[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6863 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.R.6863

                    One Hundred Seventeenth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

           Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday,
          the third day of January, two thousand and twenty-two


                                 An Act


 
To designate the medical center of the Department of Veterans Affairs in 
  Memphis, Tennessee, as the ``Lt. Col. Luke Weathers, Jr. VA Medical 
                                Center''.

    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) Luke Joseph Weathers, Jr., was born December 16, 1922, in 
    Grenada, Mississippi, then moved to Memphis, Tennessee, at age 
    five.
        (2) Luke Joseph Weathers, Jr., graduated from Booker T. 
    Washington High School and is an alumnus of Xavier University in 
    New Orleans.
        (3) Upon his graduation, Luke Joseph Weathers, Jr., enlisted in 
    one of the first training programs for Black pilots, beginning his 
    journey as a Tuskegee Airman.
        (4) Within his first few years active in the war, Luke Joseph 
    Weathers, Jr., named his plane ``Spirit of Beale Street'', in honor 
    of his hometown, Memphis, Tennessee. He flew this plane with the 
    ``Red Tails''.
        (5) He was credited with shooting down German planes while 
    protecting United States Army Air Corps bombers and shooting down 
    two Messerschmitt 109s in Italy while escorting a damaged B-24 
    Liberator bomber.
        (6) During his military service, he rose to the rank of 
    Lieutenant Colonel.
        (7) Luke Joseph Weathers, Jr., received numerous honors and 
    awards throughout his long and distinguished career.
        (8) Among them, he was presented with an Air Medal with 7 
    clusters and an American Theater Ribbon Victory Medal during his 
    military service.
        (9) Following the war, Luke Joseph Weathers, Jr., returned to 
    Memphis, receiving a hero's welcome and a key to the city.
        (10) On July 13, 1947, he married LaVerne Nailling at St. 
    Therese-Little Flowers Catholic Church in Memphis.
        (11) In 1960, he accepted a job with the Federal Aviation 
    Administration (hereinafter, the ``FAA'') as an air traffic control 
    specialist in Anchorage, Alaska.
        (12) In 1965, Luke Joseph Weathers, Jr., moved back to Memphis, 
    becoming the first Black air traffic controller in Memphis.
        (13) Weathers later held positions with the FAA in Atlanta, 
    Georgia, and the District of Columbia, where he eventually retired 
    in 1985, after serving as a reservist in the military for 23 years.
        (14) During retirement, Luke Joseph Weathers, Jr., remained 
    active with the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. and continued to support 
    African Americans in the military.
        (15) In 1995, Luke Joseph Weathers, Jr., moved to Tucson, 
    Arizona, shortly after marrying Jacqueline Moore Weathers.
        (16) In 2007, Luke Joseph Weathers, Jr., and the Tuskegee 
    Airmen were honored with a Congressional Gold Medal.
        (17) On October 15, 2011, Luke Joseph Weather, Jr., died in 
    Tucson, Arizona, at the age of 90, leaving behind his wife, two 
    sons and daughters, 12 grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren as 
    well as a legacy of countless lives he touched.
        (18) On January 20, 2012, Lieutenant Colonel Luke Joseph 
    Weathers, Jr., was interred at Arlington National Cemetery.
SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF THE LT. COL. LUKE WEATHERS, JR. VA MEDICAL 
CENTER.
    The medical center of the Department of Veterans Affairs located in 
Memphis, Tennessee, shall, after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
be known and designated as the ``Lt. Col. Luke Weathers, Jr. VA Medical 
Center''. Any reference in any law, regulation, map, document, paper, 
or other record of the United States to such medical center shall be 
considered to be a reference to the Lt. Col. Luke Weathers, Jr. VA 
Medical Center.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

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