Aloha kakou! I am honored to be here this morning with my colleagues in the Hawaii Congressional delegation, Lt. Governor Hirono, Major General Nancy Adams, David Burge, Senator Matt Matsunaga and members of the Matsunaga family, veterans and their families, and other distinguished friends and guests.

We are gathered on the grounds of the Tripler Army Medical Center to celebrate the blessing and dedication of the new Ambulatory Care Center and the Administration and Benefits Building of the Department of Veterans Affairs Spark M. Matsunaga Medical & Regional Office Center.

On Monday we observed Memorial Day, a solemn day to remember with respect and gratitude the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice when they answered our nation's call to duty to protect and defend our country. We are reminded that the peace, liberty, and prosperity we cherish carry a dear price.

It is fitting that today's dedication provides an opportunity for all of us to honor and express our appreciation to the veterans who returned from wars and conflicts throughout the world, and continue to build and strengthen our nation in their roles as parents and citizens.

The very foundation upon which our great nation is built is due in large part to the men and women who served with bravery in Europe, the Pacific, Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, and trouble spots around the world to defend the ideals of liberty.

As the oldest constitutional democracy in the world, our nation must never forget the struggles and sacrifices by the individuals who have stepped forward to defend our beliefs and ideals every time they were threatened. It is ordinary citizens doing remarkable things in their daily lives that have endowed and blessed the United States of America. Our nation's greatest resource and source of strength has always been its people.

It is appropriate that this center honors the memory of a truly remarkable man–Senator Spark Matsunaga. Over the course of a lifetime of service to the people of Hawaii and America, Spark manifested fortitude, courage, and persistence in fighting for what was right and what was best.

On a personal note, Sparky was always kind and generous to me. When I was elected to the House of Representatives, he reached out to help me with the House leadership and his friends in the Congress.

A veteran of the 100th Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team who was wounded twice in the invasion of Italy and awarded the Bronze Star, Spark was tireless in his efforts to address the unique situation and needs facing Hawaii's veterans and in his advocacy in Washington on their behalf.

Over 25 years ago, as a member of the House of Representatives, he first envisioned the advantages of establishing a VA inpatient facility at Tripler. His efforts on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, including the first ever committee hearing in Hawaii, focused attention on the patchwork health care network that Hawaii's veterans were forced to negotiate in order to obtain care. In response to his pressure, a VA task force criticized the state of VA health care in Hawaii and recommended a series of improvements to accommodate the needs of veterans. In the years since that 1987 report, Spark began the work, carried forward by our Congressional delegation, to expand outpatient services, establish collocated primary care clinics and readjustment counseling centers on the neighbor islands, begin the Pacific Center for PTSD, provide more comprehensive health services, and establish a nursing home and veterans medical center.

The opening of the Ambulatory Care Center and Administration and Benefits Building at Tripler is the culmination of a quarter century of hard work and represents the results–the personnel, bricks, and mortar--of Spark's advocacy for Hawaii's veterans.

Over 100,000 veterans call Hawaii home, and the opening of these new facilities is an important step in ensuring that the promise and aloha of our island home can be shared by all those men and women who put their lives on the line for our nation.

Mahalo nui loa to everyone who worked so hard to bring this project forward.

Aloha.