Hutchison Asks for VA Investigation into Cemetery

HOUSTON (AP) _ U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison has asked Veterans Affairs Secretary Erik Shinseki to investigate allegations of religious discrimination by VA officials in Houston.

Several Houston veterans groups have filed a lawsuit accusing officials of banning the use of such religious words as “God,” and of censoring their prayers at soldiers’ funerals.

In a letter to the VA secretary, the Texas Republican says she was “greatly concerned by the complaints.”

She asserted, “Our veterans swore to uphold the Constitution with their lives, and they and their families’ religious freedom should be honored, not prohibited.”

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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