A bill to designate the Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as the "Ernest Childers Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic".

Mr. President, I rise today for myself and on the behalf of my colleague, Dr. Coburn, to introduce a bill to honor the memory an American hero and proud son from our great state of Oklahoma. Ernest Childers was the first Native American to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor. This is our Nation's highest military award and it was awarded to him by Congress ``for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty in action.''

Ernest Childers was born in Broken Arrow, OK, on February 1, 1918, as the third of five children. His father died when he was young and he grew up mostly on a farm. His hunting skills in his youth provided much of the food for his family and formed the basis of a great military career.

Ernest Childers enlisted in the Oklahoma National Guard in 1937 while attending the Chilocco Indian School in north-central Oklahoma. He then went to Fort Sill in Lawton, OK, for basic training before being deployed to Africa in World War II. On September 22, 1943, despite a broken instep that forced him to crawl, 2nd Lieutenant Childers advanced against enemy machine gun nests in Oliveto, Italy, killing two snipers and capturing an enemy mortar observer in the process. His actions were instrumental in helping the Americans win the Battle of Oliveto and won him the Congressional Medal of Honor. He continued his career in the Army earning several other military awards including the Combat Infantry Badge, Europe and Africa Campaign Medals, The Purple Heart, The Bronze Star, and the Oklahoma Distinguished Service Cross. He retired from the Army in August of 1965 as a Lieutenant Colonel in Oklahoma's 45th Infantry Division.

Ernest Childers passed away on March 17, 2005 and was Oklahoma's last Congressional Medal of Honor winner still living in the state. He was an honored guest of many Presidential Inaugurations and as a Creek Indian, was named Oklahoma's Most Outstanding Indian by the Tulsa Chapter of the Council of American Indians in 1966. He once said ``The American Indian has only one country to defend, and when you're picked on, the American Indian never turns his back.'' Mr. President, I am proud and believe it is only appropriate to introduce a bill to rename the Department of Veterans Affairs' Outpatient Clinic in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Ernest Childers Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic to honor the enduring legacy of a true hero and fine soldier.

Mr. President, I rise today for myself and on the behalf of my colleague, Dr. Coburn, to introduce a bill to honor the memory an American hero and proud son from our great state of Oklahoma. Ernest Childers was the first Native American to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor. This is our Nation's highest military award and it was awarded to him by Congress ``for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty in action.''

Ernest Childers was born in Broken Arrow, OK, on February 1, 1918, as the third of five children. His father died when he was young and he grew up mostly on a farm. His hunting skills in his youth provided much of the food for his family and formed the basis of a great military career.

Ernest Childers enlisted in the Oklahoma National Guard in 1937 while attending the Chilocco Indian School in north-central Oklahoma. He then went to Fort Sill in Lawton, OK, for basic training before being deployed to Africa in World War II. On September 22, 1943, despite a broken instep that forced him to crawl, 2nd Lieutenant Childers advanced against enemy machine gun nests in Oliveto, Italy, killing two snipers and capturing an enemy mortar observer in the process. His actions were instrumental in helping the Americans win the Battle of Oliveto and won him the Congressional Medal of Honor. He continued his career in the Army earning several other military awards including the Combat Infantry Badge, Europe and Africa Campaign Medals, The Purple Heart, The Bronze Star, and the Oklahoma Distinguished Service Cross. He retired from the Army in August of 1965 as a Lieutenant Colonel in Oklahoma's 45th Infantry Division.

Ernest Childers passed away on March 17, 2005 and was Oklahoma's last Congressional Medal of Honor winner still living in the state. He was an honored guest of many Presidential Inaugurations and as a Creek Indian, was named Oklahoma's Most Outstanding Indian by the Tulsa Chapter of the Council of American Indians in 1966. He once said ``The American Indian has only one country to defend, and when you're picked on, the American Indian never turns his back.'' Mr. President, I am proud and believe it is only appropriate to introduce a bill to rename the Department of Veterans Affairs' Outpatient Clinic in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Ernest Childers Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic to honor the enduring legacy of a true hero and fine soldier.