H.R. 4647 explained · 119th Congress · Pending in Congress
Captain Paul W. Bud Bucha VA Medical Center Act of 2025
Cosponsors: none · per Congress.gov, 2026-10-08
Introduced: 2025-07-23
Latest action (2026-07-16): Received in the Senate. Read twice. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 458.
What H.R. 4647 does, in plain terms
Captain Paul W. "Bud" Bucha VA Medical Center Act of 2025 This bill designates the medical center of the Department of Veterans Affairs in West Haven, Connecticut, as the Captain Paul W. "Bud" Bucha Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center or the Captain Paul W. "Bud" Bucha VA Medical Center.
Official summary by the Congressional Research Service, via Congress.gov.
Constitution Index
“VFA Constitution grade”
Constitutionally sound
Graded 2026-10-11
SI-generated grade · five published checks · not individually reviewed by a person · methodology
This bill simply renames a federal medical facility. It does not expand federal power, restrict any rights, burden individual sovereignty, centralize authority, or implicate due process or takings. It is fully constitutional.
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✓ Passes · Enumerated powers
The federal government has clear enumerated authority under Article I, Section 8, Clause 17 to manage and name federal property, including Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers. Naming a facility is a routine exercise of this property power and does not exceed it. -
✓ Passes · Bill of Rights
The bill does not regulate speech, religion, assembly, press, petition, arms, quartering, search and seizure, self-incrimination, due process, takings, trial rights, or cruel and unusual punishment. It implicates none of the first ten amendments. -
✓ Passes · Individual sovereignty
The bill imposes no restriction on any person's person, property, speech, labor, or belief. It does not command, forbid, or penalize any individual conduct. Individual sovereignty is untouched. -
✓ Passes · Decentralization
Naming a federal facility is a purely administrative act that does not shift decision-making away from individuals, communities, or states. The federal government already owns and operates the medical center; renaming it does not consolidate any additional power upward. -
✓ Passes · Due process and takings
The bill does not deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, nor does it take private property for public use. No hearing, notice, or compensation is required because no rights or property interests are affected.
Sources: Congress.gov: HR 4647 summary
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