our veterans have a state-granted cemetery commemorating their service and sacrifice, and the right to burial in the place they call home. I want to thank all the persistent, patriotic Alaska veterans in the Interior who worked with me and my team for several years to make this happen.”