U.S. Congressman Sam Johnson Memorial Va Clinic Act
Floor Speech
Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my support for H.R. 4136, to rename the Department of Veterans Affairs community-based outpatient clinic in Plano, Texas, as the ``U.S. Congressman Sam Johnson Memorial VA Clinic''.
Congressman Sam Johnson was a combat veteran of both the Korean war and the Vietnam war, a fighter pilot, and a nearly 28-year Representative from Texas. He flew 62 missions during the Korean war. During his 25th mission in Vietnam, his F-4 Phantom fighter bomber was shot down on April 16, 1966.
His injuries included a broken arm, a broken back, and a dislocated shoulder, none of which were properly treated during his nearly 7-year imprisonment in Hanoi's Hoa Lo, commonly referred to by many former POWs as the ``Hanoi Hilton.''
For the last 18 months of his captivity, Johnson shared a cell with future Senator John McCain. Mr. Johnson weighed 120 pounds when he was released February 12, 1973. His right hand was permanently disabled, and he walked with a limp for the rest of his life.
Congressman Johnson graduated from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, in 1951 as a member of the Air Force ROTC. Following his service in Vietnam, he received a master's degree in international affairs from George Washington University in 1974. He retired from the Air Force as a colonel in 1979.
Congressman Johnson's political career followed shortly after. He was elected to the Texas State legislature in 1984 and won his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1991. He served the Texas Third District for nearly 28 years before retiring in 2019.
Congressman Johnson passed away in May of 2020, but he will be remembered for his courage and lifetime of public service. It is only fitting that the Plano, Texas, clinic be named in his honor.
A dedicated public servant in war and in peace, Congressman Johnson is certainly deserving of this Nation's gratitude.
Despite this bill not meeting all of our committee's rules for naming VA facilities, Republican leadership has chosen to bring it to the floor. I am supporting this bill, and I trust that Republican leadership will grant the same consideration to Representative Crockett's bill which honors our former colleague, Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, who served as the chief psychiatric nurse of the Dallas VA Medical Center for 16 years before her time in Congress.
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Ms. BUDZINSKI. Crockett).
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Ms. BUDZINSKI. Mr. Speaker, I ask all of my colleagues to join me in passing H.R. 4136, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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