[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 129, 114th Congress, 1st Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


Public Law 114-103
114th Congress

An Act


 
To designate the arboretum at the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical
Center in Richmond, Virginia, as the ``Phyllis E. Galanti
Arboretum''. <>

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Phyllis Eason Galanti, a tireless advocate for the
rights of prisoners of war from the United States during the
Vietnam War and a beloved member of the Richmond, Virginia,
community, died on April 23, 2014.
(2) Ms. Eason graduated from the College of William and Mary
in 1963 and shortly afterward was married to Paul Edward
Galanti, a pilot with the United States Navy, at the Chapel of
the Centurion in Fort Monroe, Virginia.
(3) In June 1966, when Mr. Galanti was shot down over North
Vietnam, captured, and held prisoner, Phyllis E. Galanti became
active in the National League of Families of American Prisoners
and Missing in Southeast Asia, soon becoming chair of the
organization.
(4) Mrs. Galanti spearheaded the Let's Bring Paul Galanti
Home project as part of the national Write Hanoi campaign--
(A) to raise awareness;
(B) to secure the return of more than 600 soldiers
from the United States who were missing in action or
held as prisoners of war in Vietnam; and
(C) to ensure that prisoners of war were treated in
accordance with the Geneva Conventions.
(5) The efforts of Mrs. Galanti under the Let's Bring Paul
Galanti Home project, the most successful of many such
campaigns, resulted in more than 1,000,000 letters that were
personally delivered to the North Vietnamese embassy in
Stockholm, Sweden, in 1971.
(6) Mrs. Galanti became known as ``Fearless Phyllis'',
traveling to Versailles, France, seeking an audience with North
Vietnamese leaders, and giving hundreds of presentations to
policy leaders in the United States, including President Richard
Nixon, National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger, and Virginia
Governor Mills E. Godwin, Jr., who said of her in 1975, ``One
dedicated woman and a handful of others had more influence on
the communist world than legions of armies and diplomats.''.
(7) After more than seven years apart, Mrs. Galanti was
reunited with her husband Paul Galanti at the Naval Air Station
in Norfolk, Virginia, on February 15, 1973.

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(8) Mrs. Galanti spent decades confronting the issue of
prisoners and hostages from the United States, not only in
Vietnam but also in the Soviet Union and Iran.
(9) Mrs. Galanti actively supported the Virginia Home,
Theatre IV, and the Virginia Repertory Theatre, visited schools,
and continued to meet with lawmakers until she died on April 23,
2014, at age 73, from complications with leukemia.
(10) The work of Mrs. Galanti earned her the American Legion
Service Medal, and the Paul and Phyllis Galanti Education Center
at the Virginia War Memorial was named in honor of her and her
husband.
(11) The leadership at the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical
Center in Richmond, Virginia, including Director John
Brandecker, seeks to recognize Mrs. Galanti by naming the
arboretum at Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center in her
honor.
(12) It is a fitting tribute that Congress name the
arboretum after such an outstanding advocate for members of the
Armed Forces of the United States and veterans.
SEC. 2. PHYLLIS E. GALANTI ARBORETUM AT HUNTER HOLMES MCGUIRE VA
MEDICAL CENTER IN RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.

(a) Designation.--The arboretum at the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA
Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia, shall after the date of the
enactment of this Act be known and designated as the ``Phyllis E.
Galanti Arboretum''.
(b) References.--Any reference in any law, regulation, map,
document, paper, or other record of the United States to the arboretum
referred to in subsection (a) shall be considered to be a reference to
the Phyllis E. Galanti Arboretum.

Approved December 18, 2015.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--H.R. 2693:
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 161 (2015):
Dec. 8, considered and passed House.
Dec. 10, considered and passed Senate.