[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 93 (Friday, June 27, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6779-S6780]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  TRIBUTE TO THE HONORABLE JESSE BROWN

 Mr. BRYAN. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize the 
innumerable contributions and outstanding leadership that have 
characterized the tenure of the Honorable Jesse Brown as the Secretary 
of Veterans Affairs. It is with great appreciation, as well as sadness, 
that I speak of his accomplishments today, as his term as the chief of 
the second-largest agency in the Federal Government will come to an end 
on the first of July. Under his guidance over the past 4\1/2\ years, 
the Department of Veterans Affairs has undergone some of the most 
fundamental changes in decades. In the past, such groundbreaking 
reforms and restructuring may have inspired fear on Capitol Hill and in 
veterans' facilities across the Nation, but with Jesse Brown at the 
helm, the Department has undergone a transformation with support, hard-
earned at times, from both budget-cutters in Congress and from veterans 
across the country.
  When Secretary Brown took office in 1993, he was faced with an 
outdated health-care delivery system stretched to its limits trying to 
maintain too many large, aging hospitals. The Secretary rose to the 
challenge by closing hospitals that did not serve their patients well 
and beginning an overhaul of the entire VA medical system into a 
network of 22 regional provider regions. Within these regions, 
increased attention is being given to the quality of care available as 
well as to outpatient services. These changes, which are still taking 
hold in many places, demonstrate the vision that Secretary Brown 
brought to his work; a vision of changing with the times, but never 
giving up on the primary focus of providing services to veterans.
  Secretary Brown's unyielding drive to ensure that veterans have 
access to needed services is very important to Nevada, one of only two 
States in the Nation where the population of veterans is growing. While 
my State's problems are very different than those of a Northeastern or 
Midwestern State,

[[Page S6780]]

Secretary Brown took these differences into account and has been 
instrumental in helping Nevada be more responsive to the needs of the 
men and women who have served our country. The Department of Veterans 
Affairs has begun to reallocate its resources so that Federal funds are 
made available where veterans' needs are most critical. In southern 
Nevada, where approximately 118,000 veterans already crowd existing 
facilities, new projects will allow Nevada's veterans to access 
doctors, counselors, and other benefits to which they are entitled. The 
Secretary has helped Nevada's underserved veterans gain access to the 
services they deserve through his active support for efforts to 
construct and expand desperately needed medical facilities in southern 
Nevada. Secretary Brown has come to the aid of Nevada's veterans during 
crises, as well, stepping in to help find a solution when one of the VA 
facilities in Nevada faced administrative problems.
  While I could go on much longer just discussing Secretary Brown's 
contributions to Nevada's veterans, I would be amiss if I did not 
mention the profound impact he has had on all American veterans and 
their families. He has tackled the most sensitive issues facing 
veterans, including his work to enact laws authorizing the VA to 
provide compensation and treatment for Persian Gulf war veterans' 
undiagnosed illnesses. He also expanded services to women veterans, 
which is evident at the new Addeliar D. Guy III Ambulatory Care center 
soon to open in Las Vegas. Finally, Secretary Brown confirmed the VA's 
commitment to all veterans in need by convening the first summit on the 
issues facing homeless veterans, and followed up on this by adding 
homeless programs to the services provided at VA medical centers. 
Again, this effort has a great impact in Las Vegas, where a large 
number of homeless veterans have needs that have, until now, largely 
gone unmet. With the help of the Department of Veterans' Affairs, 
however, Las Vegas will soon boast a new initiative that joins hands 
with the city and county to provide assistance to the homeless veterans 
in Las Vegas.
  Mr. President, I have only touched upon a few of the many positive 
changes and initiatives launched by Secretary Brown, and I have not 
even made mention of his previous service to his country as a soldier 
in Vietnam or as the director of the Washington office of the Disabled 
American Veterans. I am sure that Secretary Brown will continue to make 
this world more livable and more enjoyable for veterans in whatever 
challenges he pursues in the future, buoyed by his commitment to 
``putting veterans first.'' Whether guaranteeing a home loan for a 
veteran just returned from a tour overseas, streamlining health care 
procedures at a local walk-in clinic, or intervening to prevent the 
eviction of elderly VA nursing home residents, Jesse Brown has proven 
that he, and the agency he led, do indeed put veterans first. When he 
announced his resignation, Secretary Brown said he wanted to be 
remembered as ``someone who made a difference in the quality of 
veterans' lives.'' I speak for the veterans of Nevada, and across the 
country, when I say that Jesse Brown will be remembered not only for 
improving veterans' access to needed benefits, but also for leading 
this agency with skill, with compassion, and most of all with an 
appreciation for the noble service of our Nation's veterans.

                          ____________________