[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 124 (Thursday, September 17, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10525-S10526]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. SPECTER:
  S. 2496. A bill to designate the Department of Veterans Affairs 
medical center in Aspinwall, Pennsylvania, as the ``H. John Heinz III 
Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center''; to the Committee on 
Veterans' Affairs.


           h. john heinz iii veterans affairs medical center

  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, today I am introducing a bill to honor 
the memory of Senator John Heinz by designating the Veterans Medical 
facility in Aspinwall, Pennsylvania, as the H. John Heinz III Veterans 
Affairs Medical Center.
  Recognition of the distinguished work of Senator Heinz has been 
memorialized in a variety of ways. This designation of the Veterans 
Center pays tribute to his outstanding work for America's veterans. 
Senator Heinz, a veteran himself, made many contributions to this 
nation and to America's veterans.
  H. John Heinz III was born on October 23, 1938 in Pittsburgh, 
Pennsylvania. While he grew up in San Francisco, California, he spent 
many summers in Pittsburgh with his father who was chairman of the H.J. 
Heinz Company founded in 1869 by the Senator's great-grandfather. John 
graduated from Yale University with honors in 1960 and piloted a 
single-engine plane through Africa and the Middle East, ending up in 
Sydney, Australia working as a salesman for a truck company. He entered 
Harvard Business School in 1961 and the following year worked for the 
summer with the Union Bank of Switzerland in Geneva. While in 
Switzerland he met his future wife, Teresa Simoes Ferreira, who was 
attending graduate school in Geneva. He received his Master's degree in 
Business Administration from Harvard in 1963.
  After enlisting in the U.S. Air Force Reserve, John Heinz served on 
active duty in 1963 at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. 
For the remainder of his enlistment, he served with the 911th Troop 
Carrier Group based at the Greater Pittsburgh Airport. As an Airman 
Third Class, he received a U.S. Department of Defense citation for 
suggestions to improve the management of parts and supplies, saving the 
Air Force $400,000 annually. With the rank of staff sergeant, he 
received an honorable discharge from the Air Force Reserves in 1969.
  In 1964, John Heinz served as a special assistant to Senator Hugh 
Scott (R-PA) in Washington, D.C. and as assistant campaign manager in 
Senator Scott's successful reelection bid. Returning to Pittsburgh, he 
was employed in the financial and marketing divisions of the H.J. Heinz 
Company from 1965 to 1970. He married Teresa in 1966, and they 
subsequently had three sons: Henry John IV, Andre, and Christopher. He 
taught at the Graduate School of Industrial Administration at Carnegie 
Mellon University in Pittsburgh during the 1970-71 academic year.

[[Page S10526]]

  Senator Heinz was a stalwart of the Republican Party, contributing 
generously of his time, talents and efforts by campaigning for others. 
He was active in the campaigns of Governor William Scranton for the 
Republican Presidential nomination in 1964, Judge Maurice B. Cohill for 
Juvenile Court in 1965, Richard L. Thornburgh for Congress in 1966, 
Robert Friend for County Controller in 1967, and John Tabor for Mayor 
in 1969. He chaired the Pennsylvania Republican platform committee 
hearings in 1968, won election as a delegate at the Republican National 
Convention in the same year (and again in 1972, 1976, and 1980), and 
chaired the Pennsylvania Republican State Platform Committee in 1970.
  Upon the sudden death in April 1971 of Congressman Robert J. Corbett 
(R-PA), John Heinz pursued the unexpired term and won, making him the 
youngest Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives at 33 
years old. In November 1972 and 1974, John Heinz was re-elected to the 
House.
  When Senator Hugh Scott announced his retirement in December 1975, 
Senator Heinz, George Packer and I ran for the Republican nomination 
for U.S. Senate in the April 1976 primary. After Senator Heinz won that 
primary contest, I endorsed him at a major rally in September 1976 in 
Delaware County at the kick off of his campaign in Southeastern 
Pennsylvania. Senator Heinz defeated Congressman William J. Green III 
and took his seat in the United States Senate on January 3, 1977.
  In his capacity as Chairman of the Republican Senatorial Campaign 
Committee, Senator Heinz gave me tremendous support and was 
instrumental in my election to the United States Senate in November 
1980.
  Thereafter, Senator Heinz and I established a very close friendship 
and working relationship. Although I cannot personally attest to all 
other Senate relationships, I believe that our cooperation and 
coordination was as close as any two Senators from the same state in 
the Senate's history.
  When one of us was unable to attend a specific event, the other was 
always ready, willing and able to take his place. We discussed the 
pending international, national and state issues incessantly. On the 
late night sessions, and there were many, I would drive John home in my 
aging Jaguar leaving him off in the alley behind his home in 
Georgetown.
  On one occasion in 1982 we had a lengthy discussion about the 
upcoming vote the next day on a constitutional amendment for a balanced 
budget. I laid out my reasons for opposing the amendment and John gave 
me his reasons for supporting it. I found his arguments so persuasive 
that I voted for the constitutional amendment for the balanced budget 
the next day. I was surprised to find that he voted against it. We had 
a good laugh on that exchange of views and our reciprocal change of 
positions.
  Senator Heinz and I made it a practice to inform and invite the other 
to all of our events. On April 3, 1991, our paths crossed in Altoona, 
Pennsylvania, where he had scheduled a meeting with a group of doctors. 
I accepted his invitation and recall his warm greeting when Joan and I 
arrived to join the discussion. He kissed Joan on the cheek and joked 
with me about calling her ``blondie.'' We parted that day and that was 
the last time I saw John Heinz because he had the fatal air crash the 
next day, April 4, 1991, in a small plane from Williamsport, 
Pennsylvania, to Philadelphia.
  Senator Heinz was an extraordinary man and a great Senator. The 
designation of the Veterans Medical Center in Aspinwall, Pennsylvania, 
is an appropriate additional tribute to his memory.
  Senator Heinz' work on behalf of the citizens of Pennsylvania, young 
and old, will long be remembered. He was a tireless advocate for 
seniors, working to ensure the long-term viability of the Social 
Security system. He fought to protect Medicare and Medicaid patients. 
He authored the Age Discrimination and Employment Amendments of 1985, 
protecting the employment rights of our nation's seniors. He authored a 
bill to strengthen the U.S. job training program for displaced veterans 
in the work force. For military families, he worked to ensure that the 
children of service members were adequately cared for. He worked on 
behalf of U.S. workers and businesses in an increasingly international 
marketplace. He also played an important role in ensuring appropriate 
environmental protections in Pennsylvania and across the nation. John 
Heinz had a remarkable career of public service.
  As Chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, I ask my 
colleagues to support this measure naming the Department of Veterans 
Affairs Medical Center in Aspinwall, Pennsylvania, after our departed 
colleague, Senator H. John Heinz III.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 2496

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

     SECTION 1. DESIGNATION OF H. JOHN HEINZ IN DEPARTMENT OF 
                   VETERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL CENTER, ASPINWALL, 
                   PENNSYLVANIA.

       The Department of Veterans Affairs medical center in 
     Aspinwall, Pennsylvania, is hereby designated as the ``H. 
     John Heinz III Department of Veterans Affairs Medical 
     Center''. Any reference to such medical center in any law, 
     regulation, map, document, record, or other paper of the 
     United States shall be considered to be a reference to the 
     ``H. John Heinz III Department of Veterans Affairs Medical 
     Center''.

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