Sponsors (2)
Introduced August 2, 2025 by Richard Blumenthal · Last progress August 8, 2025
The bill symbolically honors a Medal of Honor recipient and supports medical research and record consistency, at the cost of minor taxpayer/administrative burdens and without creating new services or benefits for veterans.
Veterans (including Captain Paul W. Bucha) and the public: the bill officially honors a Medal of Honor recipient and renames the West Haven VA medical center in his honor, increasing public recognition of veterans' service, helping reduce stigma around PTSD, and potentially encouraging care-seeking.
Researchers and medical centers (e.g., Yale) will benefit from the donation of Captain Bucha's brain, which supports neurology research into Alzheimer's, PTSD-related brain changes, and other conditions.
Federal employees, VA staff, and healthcare facilities: treating all federal references as referring to the new name will make records and signage consistent, reducing administrative confusion and mismatches across systems.
Veterans who need services: the bill's findings are non‑binding and do not create new programs, benefits, or entitlements, so it provides symbolic recognition but no direct increase in care or support.
Taxpayers and federal budgets: there will be minor fiscal costs to replace signage, stationery, and update databases to reflect the renamed facility.
VA administrative staff and hospital employees: personnel will need to spend time updating records and systems to the new name, causing small operational burdens.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Renames the VA medical center in West Haven, CT to the Captain Paul W. Bucha VA Medical Center and treats all federal references as referring to that new name.
Renames the Department of Veterans Affairs medical center in West Haven, Connecticut as the Captain Paul W. Bucha VA Medical Center and declares that any federal reference to that facility will be read as a reference to the new name upon enactment. It also includes congressional findings honoring Paul W. Bucha and summarizing his military service, veterans advocacy, health struggles, and death. The measure makes only a nominal change of name and record-keeping; it does not authorize new programs, appropriate funds, or impose operational requirements beyond administrative updates (signage, records, maps).