Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, representing Texas District 30 in the U.S. House, and Sen. John Cornyn, one of two Republicans representing Texas in the U.S. Senate, today (Thursday, Jan. 16) introduced legislation to rename the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Dallas after the late Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson.
Johnson, who died on New Year’s Eve 2023, represented District 30 in the U.S. House for 20 years after spending five years in the Texas House in the 1970s and six years in the Texas Senate, from 1986-1992. After announcing her retirement from Congress early in 2023, she endorsed Crockett to replace her.
Crockett’ bill would rename the Dallas VA facility as the “Eddie Bernice Johnson Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center” to honor the congresswoman’s 30 years of service in government. The name change also recognizes Johnson’s contributions as a nurse; prior to being elected to public office, she dedicated 16 years of service as the first Black American to serve as chief psychiatric nurse at the Dallas Veterans Administration Hospital.
“As I carry on in the footsteps of my trailblazing predecessor, I see Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson’s legacy and impact in every corner of the district I represent: from Eddie Bernice Johnson Union Station where the regional rail that she helped fund is connecting communities across North Texas, to the Eddie Bernice Johnson STEM Academy in Wilmer where students are learning the skills they will need to forge a career in science and technology — sectors boosted by the CHIPS and Science Act that Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson championed,” Crockett said.
“Throughout her 30 years of service to the people of North Texas, Congresswoman Johnson was guided by her service-driven heart and compassion for Texans in need — the same qualities that fueled her work as chief psychiatric nurse at the Dallas Veterans Administration Hospital for nearly two decades,” Crockett continued. “Congresswoman Johnson never forgot the servicemen and women she treated there, and she fought to increase funding and resources for veteran and mental healthcare from her early days in the Texas Capitol to her last years in Congress, introducing the Department of Energy Veterans’ Health Initiative Act in 2019 and the Strengthening Mental Health Supports for BIPOC Communities Act in 2020.”
Crockett noted that she is “grateful to my colleague, Sen. John Cornyn, for working with me to honor Congresswoman Johnson’s legacy by leading this bill in the U.S. Senate. I am eager to walk through the doors of the Eddie Bernice Johnson Dallas VA Medical Center alongside Sen. Cornyn and the Texas veterans that she cared for so dearly.”
Cornyn added, “Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson was a trailblazer and longtime advocate for veterans. This legislation to rename the VA Medical Center in Dallas in Congresswoman Johnson’s honor — nearly 70 years after she was hired as a nurse at this very hospital — would ensure her legacy of service is forever preserved.”
This bill is supported by Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas in the Senate and Reps. Al Green, Joaquin Castro, Henry Cuellar, Sylvia Garcia, Veronica Escobar and Lance Gooden, all of Texas, in the House.