Lieutenant Colonel John W. Mosley Va Clinic

Floor Speech

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Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4172) to name the Department of Veterans Affairs community- based outpatient clinic in Aurora, Colorado, as the ``Lieutenant Colonel John W. Mosley VA Clinic.''

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 4172

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. NAME OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS COMMUNITY- BASED OUTPATIENT CLINIC, AURORA, COLORADO.

(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:

(1) John Mosley was born on June 21, 1921, in Denver, Colorado.

(2) In 1945, John Mosley married Edna Mosley.

(3) During World War II, he joined the famed Tuskegee Airmen and trained as a bomber pilot, serving as one of the first African Americans in that role. He earned the flight qualification of Command Pilot during his service in the United States Air Force. The brave service of the Tuskegee Airmen helped pave the way for integration of the armed services. Edna Mosley worked in the defense industry during the war.

(4) Upon their return to Colorado, Edna Mosley joined John as a tireless community activist and organizer. Among her many achievements, Edna was elected to three terms as Aurora's first African-American City Council Woman. While on the Council, Mrs. Mosley also served on the Board of Directors of the Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority, the entity which provided the vision for the development of the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.

(5) After a brief break from military service, John Mosley served during the Korean and Vietnam wars. He was an operations officer in Thailand during the Vietnam War.

(6) John Mosley retired in 1970 as a lieutenant colonel.

(7) In 2007, Lieutenant Colonel Mosley and the original Tuskegee Airmen received the Congressional Gold Medal from President George W. Bush.

(8) John and Edna Mosley continued to serve their community long after their retirements, advocating for racial equality, women's rights, veterans' affairs, housing, and education.

(b) Designation.--The Department of Veterans Affairs community-based outpatient clinic to be located in Aurora, Colorado, shall after the date of the enactment of this Act be known and designated as the ``Lieutenant Colonel John W. Mosley Clinic''.

(c) References.--Any reference to such clinic in any law, regulation, map, document, record, or other paper of the United States shall be considered to be a reference to the Lieutenant Colonel John W. Mosley Clinic.

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Mr. TAKANO. 4172.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to remember the life of John W. Mosley, a Denver native who began his legendary service to our Nation in the United States Army Air Corps as a World War II Tuskegee Airman, one of our Nation's first Black military aviators.

This bill, H.R. 4172, will name the Department of Veterans Affairs new community-based outpatient clinic in Aurora, Colorado, as the Lieutenant Colonel John W. Mosley VA Clinic. I thank my colleague, Representative Jason Crow, a former Army Ranger, for championing this effort.

To say that Lieutenant Colonel Mosley led a remarkable life would be an understatement. Growing up in a segregated neighborhood in Denver, he became valedictorian of his high school class. In 1939, Lieutenant Colonel Mosley became a National Merit Scholar and was one of the first Black students to attend Colorado State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, which is now Colorado State University. Mosley was the school's first Black varsity football player and served as vice president of his college class as a junior and as a senior.

At the start of the Second World War, Mosley dreamed of serving his country as a pilot. After being denied the opportunity to join the ROTC program in college, Lieutenant Colonel Mosley paid for his own flight physical and started taking flying lessons.

And even after the Army Air Corps established the Tuskegee Airmen program in June 1941, Mosley was not initially drafted to join them.

Mosley was instead sent to an artillery unit at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Mosley protested, writing letters to Members of Congress and the President until he was finally accepted into the Tuskegee unit.

Together, the Tuskegee Airmen flew more than 15,000 missions over North Africa and Europe during World War II. Lieutenant Colonel Mosley later served as a pilot in the Berlin Airlift, delivering loads of supplies to the Soviet-blockaded sectors of the city.

Upon Lieutenant Colonel Mosley's death in 2015 at the age of 93, his son, Eric, told the Denver Post that Lieutenant Colonel Mosley always said that ``he had to fight in order to fight. . . . He had to struggle to be able to fight for his country.''

Having paved the way as a Tuskegee Airman, Lieutenant Colonel Mosley later worked with the Truman administration to draft policies that would eventually fully integrate the United States Armed Forces.

