Tightening Arlington Burial Rules Vowed

A House Veterans Affairs subcommittee promised to tighten the criteria for burial at Arlington National Cemetery, saying that the politically well-connected have an advantage when the White House and the Army grant exceptions to current rules. The subcommittee has led an investigation into how and why the Clinton administration granted a waiver for Democratic campaign donor and Ambassador M. Larry Lawrence, who died at age 69 in 1996. Last month, while the controversy raged and evidence showed Lawrence had fabricated his World War II Merchant Marine service, his family had his body removed from the cemetery, the nation’s most hallowed military burial ground.