To designate the Department of Veterans Affairs community clinic in New City, New York, as the "Jerry Donnellan VA Community Clinic".

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4042 To designate the Department of Veterans Affairs community clinic in New City, New York, as the ‘‘Jerry Donnellan VA Community Clinic’’. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 25, 2019 Mrs. LOWEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To designate the Department of Veterans Affairs community clinic in New City, New York, as the ‘‘Jerry Donnellan VA Community 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) In July 1968, Gerald T. ‘‘Jerry’’ Donnellan 5 of Valley Cottage, New York, was drafted into the 6 Army and served with the 196th Light Infantry in 7 Vietnam, attaining the rank of Sergeant. 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:00 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4042.IH H4042 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4042 IH (2) While in Vietnam, Donnellan was ambushed 1 and sustained a compound fracture in his right arm 2 and lost his right leg below the knee. 3 (3) In 1986, Donnellan began to work in the 4 Veterans Agency Office of Rockland County, New 5 York. In 1992, he was appointed Commissioner of 6 Veterans Affairs and held that position until Janu- 7 ary 2018 when he retired from the county’s Vet- 8 erans Service Agency after more than 30 years of 9 service to veterans and their families. 10 (4) During his tenure as Veterans Director, 11 Donnellan created the local Chapter 333 of the Viet- 12 nam Veterans of America, opened the first Rockland 13 County Veterans Homeless Shelter, created the 14 Camp Shanks Museum, helped begin the modern 15 tradition of Memorial Day watchfires to remember 16 the fallen as General George Washington once did, 17 and established the Rockland County Buffalo Sol- 18 diers’ Award to recognize the contributions of Afri- 19 can-American veterans. 20 (5) Donnellan was instrumental in opening the 21 first Department of Veterans Affairs community 22 clinic in Rockland County. Recognizing the need for 23 a local health center, he worked with the Depart- 24 ment of Veterans Affairs to secure a site and get it 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:00 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4042.IH H4042 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4042 IH approved. Serving more than 18,000 veterans a 1 year, the New City VA health clinic is an important 2 resource to help meet the needs of veterans in the 3 community. 4 (6) Donnellan received numerous medals for his 5 service, including three Purple Hearts and the Rock- 6 land County Legislature’s Distinguished Service 7 Award. 8 (7) Besides being the founder and first Presi- 9 dent of Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 333, 10 Donnellan was a member and a veteran service offi- 11 cer for the Military Order of the Purple Heart, 12 Chapter 120, a member of the Disabled American 13 Veterans, Chapter 98, a member of the Rockland 14 County Marine Corps League, and a member of the 15 American Legion, Post 310. 16 (8) Donnellan worked and volunteered for many 17 non-profit organizations, such as the United Way, 18 the Salvation Army, Dominican College, and for one 19 of his alma maters through the Rockland Commu- 20 nity College Foundation. 21 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF JERRY DONNELLAN VA COMMU- 22 NITY CLINIC. 23 (a) DESIGNATION.—The Department of Veterans Af- 24 fairs community clinic in New City, New York, shall after 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:00 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4042.IH H4042 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4042 IH the date of the enactment of this Act be known as the 1 ‘‘Jerry Donnellan VA Community Clinic’’. 2 (b) REFERENCES.—Any reference in any law, regula- 3 tion, map, document, paper, or other record of the United 4 States to the community clinic referred to in subsection 5 (a) shall be deemed to be a reference to the Jerry 6 Donnellan VA Community Clinic. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:00 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4042.IH H4042 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS