Although the cemetery was established in 1864, this cemetery includes the remains of veterans from every one of America's wars - from the American Revolution through the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. The cemetery has long been regarded as America's hallowed ground.
Privates are buried there, as are Presidents. The tomb of the Unknown Soldier honors unidentified warriors from past wars. Sailors who died when the U.S.S. Maine was sunk in Havana in 1898 are memorialized there.
Our collective history is read in this cemetery. Carved in stones are the names of veterans from the birth of our nation to today's war against terrorism. We expect the utmost respect, honor and dignity be given to those buried at Arlington.
Tragically, we now know that this most basic of expectations was neglected. Gross mismanagement of these sanctified grounds has tarnished a sacred trust and shaken many military families.
The heartbreaking truth was revealed in June when the Army Inspector General (IG) released a special report on operational and contracting deficiencies at Arlington National Cemetery. The findings were appalling: Investigators found unmarked graves, grave sites misidentified on cemetery maps and at least four burial urns that had been unearthed and their contents discarded.
Recently, a subcommittee of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, of which I am the Ranking Member, held an important hearing to try to understand how these terrible errors had occurred and what could be done to restore the American public's trust and faith in the management of Arlington National Cemetery.
From the testimony, it's clear we still don't know the full magnitude of the missteps at Arlington. The total number of gravesites that are unmarked, improperly marked or mislabeled on cemetery maps could be in the thousands; we just don't know.
What we do know is that the cemetery had not been inspected or audited for more than a decade - an unbelievable lapse of oversight. The Army has admitted that it lacked a single point of responsibility and accountability for the operations and oversight of the cemetery.
That admission is a first step. But, the families, fellow service members, and friends of our fallen heroes must have their trust restored. Right now, that bond is broken.
The IG's report documents further mismanagement of the cemetery and an utter lack of Army oversight spanning many years. The Army IG made 76 findings and 101 recommendations - some of which were the very same deficiencies from a 1997 IG inspection of the cemetery. The Army was alerted to some of these problems 13 years ago, yet nothing was done to make things right.
A main cause of burial problems was the ill-advised reliance on an inaccurate map of the burial plots. In just three of the 70 sections of the cemetery, more than 200 discrepancies have been identified between the map and the gravesites.
To correct disparities, in May 2002, the cemetery management embarked on an ambitious project to update the mapping operation. But this goal was never met.
Despite spending more than $5.5 million to digitize the cemetery's records, the cemetery continues to use manual records and an electronic tracking system set up seven years ago. This is a tremendous waste of taxpayer dollars that can be traced to a lack of effective contract oversight.
In light of these disturbing revelations, the U.S. Army must provide rapid, decisive and effective remedies. We must continue to work to determine the causes of the disturbing and painful lapses at Arlington National Cemetery, and to establish a timetable for urgent remedy.
It's critical that we take aggressive steps to remove the tarnish from our national cemetery, and renew the promises made to our military families and to the American people.