Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 118.djvu/2089

 118 STAT. 2059 PUBLIC LAW 108–375—OCT. 28, 2004 Subtitle I—Other Matters SEC. 1081. LIABILITY PROTECTION FOR DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE VOLUNTEERS WORKING IN MARITIME ENVIRONMENT. Section 1588(d)(1)(B) of title 10, United States Code, is amended by inserting before the period at the end the following: ‘‘and the Act of March 9, 1920, commonly known as the ‘Suits in Admiralty Act’ (41 Stat. 525; 46 U.S.C. App. 741 et seq.) and the Act of March 3, 1925, commonly known as the ‘Public Vessels Act’ (43 Stat. 1112; 46 U.S.C. App. 781 et seq.) (relating to claims for damages or loss on navigable waters)’’. SEC. 1082. SENSE OF CONGRESS CONCERNING MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE RETURN TO THE UNITED STATES OF THE REMAINS OF DECEASED MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES FROM OVERSEAS. (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following findings: (1) The Department of Defense, since 1991, has relied on a policy of no media coverage of the transfers of the remains of deceased members of the Armed Forces— (A) at Ramstein Air Force Base, Germany; (B) at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, and the Port Mortuary Facility at Dover Air Force Base; and (C) at interim stops en route to the point of final destination in the transfer of the remains. (2) The principal focus and purpose of the policy is to protect the wishes and the privacy of families of deceased members of the Armed Forces during their time of great loss and grief and to give families and friends of the dead the privilege to decide whether to allow media coverage at the member’s duty or home station, at the interment site, or at or in connection with funeral and memorial services. (3) In a 1991 legal challenge to the Department of Defense policy, as applied during Operation Desert Storm, the policy was upheld by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, and on appeal, by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in the case of JB Pictures, Inc. v. Department of Defense and Donald B. Rice, Secretary of the Air Force on the basis that denying the media the right to view the return of remains at Dover Air Force Base does not violate the first amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and of the press. (4) The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in that case cited the following two key Govern ment interests that are served by the Department of Defense policy: (A) Reducing the hardship on the families and friends of the war dead, who may feel obligated to travel great distances to attend arrival ceremonies at Dover Air Force Base if such ceremonies were held. (B) Protecting the privacy of families and friends of the dead, who may not want media coverage of the unloading of caskets at Dover Air Force Base. (5) The Court also noted, in that case, that the bereaved may be upset at the public display of the caskets of their loved ones and that the policy gives the family the right to

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