[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 164 (Monday, November 18, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H7165-H7167]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 GENERAL WILLIAM H. GOURLEY FEDERAL OUTPATIENT CLINIC: A JOINT VA-DOD 
                          HEALTH CARE FACILITY

  Mr. WENSTRUP. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 272) to designate the Department of Veterans Affairs and 
Department of Defense joint outpatient clinic to be constructed in 
Marina, California, as the ``General William H. Gourley Federal 
Outpatient Clinic: A Joint VA-DOD Health Care Facility'', as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                H.R. 272

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

     SECTION 1. NAME OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS AND 
                   DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE JOINT OUTPATIENT CLINIC, 
                   MARINA, CALIFORNIA.

       (a) Designation.--The Department of Veterans Affairs and 
     Department of Defense joint outpatient clinic to be 
     constructed at

[[Page H7166]]

     the intersection of the proposed Ninth Street and the 
     proposed First Avenue in Marina, California, shall be known 
     and designated as the ``Major General William H. Gourley VA-
     DOD Outpatient Clinic''.
       (b) References.--Any reference in a law, regulation, map, 
     document, record, or other paper of the United States to the 
     Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense 
     joint outpatient clinic referred to in subsection (a) shall 
     be deemed to be a reference to the ``Major General William H. 
     Gourley VA-DOD Outpatient Clinic''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Ohio (Mr. Wenstrup) and the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Davis) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Ohio.


                             General Leave

  Mr. WENSTRUP. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and insert extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Ohio?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. WENSTRUP. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 272, which designates 
the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense joint 
outpatient clinic to be constructed in Marina, California, as the 
General William H. Gourley VA-DOD Outpatient Clinic.
  I want to commend Representative Sam Farr of California for 
sponsoring this legislation.

