[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9442 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9442

 To designate the medical center of the Department of Veterans Affairs 
  located in Anchorage, Alaska, as the ``Colonel Mary Louise Rasmuson 
  Campus of the Alaska VA Healthcare System'', and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 6, 2022

 Mrs. Peltola introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To designate the medical center of the Department of Veterans Affairs 
  located in Anchorage, Alaska, as the ``Colonel Mary Louise Rasmuson 
  Campus of the Alaska VA Healthcare System'', and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Colonel Mary Louise Rasmuson Campus 
of the Alaska VA Healthcare System Act of 2022''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Mary Louise (Milligan) Rasmuson was born April 11, 
        1911, in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
            (2) Mary Louise received a Bachelor of Science degree from 
        the Carnegie Institute of Technology and a Master of Education 
        degree from the University of Pittsburgh.
            (3) Mary Louise was one of the first two women to receive 
        an Honorary Doctorate of Laws degree from the Carnegie 
        Institute of Technology.
            (4) In 1942, Mary Louise joined the Women's Army Auxiliary 
        Corps as a Private and was in the first graduating class.
            (5) Mary Louise worked up the ranks, and in 1957, President 
        Dwight Eisenhower appointed Mary Louise as the Fifth Director 
        of the Women's Army Corps and she was reappointed to this 
        position by President John F. Kennedy in 1961.
            (6) In 1962, Colonel Rasmuson retired from the Army.
            (7) Colonel Rasmuson was recognized for her outstanding 
        service in the Women's Army Corps with the Legion of Merit 
        award with two Oak Leaf Clusters for her work in expanding the 
        roles and duties of women in the Army, as well as her role in 
        integrating Black women in the Women's Army Corps.
            (8) Colonel Rasmuson became Director of the Women's Army 
        Corps during tumultuous times and is credited with enhancing 
        the image and recruitment of women into the Women's Army Corps 
        during her years as the Director.
            (9) Colonel Rasmuson expanded opportunities for women to 
        serve in assignments previously reserved only for men, starting 
        with the assignments of 12 enlisted women into the First 
        Missile Master Unit at Fort Meade, Maryland.
            (10) Colonel Rasmuson was instrumental in enabling women to 
        be promoted above the grade of E-7 into the highest enlisted 
        ranks of the Army, E-8 and E-9.
            (11) During her time in the Women's Army Corps, Colonel 
        Rasmuson was the guiding force behind the Army opening up the 
        college enlistment option to women under the self-enhancement 
        programs and witnessed the first female enlisted member attend 
        college under those programs.
            (12) The career of Colonel Rasmuson also laid the 
        groundwork for women to be fully integrated into the United 
        States Army when the Women's Army Corps was disbanded in 1978.
            (13) In 1961, Mary Louise married a prominent leader in 
        Alaska, Elmer E. Rasmuson, and she was the first Director of 
        the Women's Army Corps to be married while serving in that 
        position.
            (14) After her retirement from military service in 1962, 
        Mary Louise moved to Alaska where she continued her leadership 
        as a veteran in her community in Alaska.
            (15) Mary Louise served as First Lady of Anchorage after 
        the devastating magnitude 9.2 earthquake in 1964, after her 
        husband, Elmer, was elected as mayor, serving from 1964 to 
        1967.
            (16) Mary Louise was an advocate of social justice, 
        education, and the arts during her 45 years of work on the 
        Board of the Rasmuson Foundation.
            (17) Mary Louise served as the Honorary Chair and was a 
        major founder to renovate the Anchorage Veterans Memorial on 
        the Delaney Parkstrip in downtown Anchorage.
            (18) Mary Louise also contributed to the Army Women's 
        Museum, the National Museum of the American Indian, and the 
        National Museum of the United States Army.
            (19) Mary Louise was the Chair of the Anchorage Museum 
        Foundation and helped establish the museum in Anchorage, 
        serving as its Chair for 21 years.
            (20) On July 30, 2012, Mary Louise died at her home in 
        Anchorage, at the age of 101, but her legacy of character and 
        leadership will endure as an example to all who serve in the 
        United States military.

SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF COLONEL MARY LOUISE RASMUSON CAMPUS OF THE 
              ALASKA VA HEALTHCARE SYSTEM.

    (a) Designation.--The medical center of the Department of Veterans 
Affairs in Anchorage, Alaska, shall, after the date of the enactment of 
this Act, be known and designated as the ``Colonel Mary Louise Rasmuson 
Campus of the Alaska VA Healthcare System''.
    (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 Colonel Mary Louise Rasmuson Campus of the Alaska VA 
Healthcare System.
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