Ray Hendrix Veterans Clinic

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise to add my voice to those supporting H.R. 3946, which does name the VA community-based outpatient clinic in Statesboro, Georgia, the Ray Hendrix Veterans Clinic.

I would like to say at this time, I often hear from people, and they talk about things going on here. And they say: Oh, yeah, they are naming another post office, or VA clinic.

That is right, we are. Today, we are naming a VA clinic after someone who gave their life serving this Nation, coming back doing the things that build our community, and I think, when people think is this just an exercise we go through, I would encourage, Mr. Speaker, for everyone, when they go by one of these buildings and they see a name on the side of it and wonder what it is after--we can now google those things pretty easy.

I will guarantee you, every time you google that name, you will come away amazed at what your fellow citizens did, what they gave to this country, and in this case, you heard it from the gentleman, about Ray Hendrix's service, 42 years in uniform, back in that, and I will guarantee you that Statesboro, Georgia, is a better place because of what Sergeant Major Ray Hendrix did.

So I don't think these are things to fill time. I think these are things that we honor what is right about the country. We honor people that put country first, and it is very obvious to me, having never met Ray Hendrix, or until this bill was brought forward, I sure wished I had known him, and I would have loved to have been in a unit where Sergeant Major Hendrix served because it is obvious that he cared. With that, I strongly support this piece of legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia for taking the time to tell us about Sergeant Major Hendrix.

This is exactly the point I'm making: If you want to exemplify what this Nation is about, we are a Nation of people, we are a Nation of patriots; and when they rise above it, like Ray Hendrix did, I think it is appropriate. Of all of the things that we do on this floor, I make a case that these namings are a pretty important piece of what we do. So I thank the gentleman for this, and encourage my colleagues to enthusiastically support this piece of legislation.

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