To designate the Mental Health Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Facility Expansion of the Department of Veterans Affairs Alvin C. York Medical Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, as the "Sergeant John Toombs Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Facility".

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1341 To designate the Mental Health Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Facility Expansion of the Department of Veterans Affairs Alvin C. York Medical Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, as the ‘‘Sergeant John Toombs Resi- dential Rehabilitation Treatment Facility’’. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 25, 2019 Mr. DESJARLAIS (for himself, Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee, Mr. FLEISCHMANN, Mr. KUSTOFF of Tennessee, Mr. BURCHETT, Mr. GREEN of Tennessee, and Mr. JOHN W. ROSE of Tennessee) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To designate the Mental Health Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Facility Expansion of the Department of Vet- erans Affairs Alvin C. York Medical Center in Murfrees- boro, Tennessee, as the ‘‘Sergeant John Toombs Resi- dential Rehabilitation Treatment Facility’’. 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 finds the following: 4 (1) Sergeant John Toombs of Murfreesboro, 5 Tennessee, served in the Tennessee Army National 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:52 Mar 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1341.IH H1341 dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1341 IH Guard as a part of the highly distinguished 230th 1 Signal Corps. 2 (2) His six years in the National Guard in- 3 cluded a deployment to Afghanistan, where Sergeant 4 Toombs proudly served as a guard and escort for 5 visiting dignitaries and reporters traveling into high- 6 ly dangerous, war-ravaged areas in Afghanistan. 7 (3) As a result of his service in Afghanistan, 8 Sergeant Toombs developed symptoms of Posttrau- 9 matic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a disability he con- 10 tinued to suffer from after leaving the National 11 Guard in 2014. 12 (4) After two years of battling PTSD and fail- 13 ing to receive the necessary treatment, Sergeant 14 Toombs tragically took his own life in November of 15 2016. 16 (5) However, the life of Sergeant Toombs has 17 impacted other veterans in Tennessee suffering from 18 PTSD. Since this devastating tragedy, positive 19 measures have been made to raise awareness and 20 improve the overall treatment of veterans suffering 21 from PTSD within the Tennessee Valley Healthcare 22 System. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:52 Mar 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1341.IH H1341 dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1341 IH SEC. 2. SERGEANT JOHN TOOMBS RESIDENTIAL REHABILI- 1 TATION TREATMENT FACILITY. 2 (a) DESIGNATION.—The Mental Health Residential 3 Rehabilitation Treatment Facility Expansion of the De- 4 partment of Veterans Affairs Alvin C. York Medical Cen- 5 ter in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, shall be known and des- 6 ignated as the ‘‘Sergeant John Toombs Residential Reha- 7 bilitation Treatment Facility’’, after the date of the enact- 8 ment of this Act. 9 (b) REFERENCES.—Any reference in any law, regula- 10 tion, map, document, paper, or other record of the United 11 States to the Alvin C. York Mental Health Residential Re- 12 habilitation Treatment Facility referred to in subsection 13 (a) shall be deemed to be a reference to the ‘‘Sergeant 14 John Toombs Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Facil- 15 ity’’. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:52 Mar 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1341.IH H1341 dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS