[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 25 (Monday, February 13, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H1104-H1106]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ABIE ABRAHAM VA CLINIC

  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 609) to designate the Department of Veterans 
Affairs health care center in Center Township, Butler County, 
Pennsylvania, as the ``Abie Abraham VA Clinic''.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                H.R. 609

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

     SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds the following:
       (1) Abie Abraham of Lyndora, Pennsylvania, was stationed 
     during World War II with the 18th Infantry in New York; 3 
     years with the 14th Infantry in Panama; 15th Infantry, 
     unassigned in China, while the U.S.S. Panay was sunk; 30th 
     Infantry, Presidio, San Francisco; and the 31st Infantry, 
     Manila, Philippines, for 9 years.
       (2) During World War II, Abraham fought, was captured, 
     endured the Bataan Death March and as a prisoner of war for 
     3\1/2\ years, was beaten, stabbed, shot, survived malaria and 
     starvation to be rescued by the 6th Rangers.
       (3) Abraham stayed behind at the request of General Douglas 
     MacArthur for 2\1/2\ more years disinterring the bodies of 
     his fallen comrades from the Bataan Death March and the 
     prison camps, helping to identify their bodies and see that 
     they were properly laid to rest.
       (4) After his promotion in 1945, Abraham came back to the 
     United States where he served as a recruiter and then also 
     served 2 years in Germany until his retirement with 30 years 
     of service as a Master Sergeant.
       (5) Abraham received numerous medals for his service, 
     including the Purple Heart, and had several documentaries on 
     the Discovery Channel and History Channel.
       (6) Abraham wrote the books ``Ghost of Bataan Speaks'' in 
     1971 and ``Oh, God, Where Are You'' in 1977 to help the 
     public better understand what our brave men endured at the 
     hands of the Imperial Japanese Army as prisoners of war.
       (7) Abraham was a life member of the Veterans of Foreign 
     Wars, the American Legion, the Purple Heart Combat/Infantry 
     Organization, the American Ex-POWs, the Disabled American 
     Veterans, and the American Defenders of Bataan.
       (8) Abraham was a volunteer at Veterans Affairs Butler 
     Healthcare for 23 years from

[[Page H1105]]

     1988 to 2011 and had 36,851 service hours caring for our 
     veterans.

     SEC. 2. ABIE ABRAHAM VA CLINIC.

       (a) Designation.--The Department of Veterans Affairs health 
     care center in Center Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania, 
     shall after the date of the enactment of this Act be known 
     and designated as the ``Abie Abraham VA Clinic''.
       (b) References.--Any reference in any law, regulation, map, 
     document, paper, or other record of the United States to the 
     health care center referred to in subsection (a) shall be 
     deemed to be a reference to the ``Abie Abraham VA Clinic''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Roe) and the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Walz) 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 and add extraneous material.
  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, today I rise in support of H.R. 609, a bill to name the 
Department of Veterans Affairs health care center in Center Township, 
Butler County, Pennsylvania, the Abie Abraham VA Clinic.
  This bill is sponsored by the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Kelly), my good friend. I am grateful to him for introducing this 
legislation in honor of an American hero.
  Master Sergeant Abraham lived a truly remarkable life. As a teenager, 
he set a world record for tree sitting--a popular pastime in those 
days--after sitting in a tree for 3\1/2\ months, according to his 
obituary in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  In 1932, at the age of just 19, he enlisted in the United States Navy 
and, 2 years later, the United States Army. Over the course of a 30-
year military career, he served in the Philippines, China, Germany, and 
Panama. He earned a number of accolades, including the Purple Heart. He 
survived, Mr. Speaker, the Bataan Death March and 3\1/2\ years in 
captivity, being beaten, shot, and starved.
  Following his rescue, instead of returning immediately to the United 
States, Master Sergeant Abraham agreed to stay behind to recover the 
remains of his fallen comrades and to ensure they received the 
recognition they were certainly due.
  Following his service, Master Sergeant Abraham devoted his time to 
caring for his fellow brothers and sisters in arms as a lifelong member 
of several veterans service organizations and as a volunteer at the VA 
Butler Healthcare Center, where he spent a total of almost 40,000 hours 
over the course of 23 years tending to the veteran patients there.
  In his spare time, he authored two books, made public appearances at 
schools and community centers, and participated in documentary films 
that have aired on the Discovery and History Channels. In addition to 
all of that, he was also a lightweight boxing champion and trainer.
  Master Sergeant Abraham most certainly lived a full and interesting 
life characterized by both service in and out of uniform. Given that, 
it is only fitting and appropriate that we honor him by naming the VA 
healthcare center in Butler County, Pennsylvania, after him. This 
legislation satisfies all the committee's naming criteria and is 
supported by the Pennsylvania congressional delegation as well as many 
VSOs.
  Once again, I thank my colleague, Congressman Mike Kelly, for 
introducing this bill. I urge all of my colleagues to join me in 
supporting it.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WALZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I would, first of all, like to thank the chairman for bringing H.R. 
609 to the floor, and a very special thank you to the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Kelly) for the honor and privilege to learn about 
this great American. You heard a little bit of the story, and you will 
hear more of it from Mr. Kelly. It is sometimes unimaginable that such 
as Mr. Abraham walked amongst us.
  I oftentimes hear that people disparage when Congress does naming 
bills. If anyone was ever deserving of having a VA center named after 
them, and the importance of attaching that name and the history for 
those who come after, this is the gentleman.
  You are going to hear more of this, but Mr. Abraham was born in 
Lyndora, Pennsylvania. The stories just keep coming up. Apparently he 
was gifted academically and, of course, was a boxer. Again, this is a 
point of personal privilege on this, he was actually a Regimental 
Sergeant Major for a time when he was in his service. He served in the 
Philippines, China, Germany, and Panama. He survived the Bataan Death 
March. Having been out on Corregidor Island and hearing the stories of 
the people who survived, unimaginable horrors that they survived, and 
then imagine after being rescued and being liberated and having a 
chance to come home, Mr. Abraham chose to make sure that all of his 
comrades came home.
  He was a recipient of the Purple Heart and a lifelong member of the 
VFW, the American Legion, the Military Order of the Purple Heart, the 
American Ex-Prisoners of War Organization, the Disabled American 
Veterans, and the American Defenders of Bataan; but I think the 
chairman brought up something truly remarkable: giving 40,000 hours of 
volunteer service to his fellow veterans. This Nation could ask no more 
of a single person, and Mr. Abraham continued to give.
  To the gentleman from Pennsylvania, the State of Pennsylvania is 
represented well here. They were represented well by Mr. Abraham. It is 
an honor and a privilege to support this piece of legislation. I 
encourage my colleagues to not only support this, but to maybe go read 
the bio of this great American.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman 
from Pennsylvania (Mr. Kelly), my friend and colleague.
  Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman. I 
brought with me today a picture of Master Sergeant Abraham. Now, I 
never knew him when he looked like this. I knew him when he was much 
older. I have got to tell you that to know Master Sergeant Abraham, you 
would never have known what he had gone through in his life because all 
of these folks from that time period just did what they had to do. When 
you ask them, ``Why did you do it?'' they said, ``It wasn't an option. 
It wasn't an option. We had to do it.'' There is just certain times in 
our history that people rise up and they do things that are incredible, 
ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

  Just being around Mr. Abraham for a long time--I never called him 
Abie, by the way. I did not call him Abie. I always called him sergeant 
or Mr. Abraham--I was just always so impressed with him. It is such an 
honor and a privilege to be able to stand here in the people's House to 
talk about a true American hero, somebody who was not just a patriot, 
but was compassionate, somebody who never stopped serving his country 
in so many different ways.
  When I first read ``The Ghost of Bataan,'' I went back and I talked 
to Mr. Abraham. I said: You never told me about these things.
  He said: Oh, don't worry about that. Those were just things we had to 
do.
  I said: No, but what you did was incredible: to survive the Bataan 
Death March, to be in a Japanese prison camp for 3\1/2\ years, to be 
stabbed, to be shot, to be beaten, to survive malaria and starvation. 
Did you ever think of trying to get away?
  He said: Yeah, Mike, I did, but here was the thing: if one of us were 
to escape, the Japanese soldiers would shoot 10 of the prisoners who 
were still in the camp; so we didn't want to do that to any of our 
colleagues. I watched them die. I held them as they died. We tried to 
get them through the darkest times that we could.
  I said: How did you endure?
  He said: My faith. My faith.
  That is how we all get through the darkest time, on both knees, 
believing that God is there for us no matter what. But when you read 
his books and you understand who this man was--and

