[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4042 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) In July 1968, Gerald T. ``Jerry'' Donnellan of Valley 
        Cottage, New York, was drafted into the Army and served with 
        the 196th Light Infantry in Vietnam, attaining the rank of 
        Sergeant.
            (2) While in Vietnam, Donnellan was ambushed and sustained 
        a compound fracture in his right arm and lost his right leg 
        below the knee.
            (3) In 1986, Donnellan began to work in the Veterans Agency 
        Office of Rockland County, New York. In 1992, he was appointed 
        Commissioner of Veterans Affairs and held that position until 
        January 2018 when he retired from the county's Veterans Service 
        Agency after more than 30 years of service to veterans and 
        their families.
            (4) During his tenure as Veterans Director, Donnellan 
        created the local Chapter 333 of the Vietnam Veterans of 
        America, opened the first Rockland County Veterans Homeless 
        Shelter, created the Camp Shanks Museum, helped begin the 
        modern tradition of Memorial Day watchfires to remember the 
        fallen as General George Washington once did, and established 
        the Rockland County Buffalo Soldiers' Award to recognize the 
        contributions of African-American veterans.
            (5) Donnellan was instrumental in opening the first 
        Department of Veterans Affairs community clinic in Rockland 
        County. Recognizing the need for a local health center, he 
        worked with the Department of Veterans Affairs to secure a site 
        and get it approved. Serving more than 18,000 veterans a year, 
        the New City VA health clinic is an important resource to help 
        meet the needs of veterans in the community.
            (6) Donnellan received numerous medals for his service, 
        including three Purple Hearts and the Rockland County 
        Legislature's Distinguished Service Award.
            (7) Besides being the founder and first President of 
        Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 333, Donnellan was a 
        member and a veteran service officer for the Military Order of 
        the Purple Heart, Chapter 120, a member of the Disabled 
        American Veterans, Chapter 98, a member of the Rockland County 
        Marine Corps League, and a member of the American Legion, Post 
        310.
            (8) Donnellan worked and volunteered for many non-profit 
        organizations, such as the United Way, the Salvation Army, 
        Dominican College, and for one of his alma maters through the 
        Rockland Community College Foundation.

SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF JERRY DONNELLAN VA COMMUNITY CLINIC.

    (a) Designation.--The Department of Veterans Affairs community 
clinic in New City, New York, shall after the date of the enactment of 
this Act be known as the ``Jerry Donnellan VA Community Clinic''.
    (b) References.--Any reference in any law, regulation, map, 
document, paper, or other record of the United States to the community 
clinic referred to in subsection (a) shall be deemed to be a reference 
to the Jerry Donnellan VA Community Clinic.
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