A bill to designate the community-based outpatient clinic of the Department of Veterans Affairs planned to be built in Oahu, Hawaii, as the "Daniel Kahikina Akaka Department of Veterans Affairs Community-Based Outpatient Clinic".

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 1760) to designate the community-based outpatient clinic of the Department of Veterans Affairs planned to be built in Oahu, Hawaii, as the ``Daniel Kahikina Akaka Department of Veterans Affairs Community- Based Outpatient Clinic''.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on S. 1760.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise to offer my strong support for S. 1760, a bill to designate the veterans' health facility in Oahu, Hawaii, as the Daniel Kahikina Akaka Department of Veterans Affairs community-based outpatient clinic, named after the first United States Senator of Native Hawaiian ancestry, the late Daniel Akaka.

I recognize Senator Mazie Hirono for spearheading this effort to honor a man of such great esteem. The CBOC in

Oahu will stand as a lasting testimony to his commitment to the men and women of the Armed Forces, providing countless services and benefits to our Nation's veterans for years to come.

Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Kai Kahele, whose constituency includes parts of Oahu, for leading this effort on the House side. He grew up the son of a Native Hawaiian mother and a father of Chinese and Native Hawaiian heritage. As a student of Kamehameha, a high school for boys, a military school, Senator Akaka's path was forever changed after having witnessed firsthand Japanese fighter planes attacking Pearl Harbor in 1941.

Like most patriotic Americans during World War II, Senator Akaka wanted to join in the U.S. effort to defend our freedom. He ultimately ended up joining the Army Corps of Engineers and served throughout the Pacific theater.

After the war, Senator Akaka took advantage of the GI Bill benefits, and earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Hawaii. After working several years in State government, Akaka was persuaded to enter elected office to ensure there would be a Native Hawaiian presence in his State's decisionmaking process.

Elected to the House of Representatives in 1977, Daniel Akaka became a congressional champion of indigenous and veteran issues. In 1990, he was elected to represent Hawaii in the United States Senate.

Thanks to Senator Akaka's commitment to recognizing the military contributions of the AAPI community, more than 30 Medals of Honor were awarded to Asian and Asian-American World War II veterans; a recognition of their patriotism and bravery that was long overdue.

When it comes to the question of naming the VA community-based outpatient clinic in Hawaii, I ask this body: Who better than Daniel Kahikina Akaka; a Hawaiian-born, Hawaiian-serving veteran whose life philosophy was sharing aloha and was a true public servant for over three decades.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record letters of support from our colleagues in the Hawaiian Congressional Delegation, the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Disabled American Veterans.

Congress of the United States,

Washington, DC, November 17, 2021.

Hon. Jon Tester,

Chairman, Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Washington,

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support S. 1760, to designate the soon-to-be-constructed VA community-based outpatient clinic in Oahu, Hawaii, after our friend and former colleague, Daniel Kahikina Akaka. In doing so, this body will appropriately commemorate the significant achievements of America's first Senator of Native Hawaiian ancestry.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Hawaii (Mr. Case), who serves on the Appropriations Committee and the Natural Resources Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all of my colleagues to join me in passing S. 1760, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join my colleagues, including my colleagues kindly speaking here today from Maryland and Illinois, in strong support of House passage of S. 1760, introduced by my colleague Senator Mazie Hirono, and passed unanimously by the Senate.

This critical measure, companion legislation to H.R. 3406, which I co-introduced in the House with its principal sponsor, my colleague and partner, Congressman Kaiali'i Kahele, will designate the new community- based outpatient clinic of the Department of Veterans Affairs, now literally rising out of the ground at Kalaeloa in Hawaii, and known to date as the Advanced Leeward Outpatient Healthcare Access, or ALOHA project, as the Daniel Kahikina Akaka Department of Veterans Affairs Community-Based Outpatient Clinic.

Daniel K. Akaka was many things throughout his long and full 93 years of life: teacher, Member of this House from 1977 to 1991, the first U.S. Senator of Native Hawaiian ancestry from 1991 to 2012, beloved mentor to generations, and on and on. Of all of these, he was a deeply proud veteran, having served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the Second World War, deploying to the Western Pacific in support of the critical island-hopping campaign, which won the Pacific war.

Senator Akaka carried his pride and passion and commitment to our Nation's veterans into his work in Congress. As member and chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, he produced an unmatched record of progress on healthcare, compensation, and other benefits for veterans, including crafting the new veterans' GI Bill in Congress to ensure more education benefits for veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.

In this Asian-Pacific Heritage Month, it is fitting to recognize his work focusing on specific issues affecting our Asian-American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander veterans.

The importance of the ALOHA project to our veteran `ohana, or family, throughout Hawaii and the Pacific cannot be overstated. On its projected completion in late 2023, it will bring our VA healthcare system to our veterans, relieving significant and growing pressure in Hawaii on that system, increasing healthcare access for Hawaii's over 110,000 veterans and more, and alleviating significant and growing logistical and capacity challenges at Tripler Army Medical Center and the Spark M. Matsunaga Medical Center.

I cannot think of a more deserving and appropriate individual to grace this facility and those who work and are healed there with his name and his still living, breathing spirit, than Daniel Kahikina Akaka.

Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of this measure so that it may be sent directly to the President for his consideration and enactment.

``Mahalo nui loa.'' ``Thank you very much.''

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 1760, a bill to name the VA community-based outpatient clinic in Oahu, Hawaii, after World War II veteran and former Hawaiian Senator, Daniel Akaka.

Senator Akaka has a long and proud record of service in a uniform and out. Following his time in the Army, he represented his fellow Hawaiians in both the House and the Senate. During that time in the Senate, he served as chairman of the Veterans Affairs' Committee, where he also represented his fellow veterans.

Mr. Speaker, it is only fitting that the community-based outpatient clinic in his hometown of Oahu be named in his honor. I am proud to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Veterans' Affairs be discharged and the Senate now proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 1760.

I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

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