To name the Department of Veterans Affairs community-based outpatient clinic in Auburn, California, as the "Louis A. Conter VA Clinic".

[118th Congress Public Law 259]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



[[Page 138 STAT. 2973]]

Public Law 118-259
118th Congress

                                 An Act


 
 To name the Department of Veterans Affairs community-based outpatient 
       clinic in Auburn, California, as the ``Louis A. Conter VA 
            Clinic''. <<NOTE: Jan. 4, 2025 -  [H.R. 9124]>> 

    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) Louis ``Lou'' Anthony Conter was born on September 13, 
        1921, in Ojibwa, Wisconsin.
            (2) Lt. Commander Lou Conter, the last remaining survivor of 
        the attack on the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor, was an American 
        hero.
            (3) On that fearful day, Petty Officer Conter helped 
        evacuate shipmates who were blinded, wounded, or burned, even 
        restraining some of his fellow shipmates from jumping overboard 
        into the burning sea.
            (4) In the days after the attack, he helped with recovering 
        bodies and putting out fires. Lou Conter's heroic actions saved 
        the lives of many of his shipmates on December 7, 1941.
            (5) Following Pearl Harbor, Conter continued serving during 
        WWII in New Guinea and in Europe as an enlisted naval aviation 
        pilot assigned to VP-11, a ``Black Cat'' Squadron.
            (6) Lou Conter would be awarded with the Distinguished 
        Flying Cross for actively taking part in the rescue of 219 
        Australians trapped by Japanese troops in New Guinea.
            (7) Later, in the Korean War, he served on the USS Bon Homme 
        Richard as both an intelligence officer and a navy aviation 
        pilot. Following his service in the Korean War, he served as a 
        military intelligence advisor to three Presidents: Dwight D. 
        Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson.
            (8) During the 1950s, Lou Conter played a prominent role in 
        the establishment and development of the Navy Survival, Evasion, 
        Resistance and Escape (SERE) training program.
            (9) In addition to the Distinguished Flying Cross, he was 
        awarded the Navy Commendation Medal and became the first 
        recipient of the USS Arizona Medal of Freedom.
            (10) Louis Conter retired from the Navy in 1967 after 
        serving 28 years as a Lieutenant Commander.
            (11) Following his retirement, he generously gave his time 
        to share his personal experiences at veterans' ceremonies and by 
        giving lectures to students.

[[Page 138 STAT. 2974]]

            (12) Lieutenant Commander Conter's lectures were popular 
        with generations of local students who were equally fascinated 
        and enthralled by his first-person accounts.
            (13) He is eminently deserving of recognition for his 
        decades of service to a grateful nation.
            (14) Lieutenant Commander Conter passed away in Grass 
        Valley, California on April 1, 2024.
SEC. 2. NAME OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS COMMUNITY-BASED 
                    OUTPATIENT CLINIC, AUBURN, CALIFORNIA.

    The Department of Veterans Affairs community-based outpatient clinic 
in Auburn, California, shall after the date of the enactment of this Act 
be known and designated as the ``Louis A. Conter 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 Louis A. Conter VA Clinic.

    Approved January 4, 2025.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--H.R. 9124:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 170 (2024):
            Dec. 16, considered and passed House.
            Dec. 20, considered and passed Senate.

                                  <all>