[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 609 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.R.609

                     One Hundred Fifteenth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE FIRST SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
          the third day of January, two thousand and seventeen


                                 An Act


 
 To designate the Department of Veterans Affairs health care center in 
 Center Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania, as the ``Abie Abraham VA 
                                Clinic''.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
    Congress finds the following:
        (1) Abie Abraham of Lyndora, Pennsylvania, was stationed during 
    World War II with the 18th Infantry in New York; 3 years with the 
    14th Infantry in Panama; 15th Infantry, unassigned in China, while 
    the U.S.S. Panay was sunk; 30th Infantry, Presidio, San Francisco; 
    and the 31st Infantry, Manila, Philippines, for 9 years.
        (2) During World War II, Abraham fought, was captured, endured 
    the Bataan Death March and as a prisoner of war for 3\1/2\ years, 
    was beaten, stabbed, shot, survived malaria and starvation to be 
    rescued by the 6th Rangers.
        (3) Abraham stayed behind at the request of General Douglas 
    MacArthur for 2\1/2\ more years disinterring the bodies of his 
    fallen comrades from the Bataan Death March and the prison camps, 
    helping to identify their bodies and see that they were properly 
    laid to rest.
        (4) After his promotion in 1945, Abraham came back to the 
    United States where he served as a recruiter and then also served 2 
    years in Germany until his retirement with 30 years of service as a 
    Master Sergeant.
        (5) Abraham received numerous medals for his service, including 
    the Purple Heart, and had several documentaries on the Discovery 
    Channel and History Channel.
        (6) Abraham wrote the books ``Ghost of Bataan Speaks'' in 1971 
    and ``Oh, God, Where Are You'' in 1977 to help the public better 
    understand what our brave men endured at the hands of the Imperial 
    Japanese Army as prisoners of war.
        (7) Abraham was a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, 
    the American Legion, the Purple Heart Combat/Infantry Organization, 
    the American Ex-POWs, the Disabled American Veterans, and the 
    American Defenders of Bataan.
        (8) Abraham was a volunteer at Veterans Affairs Butler 
    Healthcare for 23 years from 1988 to 2011 and had 36,851 service 
    hours caring for our veterans.
SEC. 2. ABIE ABRAHAM VA CLINIC.
    (a) Designation.--The Department of Veterans Affairs health care 
center in Center Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania, shall after the 
date of the enactment of this Act be known and designated as the ``Abie 
Abraham VA Clinic''.
    (b) References.--Any reference in any law, regulation, map, 
document, paper, or other record of the United States to the health 
care center referred to in subsection (a) shall be deemed to be a 
reference to the ``Abie Abraham VA Clinic''.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.