Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) announced that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has named the new veterans cemetery in Elko, Nevada the Elko National Cemetery. Senator Cortez Masto was instrumental in the approval of this rural national cemetery, which will for the first time provide burial benefits in the Elko region to approximately 3,700 veterans and their eligible family members.
“This cemetery has been a long time in the making, and I’ve worked with our veteran community and local officials to make it a reality. Now with an official name, the Elko National Cemetery will make it possible for our dedicated veterans to be buried near their families and loved ones.”
Before being approved earlier this year, Elko had been under consideration for a veterans cemetery since 2011, when the VA’s Rural Initiative identified the area as in need of a National Veterans Burial Ground. The closest veterans cemeteries for regional veterans and their families are currently over 200 miles away – in either Fernley or Salt Lake City. Senator Cortez Masto’s efforts have been instrumental in speeding up the process and securing a final commitment from the VA to begin construction on the Elko site. She’s called on both the VA and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to support her efforts to create the Elko Veterans Cemetery, and she previously introduced legislation to authorize the creation of the burial ground.
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