II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 49 

To designate the outstation of the Department of Veterans Affairs in North 

Ogden, Utah, as the Major Brent Taylor Vet Center Outstation. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 8, 2019 

Mr. LEE (for himself and Mr. ROMNEY) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To designate the outstation of the Department of Veterans 

Affairs in North Ogden, Utah, as the Major Brent Taylor Vet Center Outstation. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) Major Brent Taylor began his military serv6 ice following the attacks of September 11, 2001. He 

7 joined the Army National Guard in 2003, three days 

8 after his engagement to his wife, Jennie. Five of his 

9 brothers would eventually serve in the Armed Forces 

10 following the deadly attacks. 


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1 (2) During his time in the Army National 

2 Guard, Major Taylor distinguished himself in service 

3 to the United States and the State of Utah. He re4 ceived a commission as a second lieutenant from the 

5 Brigham Young University Reserve Officer Training 

6 Corps in 2006, while graduating as a member of the 

7 National Society of Collegiate Scholars. 

8 (3) During his impressive career with the Utah 

9 National Guard, Major Taylor distinguished himself 

10 in multiple specialties, including Intelligence and 

11 Military Police. One of his earliest assignments in12 cluded analyzing foreign language documents in sup13 port of the Defense Intelligence Agency. He also led 

14 document exploitation efforts in multiple European 

15 and South American languages for a variety of intel16 ligence community customers. Major Taylor also 

17 managed a team that assessed security vulnerabili18 ties at high-profile facilities across the United 

19 States, all while maintaining a successful private 

20 sector career in Utah. 

21 (4) Major Taylor was continuously ready to 

22 take up a call to arms from the United States and 

23 deployed four times in support of operations in Iraq 

24 and Afghanistan. His deployed duties varied from 

25 Platoon Leader and Combat Advisor to Chief of 


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1 Staff to the Special Operations Advisory Group, re2 sponsible for leading a joint task force advising and 

3 assisting an elite Afghan special operations unit. 

4 (5) Throughout his deployments, Major Taylor 

5 distinguished himself on several occasions, earning a 

6 multitude of awards including the Bronze Star. The 

7 citation credits the ability of Major Taylor to think 

8 calmly and decisively to keep his subordinates safe 

9 while traversing 600,000 miles of roads in Iraq, 

10 laden with improvised explosive devices (commonly 

11 referred to as ‘‘IED’’) and ripe for ambush. 

12 (6) During one particularly harrowing mission, 

13 Major Taylor’s vehicle was struck by an IED. Al14 though he survived the attack, the wounds he re15 ceived earned him the Purple Heart. 

16 (7) Major Taylor’s amazing record of service 

17 was not limited to the battlefield. In 2010, he served 

18 as a member of the North Ogden City Council and, 

19 in 2013, Major Taylor was elected mayor. His stead20 fast leadership led to the city being recognized as 

21 ‘‘Business Friendly’’ by the Governor of Utah, and 

22 as one of the safest, freest cities in the United 

23 States by several organizations. His initiatives in24 cluded improvements to public works and infrastruc25 ture, attracting businesses to the area, developing a 


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1 local community center, and increasing trans2 parency. His action led his constituents to reelect 

3 Major Taylor in 2017. 

4 (8) In 2018, Major Taylor placed himself on a 

5 leave of absence from his mayoral duties in order to 

6 deploy to Afghanistan, explaining to his constituents, 

7 ‘‘Service is what leadership is all about.’’. 

8 (9) While serving in Afghanistan, a dear col9 league, Afghani Lieutenant Kefayatullah, was killed 

10 shortly before the Afghan elections. Major Taylor 

11 wrote, ‘‘The strong turnout at that election, despite 

12 the attacks and challenges, was a success for the 

13 long-suffering people of Afghanistan, and for the 

14 cause of human freedom. I am proud of the brave 

15 Afghan and U.S. soldiers I serve with. Many Amer16 ican, NATO and Afghan troops have died to make 

17 moments like this election possible.’’. He also 

18 extolled the American public to embrace its civic 

19 duty, stating, ‘‘I hope everyone back home exercises 

20 their precious right to vote. And that whether the 

21 Republicans or Democrats win, that we all remem22 ber that we have far more as Americans that unites 

23 us than divides us.’’. 

24 (10) Tragically, on Saturday, November 3, 

25 2018, Major Taylor was killed in an attack in AfVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S49.IS S49

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1 ghanistan. He was survived by his wife, Jennie, and 

2 his seven children, Megan, Lincoln, Alex, Jacob, 

3 Ellie, Jonathan, and Caroline. 

4 (11) The impression that Major Taylor left was 

5 indelible. An Afghan officer who had served with 

6 Major Taylor penned a letter to his wife, stating, 

7 ‘‘Your husband taught me to love my wife Hamida 

8 as an equal and treat my children as treasured gifts, 

9 to be a better father, to be a better husband, and 

10 to be a better man.’’. That officer further com11 mented that, ‘‘He died on our soil but he died for 

12 the success of freedom and democracy in both of our 

13 countries.’’. 

14 (12) It is only well and fitting that, as a tribute 

15 to the amazing life of Major Taylor, Congress name 

16 a facility in honor of Major Taylor’s shining example 

17 of service and sacrifice. 

18 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF MAJOR BRENT TAYLOR VET CEN19 TER OUTSTATION IN NORTH OGDEN, UTAH. 

20 (a) DESIGNATION.—The outstation of the Depart21 ment of Veterans Affairs located at 2357 North 400 East 

22 Washington Boulevard, North Ogden, Utah, shall after 

23 the date of the enactment of this Act be known and des24 ignated as the ‘‘Major Brent Taylor Vet Center 

25 Outstation’’. 


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1 (b) REFERENCE.—Any reference in any law, regula2 tion, map, document, paper, or other record of the United 

3 States to the facility referred to in subsection (a) shall 

4 be considered to be a reference to the Major Brent Taylor 

5 Vet Center Outstation. 

Æ 


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