[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3665 Engrossed in House (EH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3665
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To designate the medical center of the Department of Veterans Affairs
in San Diego, California, as the Jennifer Moreno Department of Veterans
Affairs Medical Center, and to support the designation of a component
of such medical center in honor of Kathleen Bruyere.
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) As of January 2021, of 1,255 health care facilities of
the Department of Veterans of Affairs, two are named for women
veterans.
(2) From 2002 through 2006, Jennifer Madai Moreno was an
active member of the San Diego High School Junior Reserve
Officer Training Corps (JROTC), which is a Department of the
Army Honor Unit with Distinction, the highest rating by the
Army. She was also chosen to be a member of the San Diego
Unified School District Brigade Staff. As a high school senior,
she rose quickly to become the top junior marksman in
California through the Civilian Marksmanship Program.
(3) Moreno accepted a JROTC scholarship to the University
of San Francisco (USF) for Nursing, becoming the first person
in her family to go to college. While at USF, she was chosen
for Leadership Development Training. She ultimately achieved
the highest level of physical fitness in her ROTC unit.
(4) Following her graduation from USF with a Bachelor of
Science degree in Nursing in 2010, Moreno received her
commission in the United States Army as a Second Lieutenant
Nurse Corps Officer.
(5) Upon commissioning, Moreno served as a Gold Bar
Recruiter from July 2010 to September 2010.
(6) Moreno was chosen to attend and completed the Basic
Airborne Course in Fort Benning, Georgia and Army Medical
Department Officer Basic Course at Ft. Sam Houston, Texas.
(7) Moreno was then assigned to Madigan Army Medical
Center, Joint Base Lewis McCord, Washington in January 2011,
where she served as a Clinical Staff Nurse on medical-surgical
unit. Moreno earned her certification as a Medical Surgical
Registered Nurse in February 2011.
(8) Moreno volunteered for a position with U.S. Army
Special Operations Command in 2011. She was selected into the
SOC Cultural Support Team program. She was deployed to
Afghanistan in June 2013 with the Army's 75th Ranger Regiment.
(9) On October 6, 2013, Moreno was attached to a U.S. Army
Ranger unit on a night mission in the Zhari district in
Kandahar province to capture a high-value target when four
explosive devices were triggered.
(10) During the last moments of Moreno's life, she
reportedly heard a call to help a wounded soldier struck by a
blast. Moreno did not hesitate to respond to the call for help.
As she made her way to help a fallen soldier, she triggered the
fifth explosion, which ended her life.
(11) Moreno was the first Nurse CST member to die in
action. Part of her legacy is the number of young women coming
from medical fields seeking out voluntary assignments to join
the CST program.
(12) Moreno was the first combat casualty to be buried at
Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego since the post-9/
11 conflicts began. She received full military honors.
(13) After graduating from college in 1966, Kathleen Mae
Bruyere was accepted into U.S. Navy Officer Candidate School,
after which she was assigned as an on-campus Navy recruiting
officer in California.
(14) Bruyere was named to the staff of Rear Admiral Allen
Hill in 1975, becoming the first woman to serve as flag
secretary to an admiral.
(15) In January 1976, Bruyere was chosen as one of 12 Women
of the Year on the cover of Time Magazine.
(16) In 1977, Bruyere joined five other women officers who
sued the United States Secretary of the Navy and the United
States Secretary of Defense over restrictions that prevented
women from serving on combat aircraft and ships. This led to
the 1948 Women's Armed Services Integration Act being struck
down as unconstitutional, overturning a ban on women serving at
sea.
(17) In 1987, as Special Assistant to the Chief of Naval
Operations for women's policy, Bruyere helped conduct an
examination of the status of Navy women, including career
opportunities and complaints of sexism. The study led to 9,000
sea-duty and command jobs opening up for women on 24 combatant
ships.
(18) In 1991, Bruyere was assigned as Commanding Officer
for the Navy Recruit Training Command at Orlando, Florida. At
the time, it was the Navy's only boot camp that included women.
Bruyere oversaw the training of 30,000 enlistees, one third of
them women.
(19) In 1994, Bruyere retired from the Navy as a Captain
after 28 years of service.
(20) From 2012 until shortly before her death in September
2020, Bruyere was an active volunteer at Miramar National
Cemetery, devoting almost 4,300 hours to helping visitors
locate their loved ones' graves and providing information about
veterans' burial benefits.
(21) Bruyere was buried at Miramar National Cemetery with
full military honors.
(22) In May 2021, a panel of San Diego-area members of the
Armed Forces, veterans, and military spouses recommended that
the San Diego VA Medical Center be renamed in honor of Jennifer
Moreno and an internal space be renamed in honor of Kathleen
Bruyere.
SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF JENNIFER MORENO DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
MEDICAL CENTER.
(a) Designation.--The medical center of the Department of Veterans
Affairs in San Diego, California, shall after the date of the enactment
of this Act be known and designated as the Jennifer Moreno Department
of Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
(b) Reference.--Any reference in any law, regulation, map,
document, paper, or other record of the United States to the medical
center referred to in subsection (a) shall be considered to be a
reference to the Jennifer Moreno Department of Veterans Affairs Medical
Center.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON DESIGNATION OF MEDICAL CENTER PHYSICAL
COMPONENT AFTER KATHLEEN MAE BRUYERE.
It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs
should designate a prominent physical space within the Jennifer Moreno
Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, as designated pursuant
to section 2, in honor of Kathleen Mae Bruyere.
Passed the House of Representatives November 15, 2021.
Attest:
Clerk.
117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3665
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To designate the medical center of the Department of Veterans Affairs
in San Diego, California, as the Jennifer Moreno Department of Veterans
Affairs Medical Center, and to support the designation of a component
of such medical center in honor of Kathleen Bruyere.