[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 148 (Monday, December 8, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H8859-H8860]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1645
           LANE A. EVANS VA COMMUNITY BASED OUTPATIENT CLINIC

  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (S. 2921) to designate the community based outpatient 
clinic of the Department of Veterans Affairs located at 310 Home 
Boulevard in Galesburg, Illinois, as the ``Lane A. Evans VA Community 
Based Outpatient Clinic''.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                S. 2921

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

     SECTION 1. LANE A. EVANS VA COMMUNITY BASED OUTPATIENT 
                   CLINIC.

       (a) Designation.--The community based outpatient clinic of 
     the Department of Veterans Affairs located at 310 Home 
     Boulevard in Galesburg, Illinois, shall be known and 
     designated as the ``Lane A. Evans VA Community Based 
     Outpatient Clinic''.
       (b) References.--Any reference in any law, map, regulation, 
     document, paper, or other record of the United States to the 
     community based outpatient clinic referred to in subsection 
     (a) shall be deemed to be a reference to the ``Lane A. Evans 
     VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic''.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Roe) and the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Bustos) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Tennessee.


                             general leave

  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their 
remarks on S. 2921.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Tennessee?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 2921, which would name the 
Department of Veterans Affairs community-based outpatient clinic at 310 
Home Boulevard, Galesburg, Illinois, as the Lane A. Evans VA Community 
Based Outpatient Clinic.
  We are here today to honor the life and service of the late 
Congressman Lane Evans by naming the new VA community-based outpatient 
clinic in Illinois after him. Congressman Evans represented Illinois' 
17th District for more than 20 years, was a champion of veterans' 
issues throughout his time in Congress, and served as the ranking 
member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee for a decade.
  Congressman Evans passed away this year, at the age of 63, following 
a long battle with Parkinson's disease. One way to honor Congressman 
Evans is to recognize his legacy of service to veterans in the 
community. It is in that thought that we believe naming this facility 
after him is a fitting tribute.
  It is my pleasure to support S. 2921, and I am grateful for the 
leadership and support of Chairman Miller, Ranking Member Michaud, 
Senator Durbin, and the entire Illinois delegation. I ask my colleagues 
to join me in honoring this great public servant by supporting this 
bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. BUSTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of bipartisan legislation 
that I introduced last month to name the Galesburg VA community-based 
outpatient clinic in honor of former Congressman Lane Evans, who passed 
away just last month. Lane served the 17th Congressional District of 
Illinois, the district I now have the honor and privilege of 
representing. He served it with honor, humility, and hard work for more 
than two decades.
  A Marine Corps veteran himself, Lane was a steadfast champion for our 
men and women in uniform. A veteran of the Vietnam war era, he served 
on the House Veterans' Affairs Committee from his arrival in Washington 
to his position as the committee's ranking member, a post he held for 
more than 10 years.
  Lane Evans' record on behalf of veterans earned him the praise and 
respect from veterans service organizations and his colleagues on both 
sides of the aisle.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in honoring the life and legacy of 
former Congressman Lane Evans by designating the Department of Veterans 
Affairs community-based outpatient clinic located in Galesburg, 
Illinois, as the Lane A. Evans Community Based Outpatient Clinic.
  I first got to know Lane when I was a young newspaper reporter 
covering our region. Lane was always warm, accessible, and friendly to 
me. I interviewed him many times about a number of different topics.
  While he was young, with his trademark boyish haircut, his quiet 
courage and drive made him seem much older than his age. Through my 
interactions with him over the years and with those who worked with him 
and those who he touched through his service, I learned a lot about the 
man and what he stood for.
  A proud native of Rock Island, the son of a firefighter and a nurse, 
and an Alleman High School and Augustana College graduate, Lane truly 
represented everything that is right about public service. He will be 
sorely missed by all those he touched, and the legacy of service that 
he provided will never be forgotten.
  The dedication of a veterans' facility in the heart of the district 
he represented is a fitting tribute and acknowledgment of his career-
long fight to ensure that all veterans get the care and the benefits 
that they have earned and deserve.
  I would like to thank the entire Illinois delegation and the many 
Members who served with Lane for supporting this effort. In particular, 
I would like to thank Chairman Miller and Ranking Member Michaud of the 
Veterans' Affairs Committee here in the House and their counterparts in 
the Senate, Chairman Sanders and Ranking Member Burr, for bringing this 
forward. I would also like to thank Senators Kirk and Durbin from 
Illinois for shepherding this bill through the Senate.
  By renaming this VA clinic, we can ensure that Lane Evans' strong 
legacy of service to our men and women in uniform lives on in a 
facility that serves them today. I urge my colleagues to join with me 
in supporting this bipartisan legislation in honor of the memory of 
Lane Evans.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may 
consume to my good friend, Chris Smith from New Jersey.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Thank you, Dr. Roe, for yielding and also 
for helping bring this legislation to the floor.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of S. 2921, which would 
designate the VA community-based outpatient clinic in Galesburg, 
Illinois, as the Lane A. Evans VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic.
  As a cosponsor of the House version of the bill, I appreciate the 
work that both the House and Senate VA Committees have done and the 
leadership of both Chambers to bring this bill to the floor. I 
especially want to thank Senator Durbin for authorizing this important 
legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, for 24 years, Lane Evans served with distinction as the 
Representative of Illinois' 17th Congressional District. We mourn his 
tragic

