[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 14120-14121]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      IN CELEBRATION OF BILL KLING

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise to celebrate the life of a 
beloved member of our south Florida veterans community, William 
``Bill'' Kling, who passed away on August 6 at the age of 84.
  Bill was a devoted husband and father; and he is survived by his two 
children, Marsha Mittentag and Steven Kling. My thoughts and prayers go 
out to them, to Bill's extended family, and to all of his friends and 
colleagues who share in mourning this loss.
  Bill was a member of our Greatest Generation of Americans who served 
our Nation as a radar technician for the Navy during World War II. But 
Bill's service to our Nation was far from over when he returned from 
war. In fact, it was just beginning.
  Bill Kling became a national leader and one of the strongest 
advocates for our Nation's veterans. He was dedicated to helping 
generations of veterans as they returned to civilian life. He worked 
tirelessly to make sure our veterans were getting the benefits they 
deserved--from education under the GI Bill to quality health care 
through our VA system.
  I'm sure my Florida colleagues will agree that Bill was a force to be 
reckoned with, ever brightening our congressional doorways, pushing the 
urgency of the issue at hand. I know we

[[Page 14121]]

are grateful for the remarkable legacy he leaves behind, and he will be 
sorely missed.
  I had the distinct pleasure of working with Bill for the last 23 
years and have witnessed firsthand the many ways he helped thousands of 
veterans in Florida. I'm also proud to have called Bill my friend. For 
the past 7 years, Bill served as the chairman of my Military Academy 
Nominations Board where he helped the next generation of military 
leaders realize the dream of serving the country they love.
  For 8 years, he served on the Florida Commission on Veterans' 
Affairs, and for the past 27 years he was the president of the Broward 
County Veterans Council. He also led the Jewish War Veterans and was a 
member of the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the 
Disabled American Veterans.
  The list of superlatives for Bill shows him as the great American 
that he was. Bill was inducted into the Broward Senior Hall of Fame, 
received the Humanitarian of the Year award from the Dolphin Democrats, 
and changed the shape of veterans services in south Florida. In 
particular, he helped bring the Alexander ``Sandy'' Nininger Veterans' 
Nursing Home to Pembroke Pines in 2001 and worked with other veterans 
to create the South Florida National Cemetery in Palm Beach in 2007.
  One of Bill's greatest accomplishments and lasting legacies was 
ensuring that veterans would have easy access to quality medical care. 
Bill noticed that too often veterans in Broward County had to travel 
too far to go to a VA facility to get the care that they needed. With 
that in mind, he helped open the Oakland Park VA Outpatient Clinic more 
than two decades ago.
  When the building the clinic occupied began deteriorating, Bill 
worked to open a brand-new facility. Even though this effort took 
years, Bill kept a smile on his face and kept working to overcome every 
obstacle, because that's just how Bill operated.
  So in 2008, a new 98,000-square-foot clinic opened in Sunrise, and 
fittingly on Bill's birthday. I think it's fair to say that without 
Bill Kling, this wonderful center that serves thousands of our veterans 
each year might not ever exist.
  With that in mind, I'm honored to announce that next week my good 
friend, Congressman Ted Deutch, also of Florida, and I will file 
legislation, along with many other members of the Florida delegation, 
that will rename the Broward Outpatient Clinic as the William ``Bill'' 
Kling VA Clinic.
  This is such a fitting way to memorialize and thank Bill Kling. With 
passage of this bill, every veteran who walks through the doors of the 
Broward VA Clinic will know the name of the man who did so much for so 
many.
  Mr. Speaker, I look forward to the passage of this legislation so we 
may pay fitting tribute to a great American, William ``Bill'' Kling.

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