[[Page H1106]]

I think the second book was the one that was incredible. Let me read 
this because I just thought if there was anything that somebody did out 
of love, it was Mr. Abraham.
  His second book was ``Oh, God, Where Are You?'' I want you to think 
of this as a prisoner of war who survived the Bataan Death March, who 
watched his colleagues killed along the way, and if they fell down, 
they got shot. Toward the end, when they fell down and they couldn't 
move anymore, they were put into open graves, and they were told to go 
ahead and cover the graves. He refused to do it. He said: They are 
still moving.
  So we come to today and we think about what it is that we as 
Americans can do. What is it we can do? What is in our hearts? What is 
in our memory? What about all those who came before us and what they 
went through?
  Mr. Abraham, as a child, went to school barefoot. His family didn't 
have money to even buy him shoes, but he had a love for our Nation. He 
had a love for his fellow man. He had a love for veterans that was just 
incredible. But imagine the despair of being in that prison camp and 
not knowing what was going on in the outside war.
  I asked him: What did you do? How did you keep people's spirits up?
  He said: I made up stories. I would tell them that I just heard there 
was a rumor going through camp that our armies are close and they are 
going to rescue us.
  Think about that. They were clinging to a made-up story from this man 
because he knew that is how he could keep their spirits up in the 
darkest of times. He kind of smiled about it.
  I said: That is incredible.
  He said: Well, sometimes you have to do things a little different 
just to get people's spirits up.
  I want you to fast forward to who this man was. I watched him walk 
with a cane as he got into his later years, in his eighties and 
nineties, going to VA Butler Healthcare Center every single day to help 
fellow veterans. His sole purpose in life was to help other American 
citizens, to help other veterans, to bring a little light into their 
life, to bring a little happiness into their life; 40,000 hours of 
service in a VA center. He could have spent his time doing other 
things, but he didn't. He chose to stay with those he loved. He chose 
to serve those he loved. He chose to continue to serve even in his 
retirement this Nation that he loved so much.
  I can't tell you how much it means to be able to look at that new 
health center going up and knowing that Mr. Abraham, from his new post, 
is looking down and is so thankful to a grateful nation that we are 
taking time to take care of those who have given everything they can to 
make sure our Nation remains free.
  This is an incredible time in our history. This has nothing to do 
with parties. It has nothing to do with who you vote for. It has to do 
with who we are, the fact that every single one of us has a role. I 
would just ask people to please look into Abie Abraham. Go online and 
see about Mr. Abraham. Go and see what Master Sergeant Abraham did, and 
say: If I could just be a little bit like Abie Abraham, the world would 
be a better place. For all those who have died in the service of our 
country, they will rest easier.
  Mr. WALZ. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers and I am 
prepared to close.
  I would just like to thank the gentleman again for bringing this to 
our attention, honoring Master Sergeant Abraham's life. Again, I think 
there is a little lesson here of how we conduct ourselves reflects on 
the sacrifice that people like Mr. Abraham gave; and the gentleman has 
done so honorably and nobly, and I thank him for that. I encourage my 
colleagues to support H.R. 609.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I think this is an amazing story 
that Mr. Kelly shared before us. I had a history professor in college 
who survived the Bataan Death March. He spent 3\1/2\ years in the 
same--I wonder if these two men knew each other. He, indeed, too, was a 
remarkable man. I can think of no better honor in Butler, Pennsylvania, 
than to honor his memory by naming this medical center. Once again, I 
encourage all Members to support this legislation.
  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 Tennessee (Mr. Roe) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 609.
  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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