Washington ? The Senate passed a bill Tuesday to keep BTK serial killer Dennis Rader and other veterans convicted of murder from being buried in national cemeteries or given military funeral honors.

The bill’s backers, including Sens. Pat Roberts and Sam Brownback, both R-Kansas, and Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, said the measure would close a loophole under current law and require the Defense Department and Veterans Affairs Administration to be more proactive in checking the backgrounds of those slated for military burials.

A similar bill is being considered in the House.

Rader, an Air Force veteran, pleaded guilty to murder earlier this year and was sentenced to a minimum of 175 years in prison in his string of 10 killings that haunted Wichita, Kan., for decades. He reached the rank of sergeant and was awarded the Air Force Good Conduct Medal, the Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon and the National Defense Service Medal.