[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 189 (Tuesday, December 6, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S7008]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




COLONEL MARY LOUISE RASMUSON CAMPUS OF THE ALASKA VA HEALTHCARE SYSTEM 
                              ACT OF 2022

  A bill (S. 5016) to designate the medical center of the Department of 
Veterans Affairs located in Anchorage, Alaska, as the ``Colonel Mary 
Louise Rasmuson Campus of the Alaska VA Healthcare System'', and for 
other purposes, was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, was 
read the third time, and passed as follows:

                                S. 5016

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

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Colonel Mary Louise Rasmuson 
     Campus of the Alaska VA Healthcare System Act of 2022''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds the following:
       (1) Mary Louise (Milligan) Rasmuson was born April 11, 
     1911, in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
       (2) Mary Louise received a Bachelor of Science degree from 
     the Carnegie Institute of Technology and a Master of 
     Education degree from the University of Pittsburgh.
       (3) Mary Louise was one of the first two women to receive 
     an Honorary Doctorate of Laws degree from the Carnegie 
     Institute of Technology.
       (4) In 1942, Mary Louise joined the Women's Army Auxiliary 
     Corps as a Private and was in the first graduating class.
       (5) Mary Louise worked up the ranks, and in 1957, President 
     Dwight Eisenhower appointed Mary Louise as the Fifth Director 
     of the Women's Army Corps and she was reappointed to this 
     position by President John F. Kennedy in 1961.
       (6) In 1962, Colonel Rasmuson retired from the Army.
       (7) Colonel Rasmuson was recognized for her outstanding 
     service in the Women's Army Corps with the Legion of Merit 
     award with two Oak Leaf Clusters for her work in expanding 
     the roles and duties of women in the Army, as well as her 
     role in integrating Black women in the Women's Army Corps.
       (8) Colonel Rasmuson became Director of the Women's Army 
     Corps during tumultuous times and is credited with enhancing 
     the image and recruitment of women into the Women's Army 
     Corps during her years as the Director.
       (9) Colonel Rasmuson expanded opportunities for women to 
     serve in assignments previously reserved only for men, 
     starting with the assignments of 12 enlisted women into the 
     First Missile Master Unit at Fort Meade, Maryland.
       (10) Colonel Rasmuson was instrumental in enabling women to 
     be promoted above the grade of E-7 into the highest enlisted 
     ranks of the Army, E-8 and E-9.
       (11) During her time in the Women's Army Corps, Colonel 
     Rasmuson was the guiding force behind the Army opening up the 
     college enlistment option to women under the self-enhancement 
     programs and witnessed the first female enlisted member 
     attend college under those programs.
       (12) The career of Colonel Rasmuson also laid the 
     groundwork for women to be fully integrated into the United 
     States Army when the Women's Army Corps was disbanded in 
     1978.
       (13) In 1961, Mary Louise married a prominent leader in 
     Alaska, Elmer E. Rasmuson, and she was the first Director of 
     the Women's Army Corps to be married while serving in that 
     position.
       (14) After her retirement from military service in 1962, 
     Mary Louise moved to Alaska where she continued her 
     leadership as a veteran in her community in Alaska.
       (15) Mary Louise served as First Lady of Anchorage after 
     the devastating magnitude 9.2 earthquake in 1964, after her 
     husband, Elmer, was elected as mayor, serving from 1964 to 
     1967.
       (16) Mary Louise was an advocate of social justice, 
     education, and the arts during her 45 years of work on the 
     Board of the Rasmuson Foundation.
       (17) Mary Louise served as the Honorary Chair and was a 
     major founder to renovate the Anchorage Veterans Memorial on 
     the Delaney Parkstrip in downtown Anchorage.
       (18) Mary Louise also contributed to the Army Women's 
     Museum, the National Museum of the American Indian, and the 
     National Museum of the United States Army.
       (19) Mary Louise was the Chair of the Anchorage Museum 
     Foundation and helped establish the museum in Anchorage, 
     serving as its Chair for 21 years.
       (20) On July 30, 2012, Mary Louise died at her home in 
     Anchorage, at the age of 101, but her legacy of character and 
     leadership will endure as an example to all who serve in the 
     United States military.

     SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF COLONEL MARY LOUISE RASMUSON CAMPUS OF 
                   THE ALASKA VA HEALTHCARE SYSTEM.

       (a) Designation.--The medical center of the Department of 
     Veterans Affairs in Anchorage, Alaska, shall, after the date 
     of the enactment of this Act, be known and designated as the 
     ``Colonel Mary Louise Rasmuson Campus of the Alaska VA 
     Healthcare System''.
       (b) Reference.--Any reference in any law, regulation, map, 
     document, paper, or other record of the United States to the 
     medical center referred to in subsection (a) shall be 
     considered to be a reference to the Colonel Mary Louise 
     Rasmuson Campus of the Alaska VA Healthcare System.

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