Here is a “first news report” on a hearing that took place in Congress today on National Legislation coming in response to the Burr Oak Cemetery Scandal. Congressman Bobby Rush had a hearing today January 27th 2009, on the Bereaved Consumers Bill of Rights Act. The bill is H.R.3655.
NEWS-Hearing on Cemetery Reform in Washington DC today
2009 Burr Oak Cemetery Scandal inspired National Cemetery Reform Legislation
“WASHINGTON–In the wake of hundreds of grave desecrations at the historic Burr Oak Cemetery in south suburban Alsip, House Democrat Bobby Rush of Chicago wants to bolster federal consumer protections governing the sale of funeral goods and services.
CLICK HERE TO VISIT BEREAVED CONSUMERS PROTECTION ACT.COM FOR ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ON THIS BILL.
Rush today led a congressional hearing to examine whether the FTC, which regulates funeral homes, should have its purview expanded to include cemeteries, crematories and sellers of caskets, urns, monuments and markers.
Most cemeteries operate as non-profits, a realm the FTC generally does not investigate, said Charles Harwood, deputy director of its Bureau of Consumer Protection. Under Rush’s proposal, the FTC would take oversight of such cemeteries.
The Burr Oak Cemetery made national news in July when it was learned that hundreds of corpses had been unearthed over several years anddumped into a weeded area of the cemetery or double-stacked in other graves.
The cemetery is the resting place of Emmett Till, whose murder helpedfuel the civil rights movement, and blues singer Dinah Washington,among other notables.
A Service Corporation International Cemetery, 500 graves desecrated, was a contributing factor in the Legislation
Rush said the horrific activities at Burr Oak were not an aberration,citing new allegations of desecrating graves and reselling plots later surfaced in Mission Hills, Calif., and DeKalb County, Ga.
“Just because death all too often comes like a thief in the night,” he said, “bereaved consumers should not be left wondering who, in fact,was the real thief: death or the cemetery salesperson.”
Patricia Brown Holmes, a retired judge who led an Illinois task forcethat led to tougher, just-enacted laws governing cemeteries in thestate, spoke in favor of Rush’s measure.
Holmes said the average consumer thinks of a funeral home and cemetery as one in the same, even though under federal laws, funeral homes areheavily regulated and cemeteries are not.
The National Funeral Directors Association also supports the measure,said Randall Earl, who has a funeral home and crematory in Decatur,Ill.
NFDA Eecutive Earl wante to be sure Wallmart Caskets are Covered
He told the panel that existing FTC rules pertaining to funeral homes do not cover casket sellers such as Wal-Mart and amazon.com, so the association wants the rules updated to cover them.
Under Rush’s proposal, new FTC regulations would require cemeteries andthe other newly covered sectors of the death-care industry to provide pre-sale price disclosures.
Misrepresentations would be prohibited and clear contracts itemizing goods, services and prices would be required.
A representative of the International Cemetery, Cremation and FuneralAssociation said cemeteries and funeral homes were best regulated at the state level. Paul M. Elvig said most cemeteries operated as nonprofits, including those run by religious, municipal and fraternal organizations, and the new regulations would disproportionately affect them “in ways that would never pass a cost/benefit analysis.”
Rush’s bill, called the Bereaved Consumer’s Bill of Rights Act, has five co-sponsors.”
–Katherine Skiba WGN 720-via mobile.wgnradio.com
Funeral Industry|Funeral News Blog by Your Funeral Guy
House Subcommittee on Commerce and Energy held the hearing.
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