I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3665 
To designate the medical center of the Department of Veterans Affairs in 
San Diego, California, as the Jennifer Moreno Department of Veterans 
Affairs Medical Center, and to support the designation of a component 
of such medical center in honor of Kathleen Bruyere. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 1, 2021 
Mr. LEVIN of California (for himself, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. JACOBS of California, 
Mr. ISSA, Mr. PETERS, and Ms. BROWNLEY) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To designate the medical center of the Department of Vet-
erans Affairs in San Diego, California, as the Jennifer 
Moreno Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 
and to support the designation of a component of such 
medical center in honor of Kathleen Bruyere. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) As of January 2021, of 1,255 health care 
facilities of the Department of Veterans of Affairs, 
two are named for women veterans. 
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(2) From 2002 through 2006, Jennifer Madai 
Moreno was an active member of the San Diego 
High School Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps 
(JROTC), which is a Department of the Army 
Honor Unit with Distinction, the highest rating by 
the Army. She was also chosen to be a member of 
the San Diego Unified School District Brigade Staff. 
As a high school senior, she rose quickly to become 
the top junior marksman in California through the 
Civilian Marksmanship Program. 
(3) Moreno accepted a JROTC scholarship to 
the University of San Francisco (USF) for Nursing, 
becoming the first person in her family to go to col-
lege. While at USF, she was chosen for Leadership 
Development Training. She ultimately achieved the 
highest level of physical fitness in her ROTC unit. 
(4) Following her graduation from USF with a 
Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing in 2010, 
Moreno received her commission in the United 
States Army as a Second Lieutenant Nurse Corps 
Officer. 
(5) Upon commissioning, Moreno served as a 
Gold Bar Recruiter from July 2010 to September 
2010. 
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(6) Moreno was chosen to attend and completed 
the Basic Airborne Course in Fort Benning, Georgia 
and Army Medical Department Officer Basic Course 
at Ft. Sam Houston, Texas. 
(7) Moreno was then assigned to Madigan 
Army Medical Center, Joint Base Lewis McCord, 
Washington in January 2011, where she served as 
a Clinical Staff Nurse on medical-surgical unit. 
Moreno earned her certification as a Medical Sur-
gical Registered Nurse in February 2011. 
(8) Moreno volunteered for a position with U.S. 
Army Special Operations Command in 2011. She 
was selected into the SOC Cultural Support Team 
program. She was deployed to Afghanistan in June 
2013 with the Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment. 
(9) On October 6, 2013, Moreno was attached 
to a U.S. Army Ranger unit on a night mission in 
the Zhari district in Kandahar province to capture 
a high-value target when four explosive devices were 
triggered. 
(10) During the last moments of Moreno’s life, 
she reportedly heard a call to help a wounded soldier 
struck by a blast. Moreno did not hesitate to re-
spond to the call for help. As she made her way to 
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help a fallen soldier, she triggered the fifth explo-
sion, which ended her life. 
(11) Moreno was the first Nurse CST member 
to die in action. Part of her legacy is the number of 
young women coming from medical fields seeking 
out voluntary assignments to join the CST program. 
(12) Moreno was the first combat casualty to be 
buried at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San 
Diego since the post-9/11 conflicts began. She re-
ceived full military honors. 
(13) After graduating from college in 1966, 
Kathleen Mae Bruyere was accepted into U.S. Navy 
Officer Candidate School, after which she was as-
signed as an on-campus Navy recruiting officer in 
California. 
(14) Bruyere was named to the staff of Rear 
Admiral Allen Hill in 1975, becoming the first 
woman to serve as flag secretary to an admiral. 
(15) In January 1976, Bruyere was chosen as 
one of 12 Women of the Year on the cover of Time 
Magazine. 
(16) In 1977, Bruyere joined five other women 
officers who sued the United States Secretary of the 
Navy and the United States Secretary of Defense 
over restrictions that prevented women from serving 
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