I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1341 

To designate the Mental Health Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Facility 

Expansion of the Department of Veterans Affairs Alvin C. York Medical 

Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, as the ‘‘Sergeant John Toombs Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Facility’’. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 25, 2019 

Mr. DESJARLAIS (for himself, Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee, Mr. 

FLEISCHMANN, Mr. KUSTOFF of Tennessee, Mr. BURCHETT, Mr. GREEN

of Tennessee, and Mr. JOHN W. ROSE of Tennessee) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To designate the Mental Health Residential Rehabilitation 

Treatment Facility Expansion of the Department of Veterans Affairs Alvin C. York Medical Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, as the ‘‘Sergeant John Toombs Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Facility’’. 

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) Sergeant John Toombs of Murfreesboro, 

6 Tennessee, served in the Tennessee Army National 


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•HR 1341 IH

1 Guard as a part of the highly distinguished 230th 

2 Signal Corps. 

3 (2) His six years in the National Guard in4 cluded a deployment to Afghanistan, where Sergeant 

5 Toombs proudly served as a guard and escort for 

6 visiting dignitaries and reporters traveling into high7 ly dangerous, war-ravaged areas in Afghanistan. 

8 (3) As a result of his service in Afghanistan, 

9 Sergeant Toombs developed symptoms of Posttrau10 matic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a disability he con11 tinued to suffer from after leaving the National 

12 Guard in 2014. 

13 (4) After two years of battling PTSD and fail14 ing to receive the necessary treatment, Sergeant 

15 Toombs tragically took his own life in November of 

16 2016. 

17 (5) However, the life of Sergeant Toombs has 

18 impacted other veterans in Tennessee suffering from 

19 PTSD. Since this devastating tragedy, positive 

20 measures have been made to raise awareness and 

21 improve the overall treatment of veterans suffering 

22 from PTSD within the Tennessee Valley Healthcare 

23 System. 


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1 SEC. 2. SERGEANT JOHN TOOMBS RESIDENTIAL REHABILI2 TATION TREATMENT FACILITY. 

3 (a) DESIGNATION.—The Mental Health Residential 

4 Rehabilitation Treatment Facility Expansion of the De5 partment of Veterans Affairs Alvin C. York Medical Cen6 ter in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, shall be known and des7 ignated as the ‘‘Sergeant John Toombs Residential Reha8 bilitation Treatment Facility’’, after the date of the enact9 ment of this Act. 

10 (b) REFERENCES.—Any reference in any law, regula11 tion, map, document, paper, or other record of the United 

12 States to the Alvin C. York Mental Health Residential Re13 habilitation Treatment Facility referred to in subsection 

14 (a) shall be deemed to be a reference to the ‘‘Sergeant 

15 John Toombs Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Facil16 ity’’. 

Æ 


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