Shown Here:
Engrossed in House (05/23/2011)

Honoring American Veterans Act of 2011 - (Sec. 2) Allows a monument other than one containing or marking interred remains (monument) to be placed in Arlington National Cemetery (Arlington) only if the monument commemorates: (1) the military service of the individual or group whose memory is honored by the monument, or (2) a particular military event. Prohibits any monument from being placed in Arlington until the end of the 25-year period beginning on the last day of the service or event commemorated. Allows a monument to be placed only in those sections of Arlington designated by the Secretary of the Army and only on land determined by the Secretary as unsuitable for burial.

Allows a monument to be placed in Arlington only if an appropriate non-governmental entity has agreed to act as a sponsoring organization to coordinate the monument's placement and: (1) monument construction and placement are paid for using only private funds, (2) the Secretary consults with the Commission of Fine Arts before approving the monument's design, and (3) the sponsoring organization provides for an independent study on the availability and suitability of alternative monument locations outside of Arlington.

Authorizes the Secretary to waive the 25-year requirement, above, when the monument would commemorate a group of individuals who the Secretary determines: (1) has made valuable contributions to the Armed Forces that have been ongoing and perpetual for longer than 25 years and are expected to continue indefinitely, and (2) has provided service that is of such a character that failure to place a monument to the group in Arlington would present a manifest injustice. Directs the Secretary, upon exercising such waiver, to: (1) make available on the Internet a waiver notification and rationale, and (2) provide the congressional veterans and defense committees with such notification and rationale. Requires the Secretary to also notify such committees of any proposed monument to be placed at Arlington. Allows Congress, for 60 days after the latter notification, to pass a joint resolution disapproving such placement.

Prohibits: (1) more than one gravesite from being provided at Arlington to a veteran or member of the Armed Forces who is eligible for burial there and the family members of such veteran or member who are also eligible for burial there, and (2) a gravesite from being reserved at Arlington before an individual's death. Allows the Secretary to waive the prohibition under (1), above in extreme circumstances, requiring notification of the veterans and defense committees. Provides an exception under (2) above, in the case of a request submitted to the Secretary of the Army before January 1, 1962, and subsequently approved.

Requires a report from the Secretary to Congress on reservations made for interment at Arlington.

Expresses the sense of Congress that an appropriate site on Chaplains Hill in Arlington be provided for a memorial marker, to be paid for with private funds, to honor the memory of the Jewish chaplains who died while on active duty in the Armed Forces, so long as the Secretary has exclusive authority to approve the design and site of the memorial marker.

Honors the members of the Armed Forces who are serving in Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, and New Dawn, and members and veterans who have previously so served. Calls on all Americans to reflect on their service and to hold them in a special place of honor now and in the future.