[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 2 (Wednesday, January 26, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: January 26, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                          HONORING TOM MULLON

 Mr. DURENBERGER. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to 
Tom Mullon, the Director of Minnesota's VA Medical Center, who recently 
retired after 34 years of service to the U.S. Department of Veterans 
Health Administration.
  Adlai Stevenson once said that ``men who have offered their lives for 
their country know that patriotism is not fear of something; it is the 
love of something.'' A Minnesota veteran used these very words to 
describe Tom Mullon's service to the veterans of this country--and 
never more appropriately have those words been used.
  In the last 10 years of duty, Tom has nurtured the Minneapolis VA 
Medical Center into the very best in the United States. Along the way, 
he has gained experience at VA Medical Centers throughout the country, 
and he has worked on a wide variety of health care projects,
  Tom's personal crusade was to ensure that VA Medical Centers provide 
top quality health care that is able to compete with care given at any 
private hospital. Over the years he implemented this philosophy in New 
Hampshire, California, Washington, New York, Indiana, and Nebraska, as 
well as St. Cloud and Minneapolis in Minnesota.
  While serving as associate director of the St. Cloud VA Medical 
Facility, near my home, Tom made service to the wider community a 
keystone of his work. According to Al Loehr, former St. Cloud mayor and 
Minnesota Veterans Affairs Commissioner, Tom had the hospital involved 
in the United Way--and, in turn, the community became involved in 
hospital volunteer work. This tradition continues in St. Cloud today, 
with a force of 450 volunteers.
  As a VA hospital director in Omaha, NE, Tom pushed for outreach care 
for veterans in remote rural communities. He eventually became a 
regional director for 14 states.
  In the early 1980s, he provided leadership on a $240 million VA 
hospital construction project in Minneapolis, MN. The Minneapolis 
Medical Center came under his direction in 1984--and today, it is a 
flagship facility.
  During his time in Minnesota, Tom Mullon has undertaken an absolutely 
dizzying array of projects--and succeeded at them. He helped establish 
the Veterans Counseling Service and the PTSD Center, as well as a Brain 
Sciences Center. He supported the establishment of transitional housing 
for homeless veterans in an empty building on the Minneapolis VA 
campus. He encouraged the growth of the residency and research program, 
in partnership with the University of Minnesota Hospital and Clinic.
  He helped to develop the Twin Ports Outpatient Satellite Clinic in 
Wisconsin. During Operation Desert Storm, this facility was in a state 
of readiness to receive casualties--and recently opened one of the few 
Women Veterans Comprehensive Health Centers in the country.
  Tom has also been a very valuable asset in the struggle for health 
care reform, working on legislation to reform the third-party-payer 
system and create alternatives in health care delivery. He was first 
chairman of the Dakotas/Minnesota Network Council to coordinate care of 
veterans in the upper midwest.
  Time would not permit me to share with you all of the sentiments of 
gratitude that Minnesota veterans have expressed to Tom Mullon, but 
here are a few that can stand for many: ``This man knew everyone's job 
* * * he always found a way to care for the veteran * * * outstanding 
civil servant * * * committed to the betterment and welfare of veterans 
in all regards * * * understands the importance of veterans 
organizations in helping to accomplish the goals of the Veterans 
Administration * * * extraordinary.''
  It is almost hard to believe that Tom is able to have a life outside 
of his patients at the VA, but he has in fact shared 31 years with his 
wife Luella. Their relationship, not surprisingly, grew out of their 
commitment to our Nation's veterans--the couple met at a VA Medical 
Center in Montrose, NY, where Tom was a personnel trainee and Luella 
was a nurse. Luella today continues her nursing career. Together they 
managed to raise four children--Patricia, Kathy, Mark, and John.
  Tom Mullon deserves every award and honor that he has received 
throughout his long career. He has been a wonderful resource for the 
veterans of Minnesota, and for the American people. I ask my colleagues 
to join me in wishing him good health and much happiness in his 
retirement.

                          ____________________