Max Cleland VA Medical Center Act

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 3369) to designate the medical center of the Department of Veterans Affairs in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia, as the ``Joseph Maxwell Cleland Atlanta Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center''.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on S. 3369.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to offer my support for S. 3369, a bill that will appropriately rename the Atlanta VA Medical Center in Decatur, Georgia, in honor of Joseph Maxwell Cleland, an Army veteran, an American statesman, and a distinguished public servant for more than 50 years.

Senator Cleland, who died a year ago this month, long displayed a commitment to assisting disabled American veterans, so it is fitting that part of his enduring legacy includes the naming of this facility, which provides care to so many Georgia men and women who raised their hands and answered the call to serve.

I thank Senator Raphael Warnock for championing this legislation, which unanimously passed the Senate this summer, and I also acknowledge the work of my colleague Representative Nikema Williams for introducing a House companion to the bill.

Senator Cleland was born in Atlanta in 1942 and raised a couple of hours away in Lithonia, Georgia. He was an exemplary student at Lithonia High School and went on to study American history at Stetson University in central Florida and Emory University in Atlanta.

Senator Cleland received a military commission through Stetson's ROTC program. He volunteered for service in the Vietnam war in 1967 and was promoted to Army captain.

On April 8, 1968, with a month left on his tour, Senator Cleland and other members of the 2nd Battalion, 12th Calvary Regiment were dropped by helicopter on a hillside outside Khe Sanh to set up a radio relay station. Senator Cleland reached down to pick up a grenade he thought had fallen from his flak jacket when the grenade exploded, causing several injuries to his lower body. Both of Senator Cleland's legs and his right forearm were amputated, and the Senator, then just 25 years old, used a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

For his meritorious service and gallantry in action, Senator Cleland was awarded the Bronze and Silver Stars.

Upon his return to the U.S., Senator Cleland was elected to the Georgia Senate, becoming the youngest member and only Vietnam veteran in that body.

In 1976, he was appointed to the staff of the U.S. Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, where he investigated hospitals in the Veterans Administration healthcare system and their treatment of wounded servicemembers returning from Vietnam.

The following year, at age 34, President Carter tapped Senator Cleland to head the Veterans Administration,

making him the youngest administrator in VA history and the first Vietnam veteran to serve in this role.

As VA administrator, Senator Cleland was instrumental in creating the Vet Center program, which decades later still provides a wide range of counseling services to veterans who experience trauma, loss, grief, and pain as a result of their military service. In doing so, Senator Cleland saved and improved the lives of an untold number of veterans. He advanced the conversation around the unseen wounds of war and helped reduce the stigma that all too often surrounds a veteran who seeks needed mental health care.

Following 12 years of service as Georgia's Secretary of State, Senator Cleland was elected to the United States Senate in 1996.

As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Cleland continued to be a forceful advocate for veterans and sought to improve military recruitment and retention, pay, and compensation, and pension and health benefits.

He played a critical role in the effort to allow former servicemembers to pass unused GI Bill benefits on to their dependent children, an initiative that has given generations of veteran families the opportunity to receive an affordable education.

Following his electoral defeat in 2002, Senator Cleland was appointed to the 9/11 Commission but resigned shortly thereafter and was critical of the George W. Bush administration's lack of transparency regarding key documents and government witnesses the Commission requested.

In 2009, President Obama selected Senator Cleland to lead the American Battle Monuments Commission, an independent government agency that manages 26 American cemeteries and 30 memorials, monuments, and markers abroad.

For those who have not visited any of these sites, I highly recommend that you do so.

This past Memorial Day, I led a congressional delegation to two ABMC cemeteries: the North Africa American Cemetery in Tunisia and the Cambridge American Cemetery in the United Kingdom. These sites serve as a solemn reminder of those who made the ultimate sacrifice to our Nation during the First and Second World Wars, and they truly uphold the words of General John J. Pershing, Commander of the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I and the first chairman of the ABMC who promised that, through these monuments, ``time will not dim the glory of their deeds.''

It is my hope that the same will be true in naming this hospital, one of the largest in the VA healthcare system, in Senator Cleland's memory.

S. 3369 has been strongly endorsed by The American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Disabled American Veterans, and I implore all of my colleagues to pass this bill today without further delay.

Mr. Speaker, I again thank Senator Warnock and Representative Williams for proposing this legislation and for their tireless work on behalf of our Nation's veterans.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Bishop). Chairman Sanford Bishop is a very good friend who serves as a subcommittee chair on the Appropriations Committee. He is a cardinal and also a former member of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his very heartfelt remarks, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I will just say that I take note that Senator Cleland had much to do with the establishment of vet centers. I know from the experience of my own veterans how much vet centers make a difference in their lives.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record letters of support for S. 3369 from The

American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Disabled American Veterans, as well as the Georgia delegation.