                              {time}  1745

  Mr. Speaker, the late Major General William H. Gourley gave this 
Nation 36 years of committed and distinguished service in the United 
States Army. That service took him to far off places such as Vietnam, 
Korea, Turkey, and Germany, where he had an immediate and positive 
impact on the soldiers and officers with whom he served.
  When General Gourley's service to the Nation was done, he returned to 
his beloved Monterey, California, to retire. He became actively 
involved in the Monterey community, helping to oversee the 
restructuring of Fort Ord for civilian reuse following the Base 
Realignment and Closure decision to shut down that Army post.
  Mr. Speaker, General Gourley was also instrumental in paving the way 
for the joint VA-DOD outpatient clinic to be constructed in Marina, 
California, which is why it is fitting that that clinic, which when 
completed will serve our Active Duty and retired military, their 
families and veterans, be named the General William H. Gourley VA-DOD 
Outpatient Clinic.
  General Gourley dedicated his life to serving the military. The VA-
DOD clinic will stand as a reminder of his service to all those who 
will benefit from the health care provided by the clinic in the future.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support this bill, and I reserve 
the balance of my time.
  Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Major General William Gourley was truly a soldier's soldier. His long 
and storied career can be summed up by the motto he took with him 
across the Army to every unit he commanded: ``Soldiers first.'' He 
insisted that support of the military must focus on the needs of 
soldiers, and this mantra soon became the standard across the entire 
Army personnel community.
  After more than 30 years in uniform, General Gourley continued 
fighting for the well-being of soldiers and their families. His bigger-
than-life persona and caring nature endeared him to Active Duty 
soldiers and veterans alike, and he could often be seen at the former 
Fort Ord--at the commissary or at the PX--inquiring as to how 
servicemembers were and as to how he could help them. He was a fixture 
at the local VA clinic, but dreamed of a larger facility that could 
seamlessly integrate care over the life of a soldier.
  It was this desire, coupled with his penchant for helping others, 
which led him to play an instrumental role in the planning and 
development of the soon-to-be joint VA-DOD hospital. It would only be 
fitting to see this new and innovative facility named after a true 
American hero.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WENSTRUP. Mr. Speaker, at this time, I have no further requests 
for time. I am prepared to close after my colleague has yielded back 
her time.
  I continue to reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may 
consume to my colleague from California (Mr. Farr), the sponsor of this 
legislation.
  Mr. FARR. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, Congresswoman Davis, 
for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of, obviously, the legislation I have 
authored, but I really appreciate the statements that have been made 
here about General Gourley. He was a very special human being--tall-
statured, an incredible soldier, and a retiree who kind of brought 
together the retiree community of the military along the entire 
Monterey Peninsula.
  We still have nine military missions, including the Naval 
Postgraduate School, the Defense Language Institute, at which all the 
languages of the world are taught, the Manpower Development Center, 
Fort Hunter Liggett, Camp Roberts, and so on. So we have a lot of 
military there.
  He recognized that not only did the Active Duty soldiers--men and 
women in uniform who have a clinic at the Defense Language Institute--
have to live off of TRICARE but, really, so did their spouses and 
children. A lot of the doctors in the community wouldn't accept TRICARE 
because the reimbursement rates were so low. So here were underserved 
populations. There was a widow population of military retirees, who, 
after the base closed and the hospital closed and where there was space 
available, they weren't really familiar with how to use TRICARE or how 
to find TRICARE doctors. There was the Active Duty military, and then 
there was this incredible veterans community. So, for the first time in 
the history of this country, we got the Department of Veterans Affairs 
and the Department of Defense together, and we decided that they ought 
to plan a clinic.
  General Gourley was so instrumental in getting that sort of one-stop, 
proud-to-serve opportunity to be in the design of a building and in the 
operation of a building, and it was no small task because all of these 
agencies want to be joined. I always remind people that you can't be a 
veteran without having walked through the Department of Defense first. 
In the old days, when you left the Department of Defense, then you had 
to find your way. You had to find your papers and get them all 
transferred and do all of this heavy lifting, and there was always 
bureaucracy and a loss of papers and a loss of stuff. So this one-stop 
system, which we all think is much more cost-effective and a proud way 
to say ``thank you'' to those who serve, is really going to be 
implemented in this brand new clinic on which we just broke ground on 
Veterans Day, a week ago.
  From my seat on the Military Construction Appropriations 
Subcommittee, I have learned that we really need to find this unity. 
When we had found it, it had always been advocated by General Gourley. 
Unfortunately, he passed away a couple of years ago, but just before he 
passed away, I was able to do an oral interview with him to archive in 
the Library of Congress because Congress has developed this oral 
history archive. I would urge all of my colleagues in Congress to take 
part in doing these interviews with veterans and to archive their 
experiences.
  General Gourley served in many, many places in this country. He was 
always a leader and was outspoken. He was critical of things that 
needed to be criticized. When he was head of the War College in 
Carlisle, Pennsylvania, he insisted that soldiers couldn't go to class 
unless they brought their wives, so that those spouses would come to 
understand that the Army mindset, in the form of a greater bond within 
the family, is a shared duty and a shared sacrifice. In that sense of 
unity, he always used to say, ``Leave a better Army.'' Leave it better 
than you found it.

  I think he left this world a lot better than he found it. One way the 
community would like to pay tribute to him for his using his retirement 
to continue to bring this collaboration and this ``thinking outside the 
box'' together is to name this new clinic after him. He

[[Page H7167]]

would be so proud. I was at his burial at Arlington National Cemetery 
in 2008. In honor of his lifetime of service to our country, to our 
troops, to our veterans, I am really proud to have introduced this 
bill, which is to name the clinic after this American hero. I am proud 
to have been his friend, and I ask your support in passing the bill.
  Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speaker, we have no further requests 
for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. WENSTRUP. Mr. Speaker, health care is a morale staple of our 
military, both in Active Duty and when we become veterans, whether it 
is in theatre or at home, as those who have served or who are serving 
know that, on the health care side, we have their backs. General 
Gourley understood that.
  I urge all to vote in favor of this bill in order to give him the 
recognition that is due.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Wenstrup) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 272, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. WENSTRUP. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

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