WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee (SVAC), Wednesday welcomed a grant of up to $16,712,172 awarded by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) National Cemetery Administration (NCA) to the State of Alaska for the establishment of the Interior Alaska Veterans Cemetery in Fairbanks, Alaska. Sen. Sullivan and his team have worked for years with the Alaska veteran community and the VA to secure the funding needed to establish Alaska’s first state-granted cemetery for veterans. In 2024, Sen. Sullivan included language in the annual military construction appropriations bill report requiring the Veterans Cemetery Grants Program (VCGP) to prioritize states that have not yet received a state-granted VA cemetery, like Alaska.

“Alaska is the proud home of the highest number of veterans per capita of any state in the country, a distinction I never tire of bragging about to my colleagues in the Senate,” Sen. Sullivan said. “Every American veteran—no matter where they live—deserves a peaceful final resting place of distinction and honor. With this significant grant from the VA, our courageous veterans will finally have a state-granted cemetery that appropriately commemorates their service and sacrifice, and enables them to be buried in the place they call home. It has been a privilege to work alongside the persistent, patriotic Alaska veterans in the Interior to realize this important milestone for our state.”

According to the VA, the grant will fund 351 pre-placed crypts, 600 columbarium niches, 279 cremains gravesites, administration and maintenance buildings, a committal service shelter, an entry monument and gates, a memorial wall and walk, a flag assembly area, equipment to operate the cemetery, roadways, landscaping, site furnishings, stormwater management, and associated infrastructure. The department has also committed to reimbursing the state $813,692 for the cost of fabrication and delivery of outer burial receptacles used for the project.

• On February 28, 2024, Sen. Sullivan discussed the difficulties faced by family members of Alaska 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.
• On May 1, 2024, Sen. Sullivan spoke to VA Under Secretary Ronald Walters about the same issues. Walters also committed to working toward solutions.
• On November 18, 2024, Sen. Sullivan sent a letter to both Secretary McDonough and Under Secretary Walters to again emphasize these issues and press them to act to resolve the VCGP formula discrepancy.
• In January of 2025, Sen. Sullivan applauded a decision from the VA to invite Alaska to apply for millions of dollars in grant funding through the VCGP to establish Alaska’s first state-granted cemetery for veterans.

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