Mosley went on to serve our Nation in the United States Air Force during the Korean war and Vietnam war, retiring in 1970.

Mosley then joined the Federal civil service, becoming a special assistant to the undersecretary in the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare before finally returning home to Colorado where he and his wife, Edna, continued their civil rights advocacy.

I should also mention that Edna Mosley was a trailblazer in her own right, becoming Aurora, Colorado's, first African American city councilwoman in 1992.

H.R. 4172 has letters of support from our Colorado delegation colleagues, the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Disabled American Veterans.

Mr. Speaker, I include these letters in the Record. Congress of the United States, Washington, DC. Hon. Jon Tester, Chairman, Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Washington, DC. Hon. Mark Takano, Chairman, House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Washington, DC. Hon. Jerry Moran, Ranking Member, Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Washington, DC. Hon. Mike Bost, Ranking Member, House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman Tester, Chairman Takano, Ranking Member Moran, Ranking Member Bost: We write to request your support to name the new Aurora VA community-based outpatient clinic (CBOC) after Lieutenant Colonel John Mosley. He was a Denver native who lived in Aurora, was a Tuskegee Airman, civil rights activist, and the first Black football player at Colorado State University.

Lieutenant Colonel John Mosley was born the son of a slave. He was the valedictorian of his graduating class at Manual High School and attended a segregated Colorado A&M (now Colorado State University) on an academic scholarship, becoming his class Vice President and the first African American to play on its football team.

During World War II, he joined the famed Tuskegee Airmen and trained as a bomber pilot, serving as one of the first African Americans in that role. He earned the flight qualification of Command Pilot during his service in the United States Air Force. He piloted bombing missions over Europe and North Africa. The brave service of the Tuskegee Airmen helped pave the way for integration of the armed services.

Lieutenant Colonel John Mosley went on to fight in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. He became special assistant to the undersecretary in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in Washington, D.C. before returning to Colorado. After his retirement, Lieutenant Colonel John Mosley and his wife Edna continued to serve Colorado--Edna as Aurora City Council Woman--advocating for racial equality, women's rights, veterans' affairs, housing, and education.

We would be grateful for your support in this effort and hope the Senate and House Committees on Veterans Affairs will give it their consideration. Sincerely, Jason Crow, Ken Buck, Joe Neguse, Doug Lamborn, Ed Perlmutter, Diana DeGette, Lauren Boebert, Members of Congress. John Hickenlooper, Michael F. Bennet, U.S. Senators. ____ Chip Kossow, Falcon, CO, August 10, 2021. Chairman Mark Takano, House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Washington, DC. Hon. Mike Bost, House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman Takano and Ranking Member Bost: Please accept this letter as a demonstration of the total support of the American Legion Department of Colorado, in recognition of naming the new Veterans Administration Clinic in Aurora, Colorado as ``John W. Mosley Veterans Clinic''.

The Denver native was the first-ever black player on what is now the Colorado State University football team, and he was one of the first black men trained as a bomber pilot during the Second World War, serving with the famed Tuskegee Airmen before trading in his military service for a life of community leadership in Aurora.

The Tuskegee Airmen flew 15,000 missions over North Africa and Europe during the Second World War. John also would serve as a pilot in the Berlin Airlift after the war, delivering loads of supplies to the Soviet-blockaded sectors of the city.

The American Legion Department of Colorado would like to honor his amazing legacy of service to God, Country, his fellow veterans, and his community of Aurora, CO 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 21,000 members of The American Legion in Colorado I am proud to fully endorse this effort. Sincerely, Chip Kossow, Department Commander. ____ Disabled American Veterans, Department of Colorado, Lakewood, Colorado. Hon. Mark Takano, Chairman, House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Washington, DC. Hon. Mike Bost, House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman Takano and Ranking Member Bost: Please accept this letter as demonstrating the total support of the Department of Colorado Disabled American Veterans, in recognition of the ongoing initiative to name the new Aurora VA Community-Based Outpatient Clinic to the Lieutenant Colonel John W. Mosley Community Based Outpatient Clinic, in memory of United States Air Force Lieutenant Colonel ``retired'' John W. Mosley.

