Navy Corpsman Steve Andrews Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Clinic

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. BERGMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1281 to name the Department of Veterans Affairs community-based outpatient clinic in Gaylord, Michigan, as the Navy Corpsman Steve Andrews Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Clinic.

It is an honor for me to lead this legislation to designate a VA care facility in the hometown of a man who so embodied love and care for others, whether it was for a neighbor down the street, a constituent in his district, or his brothers and sisters in arms on the battlefield.

Steve Andrews led a life of service in every sense of the word, starting with the defense of our freedoms overseas. He entered the Navy in 1967 as a hospital corpsman, going on to serve in the Vietnam war-- not only at the U.S. Navy Hospital in Guam, but as a medic in the 1st Marine Division attached to a force reconnaissance company in Vietnam. He is credited with saving the lives of countless marines during combat.

Steve earned the Navy Commendation Medal and Purple Heart for his service. I can personally attest that countless marines and new generations of Americans owe their lives to Navy corpsmen. Their service must never be forgotten, which is one of the reasons we are working to memorialize Steve Andrews with this legislation.

Steve led a dedicated, full life of public service. From 1979 to 1982, he represented Michigan's 106th District as a State representative fighting for Michiganders' best interests in Lansing. Giving back to the community in which he grew up, Steve coached local youth sports, helped found Petoskey Art in the Park, and sat on the boards of the Petoskey Regional Chamber of Commerce and North Central College.

I personally met Steve in a rocking chair in January of 2016. He was terminal with cancer at that point. He did not hesitate to reach out to someone he had never met before in his life and share his thoughts on what it meant to be a public servant. I am deeply indebted to his perspective.

His legacy is beyond deserving of the designation that we are seeking today. I thank his loving family for all their support; his friends, who initiated this legislation; the Michigan veterans service organizations backing us up; and the entirety of my Michigan delegation colleagues for coming together in a bipartisan manner to cosponsor this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1281.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source