[[Page H8860]]

passing last month at the age of 63. Even as he suffered from 
Parkinson's disease, Mr. Speaker, Lane Evans heroically and tenaciously 
fought for veterans in the years leading up to his retirement in 2007.
  When Congressman Evans retired, the Vietnam Veterans of America said:

       Lane's compassion for his fellow veterans and his 
     commitment to do right by them has come right from the heart.

  As ranking member of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee during my 
tenure as chairman of the committee, I saw firsthand how he turned his 
knowledge, compassion, and expertise--his heart--into effective 
advocacy and how he worked to make a tangible difference in the lives 
of veterans and their families around the country.
  Mr. Speaker, during our tenure as chair and ranking member, we were 
able to craft and shepherd into law numerous bills that expanded care 
and service for our Nation's veterans, including expansion of the GI 
Bill and assistance to homeless veterans.
  Lane's commitment to ensuring that men and women who wore the uniform 
had timely access to world class medical treatment that they have 
earned was, in a word, extraordinary.

  Of particular interest to Lane, a Vietnam veteran himself, was health 
care for veterans exposed to agent orange during their service in 
Vietnam. Throughout the 1980s, it was an honor to work side by side 
with Lane and others, like Congressman Tom Daschle, in an effort to 
convince a highly reluctant Department of Veterans Affairs and Pentagon 
that agent orange severely injured many who served in Vietnam.
  In 1991, Lane introduced the Veterans' Compensation Amendments of 
1991, which became part of the Agent Orange Act, to provide presumptive 
service-connected disability assistance to veterans with diseases 
linked to agent orange; thus the gentleman from Illinois helped ensure 
that veterans received the care and the compensation they deserved, 
while not being saddled with the onerous burden of proof for injuries 
due to exposure to a herbicide that was laced with dioxin.
  It is, therefore, highly fitting to name a community-based outpatient 
clinic after a remarkable lawmaker who fought hard for veterans, health 
care, and compensation during his time in Congress. I urge my 
colleagues to join me and all the leadership here on the floor in 
supporting S. 2921 to honor the legacy of Congressman Evans as a 
remarkable veterans' advocate.
  Mrs. BUSTOS. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in 
supporting S. 2921 in honoring the life of our former friend and 
colleague, Lane Evans, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, once again, I encourage all 
Members to support S. 2921.
  With that, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Roe) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, S. 2921.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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