The American Legion,

Department of Georgia,

Stockbridge, GA, May 16, 2022.

Representative Nikema Williams,

House of Representatives,

Washington, DC.

Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock,

U.S. Senate,

Washington, DC.

Dear Representative Williams and Senator Warnock: The

American Legion Department of Georgia is in full support of

H.R. 6244 and S. 3369: the Max Cleland VA Medical Center Act.

We respectfully implore and sincerely request that the U.S.

Congress rename the Atlanta Department of Veterans Affairs

Medical Center as: ``The Joseph Maxwell Cleland Atlanta

Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center.''

Senator Cleland's distinguished service and noble legacy

are still remembered by his fellow Georgians, the nation, and

the countless veterans whose lives were greatly improved as a

result of his commitment to better healthcare and veterans'

services. Renaming the Atlanta VA Medical Center is but a

fraction of the tremendous gratitude that our U.S. Congress

can do to honor a true champion of veteran affairs.

For God and Country. . .

Mark Shreve,

State Commander,

Department of Georgia.

So, Mr. Speaker, this is a fitting tribute. I ask all of my colleagues to join me in passing S. 3369, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 3369, a bill to name the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Atlanta, Georgia, as the Max Cleland VA Medical Center.

Joseph Maxwell Cleland was born in 1942 in Atlanta, Georgia. Through his storied career, he always returned to his native State. Immediately after college, Max Cleland received his second lieutenant's commission in the Army. He volunteered for duty in the Vietnam war, serving with the 1st Calvary Division.

In 1968, during the Battle of Khe Sanh, then-Captain Cleland, upon landing on a nearby hill to set up a radio relay station, was gravely injured by an accidental blast of a team member's grenade. He eventually lost both legs and his right arm.

While serving, he earned the Bronze Star for meritorious service and the Silver Star for gallantry in action, in addition to the Purple Heart.

Returning to his home State, Max Cleland continued his service and was elected to the Georgia Senate as the youngest member and then the only Vietnam veteran. He became known as a staunch advocate for increasing public access for handicapped individuals as well as for his fellow veterans.

In 1977, Max Cleland was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to lead the Veterans Administration, the first Vietnam veteran to lead the agency. He was instrumental in transforming the way the Veterans Administration recognized and treated post-traumatic stress disorder in veterans suffering from the invisible wounds of war. After that assignment, he served as the secretary of state for Georgia for 14 years, and then he was elected to the United States Senate representing Georgia.

In this position, and in numerous subsequent assignments, he never forgot his fellow brothers and sisters in arms. He made it his life's work to champion military personnel matters and to honor the fallen at military cemeteries and monuments overseas and veteran cemeteries at home.

In spite of many physical challenges, Max Cleland received numerous honors and awards over the course of his long and distinguished career.

His spirit served as an inspiration, and that same spirit will continue to inspire excellence at the Atlanta VA Medical Center which should proudly bear his name.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am prepared to close.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill. Once again, as we talk about heroism, you can't summarize in 3 minutes the heroism of these men. Max Cleland lost two legs and an arm, and this is a well-deserved honor.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding.

This is a wonderful opportunity for me to come and to congratulate the chair, my colleague, Senator Warnock, and my colleague, Nikema Williams, for the naming of the VA Medical Center of Atlanta the Joseph Maxwell Cleland Atlanta Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Senator Cleland and I were friends. He was my friend, he was my mentor, and he was truly an inspiration.

I had the opportunity to know him. He served as secretary of state for the State of Georgia for 12 years. During that time, I was in the Georgia General Assembly. When he was elected to the United States Senate in 1996, I had the occasion to be a colleague with him as I was a Member of the House of Representatives.

He truly represented and embodied what it meant to be a veteran: service and sacrifice.

He was a triple amputee because of his wounds in Vietnam as a veteran and, of course, he was appointed by President Carter to head the VA. Of course, he served as the head of the American Battle Monuments Commission and I, as a member of the Military Construction/Veterans' Affairs Committee, had to work with him in making sure that these monuments were well-funded and well-maintained. He did a tremendous job.

Mr. Speaker, I had to come and speak because he was my friend, and he was my colleague and my inspiration. It is very, very fitting that this facility should be named for him because of his legacy.

Longfellow wrote:

``Lives of great men all remind us, we can make our lives

sublime, and, departing, leave behind us, footprints on

the sands of time.''

Senator Cleland lost both legs and an arm, but the footprints that he left and is leaving are his legacy for veterans that will be there forever. I am happy to urge my colleagues to support this legislation which appropriately names the facility in his honor.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.