Mark Takano

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5721) to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve research conducted within the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I ask all my colleagues to join me in passing this important piece of legislation, H.R. 5721, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TAKANO. In one letter, deans from 20 medical schools note that without the legislative fix in VIPER, VA will have to ``interrupt hundreds of millions of dollars invested in life-saving biomedical research for America's veterans.'' Mr. Speaker, we must pass this bill, urge our Senate colleagues to pass it, and get it to the President by the end of the year to give VA the authorities it needs to fix its research program issues now. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5721, the VIPER Act, as amended, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Bishop) who serves as subcommittee chair on the Appropriations Committee and also as a former member of the House of Representatives House Veterans' Affairs Committee.

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 4359) to designate the regional office of the Department of Veterans Affairs in metropolitan Atlanta as the ``Senator Johnny Isakson Department of Veterans Affairs Atlanta Regional Office'', and for other purposes.

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, again, I ask all my colleagues to join me in passing S. 4359, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. 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 H.R. 7299, as amended.

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support H.R. 7299, the Strengthening VA Cybersecurity Act of 2022. This bill represents a bipartisan, bicameral effort to oversee the Department of Veterans Affairs' cybersecurity efforts. This legislation requires independent assessment of the VA's cybersecurity readiness by a federally funded research and development center, or FFRDC. This bill is necessary because of the poor performance of VA in audits required by the Federal Information Security Modernization Act, also known as FISMA, and independent audits from the VA OIG on individual VA sites. The bill also seeks to address the issue of ``shadow IT'' which is has been a priority of the committee this Congress. If VA does not know what is on its networks and can't identify assets being utilized outside of the Office of Information Technology, then VA can't secure it. VA's repository of veterans' health information needs to be protected. We owe it to veterans to address these challenges now so that Congress and veterans can be assured that VA will secure their personal information. Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support H.R. 7299, as amended, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 7299, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TAKANO

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

Mr. TAKANO. 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. TAKANO. 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. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the memory of Lieutenant Colonel Luke Joseph Weathers, Jr., a combat fighter pilot with the legendary Tuskegee Airmen, the first ever African-American air traffic controller in Memphis, and a trailblazing advocate for African Americans' military service. The bill before us, H.R. 6863, would appropriately name the VA's medical center in Memphis, Tennessee, the Lieutenant Colonel Luke Weathers, Jr. VA Medical Center. Lieutenant Colonel Weathers embodied service to country in a way that we all can admire. Born in 1922 in Mississippi, Lieutenant Colonel Weathers moved to Memphis, Tennessee, at age 5, the place he would call home for decades after. After graduating from Xavier University in 1942, Lt. Col. Weathers returned to Memphis where he read a newspaper article about the newly created aviation cadet program in Tuskegee, Alabama, one of the first such programs in the country meant for aspiring African-American pilots. Despite the racial discrimination he endured, Lieutenant Colonel Weathers secured a one-on-one meeting with Memphis political boss E.H. Crump, who personally recommended Weathers' nomination to the Tuskegee program to President Roosevelt. From there, Lieutenant Colonel Weathers began his distinguished military service, fighting as a combat pilot among the legendary Red Tails during World War II. His noble accomplishments during the war included shooting down two German planes while protecting U.S. Army Air Corps bombers and shooting down two additional enemy aircraft in Italy while escorting a damaged B-24 Liberator bomber. Even after the war, Lieutenant Colonel Weathers' service to his country continued. In 1960, he became an air traffic control specialist with the Federal Aviation Administration, and soon after he became the first Black air traffic controller in Memphis. Lieutenant Colonel Weathers retired in 1985, all the while serving as a reservist in the military for 23 years. In retirement, he advocated tirelessly on behalf of African Americans in the military, paving the way for generations of citizens to serve this country honorably, just as he did. Lieutenant Colonel Weathers' lifetime of service earned him multiple honors and awards, including the Congressional Gold Medal in 2007, alongside 300 surviving Tuskegee Airmen. Lieutenant Colonel Weathers passed away in October 2011. Today, he and the Tuskegee Airmen continue to be a symbol of justice, determination, and solidarity, ideals which embody the very best of this country. The naming of the Memphis VA Medical Center in Lieutenant Colonel Weather's honor is a fitting tribute to his lifetime of service. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record letters of support for H.R. 6863 from The American Legion, the VFW, and Disabled American Veterans, as well as the Tennessee delegations of the House and Senate. The American Legion, Department of Tennessee, Nashville, TN, February 22, 2022. Hon. Steve Cohen, Washington, DC. Dear Congressman Cohen: Please accept this letter as a demonstration of the total support of the American Legion Department of Tennessee, in recognition of renaming the Memphis Veterans Administration Medical Center in Memphis, Tennessee as ``Lieutenant Colonel ``Luke'' Weathers Veterans Medical Center.'' Lieutenant Colonel Weathers was a Grenada Mississippi native and was the first-ever black Air Traffic Controller in Memphis. Lieutenant Colonel Weathers was a member of the famed Tuskegee Airman from 1942 to 1945. The Tuskegee Airmen flew 15,000 missions over North Africa and Europe during the Second World War. Luke downed two German fighter planes that attacked Army Air Force Bombers that he had been charged with escorting. Lt Colonel Weathers, like other Tuskegee Airmen during World War II, conducted missions throughout Northern Africa and Europe for allied Forces and when Lt Colonel Weathers returned to Memphis from the war in 1945, he was presented with a parade down Beale Street and with the job opportunities for a star black pilot were scarce and Luke Weathers was fortunate to obtain a job as the first black air traffic controller at the FAA in Memphis. The American Legion Department of Tennessee would like to honor his amazing legacy of service to God, Country, his fellow veterans, and his community of Memphis, TN with our full support and we wholeheartedly support and encourage the committee to sponsor and support legislation naming the new Aurora Veterans Clinic after this distinguished WWII Veteran. On behalf of the 20,000 members of The American Legion in Tennessee I am proud to fully, endorse this effort. Sincerely, Larry V. Kersey, Commander, The American Legion, Department of Tennessee.

