Bills introduced to rename VA hospital after late Rep. C.W. Bill Young

House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) sponsored the legislation, which would rename the hospital. Florida Sens. Marco Rubio (R) and Bill Nelson (D) are introducing a companion bill. 

The House is expected to vote on the legislation as early as Wednesday — a day before Young’s funeral, which many lawmakers will attend. The lower chamber will adjourn Thursday to allow time for members to fly to Florida for the ceremony. 

The VA medical center is currently named “the Bay Pines VA Healthcare System,” but “shall be known and designated as the ‘C.W. Bill Young Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center,’ ” the senators’ bill says. 

Young — the House Republicans’ longest-serving member — died Friday after spending several weeks at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center where he was being treated for a back injury. He was 82. 

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) are slated to speak at his funeral Thursday, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

On Monday, The Hill reported Frelinghuysen is in line to take Young’s spot as chairman of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee. 

The VA’s Bay Pines Medical Center was built as a result of a Young earmark. 

“Florida has done very well because of the Congress recognizing needs,” Young said in a 2010 interview with the Tampa Bay Times. “You want to talk about earmarks? The first big appropriation that I did years ago was to build a hospital for veterans at Bay Pines.”