Two members of the Texas congressional delegation say they will introduce legislation to rename the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Dallas after the late Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (TX-30, Dallas) filed the bill on Thursday to honor EBJ’s 30 years of public service to Texas’s 30th congressional district and 10 years to the Texas legislature. If passed, the legislation would rename the center the “Eddie Bernice Johnson Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center.” Before being elected to public office, EBJ spent 16 years serving 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, Texas, 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,” said Crockett. “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. Congresswoman Johnson never forgot the servicemen and women she treated there, and 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 continued, “I am 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 Senator Cornyn and the Texas veterans that she cared for so dearly.” “Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson was a trailblazer and longtime advocate for veterans,” said Cornyn. “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.” In a statement Thursday, Crockett and Cornyn said the bill is supported by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Reps Al Green (TX-9), Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Henry Cuellar (TX-28), Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), Veronica Escobar (TX-16), and Lance Gooden (TX-5). EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON Eddie Bernice Johnson Jan 10, 2024 Eddie Bernice Johnson buried at Texas State Cemetery Eddie Bernice Johnson Jan 9, 2024 Longtime U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson remembered in Dallas memorial service