This bill creates a new National Cemeteries Foundation to help support educational programs at veterans' cemeteries across the country. The foundation will be a nonprofit organization that can accept donations, grants, and other contributions from individuals and organizations to fund the Veterans Legacy Program—an initiative that helps tell the stories of veterans buried in national cemeteries through research, education, and community outreach activities involving schools, universities, and nonprofits.

The foundation will be run by a board of directors that includes someone from the National Cemetery Administration, and it will be overseen by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The foundation can keep some fees from managing donations and can spend money on approved educational activities, but all spending must follow strict rules set by the VA. Every year, the foundation must report to Congress on where the money came from, how much was spent, and what educational activities were funded.

The bill also makes several smaller changes to veterans' burial benefits. It allows the VA to use a single headstone for a group of veterans buried together instead of individual markers. It adds protections so cardboard containers can only be used for unclaimed veterans' remains if the veteran or their family previously requested it. The bill also clarifies that certain space service members and those discharged under conditions other than dishonorable are eligible for burial benefits, and it extends some burial eligibility deadlines that were previously set to expire in October 2024.