[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Page 19587]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



     RECOGNITION OF PETER HENRY'S SERVICE TO SOUTH DAKOTA VETERANS

 Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize the 
extraordinary work done by Peter Henry as Director of the VA Black 
Hills Health Care System in Fort Meade and Hot Springs, SD. I also wish 
him all the best in his new position as Chief Executive Officer of the 
Extended Care and Rehabilitation Patient Service Line for Veterans 
Integrated Service Network, VISN, 13.
  Peter has been a valuable asset in working the myriad of issues 
affecting the VA over the years, especially his efforts to keep 
services going to Category C veterans when others could not. Peter, his 
wife Sharon, and their five children, have also been important members 
of the Black Hills community. Peter serves on the Board of the Sturgis 
Area Chamber of Commerce and the Sturgis United Way.
  Peter's service in the VA dates back to 1970, when he was a 
Management Intern at VA Central Office in Washington, DC. He later 
served as Chief of Personnel Service at Vancouver, Martinez, and Palo 
Alto VAMCs. He completed the Associate Director Training Program in 
1982 at the VAMC in San Francisco, CA. Peter then served as Associate 
Director at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa, FL and as 
Assistant Medical Center Director at the VAMC Long Beach, CA.
  Peter came to South Dakota in 1993 as the Director of the Medical 
Center at Fort Meade, SD. Three years later, he became Director of the 
VA Black Hills Health Care System. Peter is a third generation VA 
employee and currently serves as president of the VA Chapter of the 
Senior Executives Association and on the National Board of that 
organization.
  I have had the pleasure of working with Peter through my career in 
the United States House of Representatives and now in the United States 
Senate. Peter has helped to educate me and other South Dakota officials 
on a variety of veterans issues, and his caring for the individual 
veterans in the Black Hills has been a great asset to our efforts to 
improve health care services for our Nation's heroes. Peter's 
commitment to expanding VA services into rural regions of South Dakota 
includes the use of outreach clinics which have allowed veterans in 
rural areas to receive needed care closer to their homes.
  As I travel South Dakota and meet with veterans, I am reminded of the 
very core of what the Founding Fathers meant when they talked about 
America's citizen soldiers who serve as the bulwark of defending our 
democracy and freedom. The sacrifices of the men and women who served 
this Nation in time of war are a dramatic story that we need to tell to 
future generations.
  We need to remind younger generations of the sacrifice of the quiet 
heroes who have served our Nation in the military service. We need to 
remind them that freedom isn't really free. Throughout our Nation's 
proud history, people have made profound sacrifices to preserve liberty 
and democracy.
  I am pleased that with the help of dedicated people like Peter Henry, 
we have finally begun to honor additional commitments made to veterans 
nationwide. Peter and his staff at the VA Black Hills Health Care 
System know that veterans health care is this Nation's priority and not 
just an afterthought. I look forward to working with Peter, in his new 
role with VISN 13, to continue to improve veterans health care 
services.

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