Lieutenant Colonel Mosley served in the U.S. Army Air Corps and then subsequently the U.S. Air Force from WWII, then Korea, and Vietnam. He was also a Tuskegee Airman in WWII. After WWII, he was called upon to work with the Truman Administration to draft the policies that would fully integrate the U.S. armed forces. In addition, Colonel Mosley also served in a variety of federal positions.

Colonel Mosley was also a strong civil rights activist, fighting for the right to attend CSU, becoming the first black American to play football and wrestled at CSU, and elected as his class Vice President in both his junior and senior college years.

Lieutenant Colonel John W. Mosley embodied the Air Force value of loyalty, duty, respect, and selfless service to his fellow veterans and his country.

The Department of Colorado Disabled American Veterans would like to honor his outstanding legacy with our full support, endorsement, and we most strongly encourage this committee to support legislation renaming the Aurora VA Community-Based Outpatient Clinic after Lieutenant Colonel John W. Mosley. Sincerely, John Carmona, Commander, Department of Colorado, Disabled American Veterans. ____ Veterans of Foreign Wars, Department of Colorado, Lakewood, CO. Hon. Mark Takano, Chairman, House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Washington, DC. Hon. Mike Bost, House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman Takano and Ranking Member Boast: Please accept this letter as a demonstration of total support of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Department of Colorado, in recognition of changing the name of the Veterans Administration Clinic in Aurora, Colorado currently called the Aurora Gateway CBOC Replacement (VHA19-554-2016-29466) to ``Lieutenant Colonel John W. Mosley VA Clinic''.

Renaming the Aurora Gateway Veterans Affairs Medical Clinic Replacement facility in respect to John W. Mosley is the ideal honor to bestow upon a legendary U.S. Air Force Tuskegee Airman who piloted bombing missions over Europe, North Africa, Korea, and Vietnam. Lt. Col. Mosley's life of service extended from his student days at Colorado State University in the late 1930s where he broke color barriers when he was elected class vice president in both of his junior and senior years to after World War II where he worked with the Truman administration to draft the policies that would fully integrate the United States Armed Forces and further in the Denver metro area late into his life.

Veterans of Foreign Wars, Colorado proudly supports legislation to rename the new Veterans Affairs replacement medical clinic in Aurora, CO as the John W. Mosley Aurora Gateway CBOC. Lt. Col. Mosley distinguished himself throughout his life with service to our country and community service efforts that improved the lives of all those who call Denver and Aurora home.

Lt. Col. Mosley was the embodiment of the U.S. Air Force Tuskegee Airmen values, loyalty, duty, respect, and selfless service to his fellow veterans and his country. The Veterans of Foreign Wars Colorado would like to honor his amazing legacy with our full support and encourage the committee to support legislation renaming the Aurora Gateway CBOC Replacement (VHA19-554-2016-29466) after this distinguished member of our State. Barbara Green, State Commander, Department of Colorado, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S.

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Mr. TAKANO. Once again, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4172 to name the new VA community-based clinic in Aurora, Colorado, after Lieutenant Colonel John W. Mosley, and by doing so, we will help ensure that his legacy lives on and continues to inspire future generations to break barriers and fight for justice and equality.
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Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am prepared to close, but before I do I will just let the gentleman from Colorado know that I am honored to represent the University of California Riverside, which is the repository of the Tuskegee Airmen Collection, which is formerly known as the Tuskegee Airmen Archives.

We are proud to have the papers of many of the 992 pilots who graduated from the Tuskegee Air Field courses who advanced race relations in our country. I am certainly hopeful that we will have the availability of the papers from Colonel Mosley that might, if it is not already in our archives, to be added.

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Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I ask all my colleagues to join me in passing H.R. 4172 to name the VA clinic in Aurora, Colorado, as the Lieutenant Colonel John W. Mosley VA clinic, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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