[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2170 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2170
To name the Department of Veterans Affairs community-based outpatient
clinic in Toms River, New Jersey, the Leonard G. 'Bud' Lomell, VA
Clinic, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 18, 2025
Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. Norcross, Mr. Van Drew, Mr.
Conaway, Mr. Gottheimer, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Kean, Mr. Menendez, Ms. Pou,
Mrs. McIver, Ms. Sherrill, and Mrs. Watson Coleman) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans'
Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To name the Department of Veterans Affairs community-based outpatient
clinic in Toms River, New Jersey, the Leonard G. 'Bud' Lomell, VA
Clinic, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The Department of Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic, a
state-of-the-art facility serving the region's largest veteran
population, located at 1055 Hooper Avenue, recently opened in
the Township of Toms River, Ocean County, New Jersey, in the
Fourth Congressional District.
(2) The local community, including veterans, believe that
this facility deserves to be named in honor of Second
Lieutenant Leonard G. ``Bud'' Lomell, a long time Toms River
and Ocean County resident, who served courageously and
heroically during World War II.
(3) Second Lieutenant Lomell was born in 1920, the adopted
son of Scandinavian immigrant parents living in Brooklyn, New
York, and his family eventually moved to Point Pleasant Beach,
New Jersey.
(4) After graduating from Tennessee Wesleyan College,
Second Lieutenant Lomell was drafted into the Army, serving
first with the 76th (Liberty Bell) Infantry Division. When the
2nd Ranger Battalion was formed in April 1943, Leonard Lomell
was invited to be the First Sergeant of D Company.
(5) On D-Day, June 6, 1944, First Sergeant Lomell's platoon
landed at Pointe du Hoc, Normandy, France, successfully scaling
the cliffs, despite a withering German defensive barrage.
(6) Pointe du Hoc, a rugged 100-foot-high coastal promenade
along the English Channel was located between the American
landing beaches, Omaha and Utah. It was heavily defended by the
Germans and the mission of Colonel James Earl Rudder's 225
Rangers was to disable five 155-millimeter artillery guns,
which could have rained artillery fire on the American forces
landing on either beach, jeopardizing the invasion.
(7) Unknown to the American forces, the guns had been moved
from the tip of the Pointe and hidden, pointed in the direction
of Utah Beach, in an inland apple orchard nearly a mile from
the coastal batteries.
(8) First Sergeant Lomell and another Ranger, Sergeant Jack
Kuhn, found the guns undefended, and, with Kuhn providing
cover, Lomell destroyed the weapons with thermite grenades and
used his rifle butt to smash the sights of the guns.
(9) First Sergeant Lomell subsequently received a
battlefield promotion to Second Lieutenant, and was awarded
some of the Army's highest honors, including the Distinguished
Service Cross, Purple Heart, and Silver Star.
(10) Renowned historian Steven Ambrose regarded First
Sergeant Lomell's valiant acts along with General Eisenhower's
decision to invade on June 6, 1944, as the most significant
actions ensuring the Allied victory on D-Day.
(11) Following World War II, Second Lieutenant Lomell was
appointed as the First Director of the newly organized Ocean
County Veteran's Service Bureau, serving from 1946 until 1948,
before he attended law school on the G.I. Bill.
(12) Leonard Lomell and his wife, Charlotte Ewart Lomell,
settled their growing family in Toms River, where, in 1957,
Leonard established his own law firm, which grew to become one
of Ocean County's largest firms.
(13) Leonard Lomell was involved in numerous local civic,
business, and charitable organizations, including serving as
president of the Ocean County Bar Association, a director of
the First National Bank of Toms River, a member of the Dover
Township Board of Education, and a co-founder of the Garden
State Philharmonic. He was also National Commander of the
Legion of Valor (1964-1965) and President of the Ranger
Battalion Association of World War II (1967) and served on the
French Committee of Pointe du Hoc.
(14) Second Lieutenant Lomell is profiled in ``The Greatest
Generation'', former NBC news Anchor Tom Brokaw's testament to
the heroes of World War II, and ``Len Lomell: D-Day Hero'',
Steven M. Gillon's entry in the American War Heroes Series.
(15) As a decorated war hero, model citizen, and dedicated
husband and father, Second Lieutenant Lomell is exceedingly
deserving of the posthumous honor of having a new and long-
awaited Toms River-based Department of Veterans Affairs
outpatient clinic named in his honor.
SEC. 2. NAME OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS COMMUNITY-BASED
OUTPATIENT CLINIC, TOMS RIVER, NEW JERSEY.
The community-based outpatient clinic of the Department of Veterans
Affairs in Toms River, New Jersey, shall, after the date of the
enactment of this Act, be known and designated as the ``Leonard G.
`Bud' Lomell VA Clinic''. Any reference to such clinic in any law,
regulation, map, document, record, or other paper of the United States
shall be considered to be a reference to the Leonard G. ``Bud'' Lomell
VA Clinic.
<all>