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to insert extraneous material on H.R. 6863.

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6863) to designate the medical center of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Memphis, Tennessee, as the ``Lt. Col. Luke Weathers, Jr. VA Medical Center''.

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the gentlewoman on this accomplishment, and I congratulate her also on her hard work in securing funding for the community-based outreach clinic. I know how much of a difference they make, and I take this moment to call attention to the fact that the bipartisan achievement of funding so many community-based outreach clinics in the Honoring our PACT Act was transformational for this country, transformational for America's veterans. Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to join me in passing S. 2159, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TAKANO. I thank Representative Cammack and the Florida delegation for their work on this bill, and I urge all my colleagues to support it. I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the life of Master Sergeant J.K. Crump, a native of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, and a Korean war veteran who embodied the courage and indomitable fighting spirit of our Nation's Armed Forces. This bill, H.R. 5481, as amended, will name the Department of Veterans Affairs community-based outpatient clinic in Forest City, North Carolina, the Master Sergeant Jerry K. Crump VA Clinic. I thank my colleague, Representative Virginia Foxx, for introducing this bill. In early September 1951, Master Sergeant Crump, then an 18-year-old Army rifleman, and fellow members of Company L of the 3rd Infantry Division were attacked by invading Chinese forces near Chorwon, Korea. In the firefight that ensued, Master Sergeant Crump left cover twice: first, to retrieve a wounded comrade, and then again to recapture a machine gun from advancing Chinese soldiers. After returning to his position, an enemy grenade was flung into the foxhole that Master Sergeant Crump shared with four wounded infantrymen. With no regard for his own well-being, Master Sergeant Crump covered the explosives with his own body. The grenade detonated, but miraculously, Master Sergeant Crump survived. The heroism that Master Sergeant Crump displayed that day more than 70 years ago undoubtedly saved the lives of fellow soldiers and rightfully earned him the Medal of Honor, our highest military decoration for valor, which President Truman awarded him in 1952. Master Sergeant Crump went on to serve another 26 years in the U.S. Army before retiring in 1976. He died a year later and was interred at the Mount Zion Community Cemetery in Cornelius, North Carolina. Master Sergeant Crump's actions in combat were emblematic of the selfless sacrifice and devotion to duty that so many who don the uniform of our great Nation display. He, and the generation of those who served alongside him, truly represented the best ideals of our country. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record letters of support for H.R. 5481, as amended, from The American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Disabled American Veterans. The American Legion, Department of North Carolina, Raleigh, NC, March 16, 2022. Dear Congresswoman Foxx, It is with a great deal of pride that I endorse the naming of the Veterans Affairs (VA) outpatient clinic in Forest City, North Carolina, after the Medal of Honor recipient and North Carolina native, Jerry Crump. I am personally familiar with the facility in Forest City. I receive my medical attention at that clinic. The Forest City VA clinic is a wonderful facility, and the staff is outstanding. I have met with the American Legion members in Forest City and in Henrietta, NC who have advocated for the renaming to the Jerry Crump VA Medical Clinic. There are a few older American Legion members that remember attending school with Jerry. The communities of Forest City and Henrietta are proud of the native son and have often advocated for this honor. The American Legion Department of North Carolina does whole heartily support the renaming of the Forest City VA clinic after Medal of Honor Recipient Jerry Crump. The honor of naming a Forest City VA Clinic after this courageous American would be a fitting tribute to Corporal Crump. Respectfully, Jim Quinlan, The American Legion, Department of North Carolina.

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 5481, as amended.

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5481) to name the Department of Veterans Affairs community- based outpatient clinic in Forest City, North Carolina, as the ``Corporal Jerry K. Crump VA Clinic'', as amended.

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5481, as amended. By doing so, we will bestow a befitting name on this facility in Rutherford County, North Carolina, where so many military veterans receive top-notch medical care. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 7277, the Improving Oversight of Veterans Community Care Providers Act, as amended, a bill that will take important steps toward ensuring that healthcare providers meet the eligibility requirements and standards of VA's Community Care Program. I thank Representative Chris Pappas, chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee's Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, for his work on this bipartisan bill. I was disturbed by a recent Government Accountability Office report requested by Chairman Pappas and Ranking Member Tracey Mann, which identified approximately 1,600 healthcare providers who were deceased, ineligible to work with the Federal Government, or who had revoked or suspended medical licenses, yet were still listed as active providers in VA's Community Care networks. While the number of ineligible providers was a small fraction of the roughly 1.2 million active providers in VA's Community Care networks, they still represented a potential threat to veteran health and safety, and a risk for financial fraud. Congressman Pappas' bill would require VA to implement GAO's recommendations to ensure veterans and taxpayers are not put at risk. The bill will modify standard operating procedures at the VA Health Administration and require continuous matching of providers' information against several data sources in order to verify eligibility, such as the List of Excluded Individuals and Entities that the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General maintains, the National Practitioner Data Bank, and the monthly deactivation file of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. This will go a long way toward ensuring that physicians and other providers in VA's Community Care networks meet the basic and necessary standards, such as proper and current licensing requirements. This bill has the support of the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that it will have no significant impact on direct spending or deficits. Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Pappas), my good friend, who is the author of this legislation and who serves as the chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the Veterans' Affairs Committee.

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