A bill to designate the community-based outpatient clinic of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Columbus, Georgia, as the "Robert S. Poydasheff Department of Veterans Affairs Clinic".

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1803 To designate the community-based outpatient clinic of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Columbus, Georgia, as the ‘‘Robert S. Poydasheff Department of Veterans Affairs Clinic’’. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 25, 2021 Mr. WARNOCK (for himself and Mr. OSSOFF) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To designate the community-based outpatient clinic of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Columbus, Georgia, as the ‘‘Robert S. Poydasheff Department of Veterans Affairs Clinic’’. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 3 Congress makes the following findings: 4 (1) Former mayor of Columbus, Georgia, Rob- 5 ert S. Poydasheff died on September 24, 2020. 6 (2) Robert S. Poydasheff earned a B.A. in po- 7 litical science from the Citadel in 1954, a J.D. from 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:57 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1803.IS S1803 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1803 IS Tulane University Law School in 1957, an M.A. in 1 international relations from the graduate program of 2 Boston University in Berlin, Germany, in 1967, and 3 attended the Hague Academy of International Law 4 in the Netherlands in preparation for a military and 5 subsequent civilian career that focused on serving 6 others. 7 (3) In 1955, Robert S. Poydasheff was commis- 8 sioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Infantry 9 Branch of the United States Army and he was reas- 10 signed to the Judge Advocate General’s Corps. 11 (4) Robert S. Poydasheff was a 1976 graduate 12 of the United States Army War College and served 13 a total of 24 years in the Armed Forces, retiring as 14 a Colonel in 1979. 15 (5) Colonel Poydasheff was decorated with the 16 Legion of Merit with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the 17 Bronze Star Medal, and the Vietnam Ribbon with 18 Four Battle Stars, and during his military career 19 and because of his expert legal acumen he was as- 20 signed to work on the biggest cases of the time in 21 which he served, but during that time he never lost 22 sight of what he considered his primary role, which 23 was to take care of members of the Armed Forces. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:57 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1803.IS S1803 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1803 IS (6) Colonel Poydasheff was appointed as legal 1 counsel to the Secretary of the Army and served the 2 needs of all members of the Armed Forces by help- 3 ing to shape the policy of the Army. 4 (7) In 2012, the Army War College Foundation 5 named Colonel Poydasheff an Outstanding Alumnus 6 in recognition of his wide-ranging service to his com- 7 munity after his retirement from active duty in the 8 Armed Forces. 9 (8) Colonel Poydasheff served on the City 10 Council for Columbus, Georgia, from 1994 to 2002, 11 helping all citizens of the community he had come 12 to love while concurrently serving Fort Benning and 13 his beloved members of the Armed Forces. 14 (9) Colonel Poydasheff was elected mayor of 15 Columbus, Georgia, in 2002, served a four-year term 16 and maintained a focus on community-based pro- 17 grams and strengthening the relationship between 18 the city and Fort Benning. 19 (10) During that time he made great contribu- 20 tions to the joint military and civilian communities 21 of Columbus, Georgia, and Fort Benning, appointing 22 first a fellow member of the Armed Forces and later 23 the first African American to the position of city 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:57 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1803.IS S1803 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1803 IS manager, while knowing that doing so would be at 1 his own political peril. 2 (11) After his service as mayor of Columbus, 3 Georgia, Colonel Poydasheff found continued success 4 as a practicing lawyer helping countless citizens and 5 members of the Armed Forces living in the city he 6 once led as well as advocating for many members of 7 the Armed Forces in the area. 8 (12) The continued interest of Colonel 9 Poydasheff in the betterment of Columbus, Georgia, 10 as well as his contributions to the Veterans Action 11 Committee has a continued impact to this day. 12 (13) Colonel Poydasheff served as past presi- 13 dent of the Chattahoochee Council Boy Scouts of 14 America, past president of the Chattahoochee Valley 15 Association of the United States Army, past presi- 16 dent of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, member 17 of the Board of Directors of the Springer Opera 18 Arts Association, past president of the Ann Eliza- 19 beth Shepherd Home, and member of the Kiwanis 20 Club and Columbus Bar Association. 21 SEC. 2. ROBERT S. POYDASHEFF DEPARTMENT OF VET- 22 ERANS AFFAIRS CLINIC. 23 (a) DESIGNATION.—The community-based outpatient 24 clinic of the Department of Veterans Affairs located at 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:57 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1803.IS S1803 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1803 IS 6910 River Road, Columbus, Georgia, shall after the date 1 of the enactment of this Act be known and designated as 2 the ‘‘Robert S. Poydasheff Department of Veterans Af- 3 fairs Clinic’’ or the ‘‘Robert S. Poydasheff VA Clinic’’. 4 (b) REFERENCE.—Any reference in any law, regula- 5 tion, map, document, paper, or other record of the United 6 States to the community-based outpatient clinic referred 7 to in subsection (a) shall be considered to be a reference 8 to the Robert S. Poydasheff Department of Veterans Af- 9 fairs Clinic. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:57 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1803.IS S1803 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS