[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book II)]
[July 3, 2008]
[Pages 974-976]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at a Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Walter Reed National 
Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland
July 3, 2008

    Thank you very much, Deputy Secretary England, for that generous introduction. I am so honored to be 
here at Bethesda National Naval Medical Center. This is often called the 
President's hospital. The reason why is this is where the President gets 
medical care. But I'm relieved today not to be on the treadmill, 
weighing in, and getting a blood test. [Laughter] I also will tell you 
that the care that the President gets here is extraordinary.
    I am so excited to be here for what is a grand occasion. This is a 
big deal, the breaking ground of a new joint medical facility for the 
men and women of our Armed Forces. Thank you all for joining us.
    In a few years, the current campus at Walter Reed will close, and 
many of its services will be relocated to the new complex here on the 
grounds at Bethesda. The two hospitals will be merged into one central 
campus, which will be called the Walter Reed National Military Medical 
Center. At this new center, wounds will be healed, medical knowledge 
will be advanced, lives will be rebuilt, and those who wear our Nation's 
uniform will be reminded that they have the enduring gratitude of the 
American people.
    I thank all who serve Walter Reed and Bethesda. I love being with 
the healers and caregivers and incredibly compassionate people who makes 
our current facility successful and will make this new center a great 
success.
    Congressman, thank you very much 
for joining us. I know you are proud that this new facility is in your 
congressional district. Thank you for working hard to see this vision 
become a reality.
    Lieutenant Governor, proud to be with 
you. This man wear the uniform of the United States military, and I'm 
proud to be with this veteran and now public servant for the State of 
Maryland.
    Members of the administration who are here, thank you all for 
coming. Chaplain York, thanks for the 
blessings. And all those who wear the uniform, thanks for sacrificing 
for the country.
    This morning, we gather in a place that was chosen by another 
President to be the site of a world-class naval hospital. When President 
Franklin Roosevelt dedicated Bethesda in the early years of World War 
II, he placed this facility on the frontlines of what he called the 
``battle against disease, disability, and death.'' The military surgeons 
and nurses, scientists and technicians, he said, ``are anonymous heroes 
of this war.''
    More than six decades later, our Nation is engaged in a very 
different battle for our freedom. Yet our success still relies on these 
``anonymous heroes,'' the healers who care for the troops, those troops 
who keep the American people safe. In this new war, giving our troops 
the care they deserve requires cutting-edge medical facilities. And that 
is what this new medical center will provide.
    When the construction is complete, this facility will encompass 345 
beds and 6.7 million square feet. It will join the resources of the 
Army, Navy, and Air Force, and make it easier for medical professionals 
in all three services to collaborate and care for the patients. Our 
troops and their families will no longer have to travel between Bethesda 
and Walter Reed to see multiple specialists. The new complex will also 
benefit from the good work of the Dole-
Shalala Wounded Warriors Commission, which 
has issued recommendations for modernizing and improving our military 
health care system. Those recommendations will provide

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a strong foundation for effective, accountable care here at the new 
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
    This new medical center will be a place of healing. Every day, our 
military doctors and nurses and medical staff demonstrate their immense 
skill and their caring hearts. You soothe the pain and fear of patients. 
You console families who keep constant vigil over their loved ones. You 
share the joy of a neurology patient's first recovered words and an 
amputee's first steps. When required, you can show tough love, but you 
also like to remind patients that laughter is the best medicine. And we 
look forward to the day when the joy of recovery echoes through the 
halls of the new medical facility that will be built here.
    This new medical center will be a place of innovation. Major Walter 
Reed was the Army doctor who found that yellow fever is transmitted by 
mosquitoes, a discovery that has saved countless lives. The new 
institution bearing his name will continue his legacy of lifesaving 
research. Today, our Nation's military doctors are revolutionizing how 
we approach traumatic brain injuries, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and 
amputee care. In many fields, you are far ahead of civilian medicine. 
And when Bethesda and Walter Reed merge into one campus across from the 
National Institutes of Health, this will be the site of many more 
promising breakthroughs that will benefit not only our troops, but all 
mankind.
    This new medical center will be a place of compassion. At Bethesda 
and Walter Reed, volunteers organize holiday celebration, poker nights, 
and field trips. They distribute care packages from thousands of 
Americans who want to show their gratitude for our troops. Recently, 
schoolchildren from New York made pillows for soldiers at Walter Reed 
and sent letters along with the gifts. The children wrote, ``[You are] 
everyone's hero.'' ``Thank you for fighting for our freedom.'' At this 
new center, the Americans who fight for our freedom will get the 
compassion and support they deserve.
    This new medical center will be a place of courage. Our wounded 
warriors show that while the human body is fragile, the human spirit is 
strong. Anybody who has met the wounded at Walter Reed and Bethesda 
cannot help but be incredibly impressed by the courage and sacrifice of 
our troops.
    Recently, I saw this strength in a young Air Force staff sergeant 
named Scott Lilley. Scott was serving in Iraq 
when an IED left him with a severe brain injury. I think it was last 
Fourth of July that you came to the White House. Yes, I was one who felt 
like this guy had no chance. And yet he--the doctors here used state-of-
the-art technology and aggressive treatment to get Scott better. Their 
perseverance paid off, and so has his. I welcomed he and his mom and dad to the Oval Office 
the other day. He was more eloquent than I was, which isn't all that 
hard. [Laughter] He drives a car; he goes to baseball games; he loves to 
joke.
    His doctor calls Scott's recovery 
miraculous. And thanks to the extraordinary care he received at Bethesda 
as well his own extraordinary resolve, he is now back on active duty in 
the Air Force. And we are glad you're here.
    The greatest privilege of serving as President is to be the 
Commander in Chief of such an extraordinary group of men and women who 
wear our Nation's uniform. And I'm pleased to help start construction on 
the new hospital that will continue to provide the excellent care our 
troops deserve. It is fitting that this new facility be built in a place 
called Bethesda, which draws its name from the Biblical pool of healing. 
It is there that a lame man was made to walk and was dispatched with the 
words: ``Behold, thou art made whole.''
    I pray that this will be the site of many miracles of healing, where 
the lame will walk again, where broken bodies will be made whole, and 
where you'll always know

[[Page 976]]

that you're in our prayers and in the hearts of the American people.
    May God bless you, and may God continue to bless our country.

Note: The President spoke at 10:06 a.m. at the National Naval Medical 
Center. In his remarks, he referred to Rep. Christopher Van Hollen and 
Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown of Maryland; Capt. Lorenzo York, USN, command 
chaplain, National Naval Medical Center; former Sen. Robert J. Dole and 
former Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna E. Shalala, 
Cochairs, President's Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded 
Warriors; and Jolene and Frank Lilley, parents of Staff Sgt. Scott 
Lilley, USAF.