[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2034 Engrossed Amendment House (EAH)]

103d CONGRESS

  1st Session

                               H. R. 2034

_______________________________________________________________________

                               AMENDMENTS

                                   TO

                           SENATE AMENDMENTS
                In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

                                                        August 6, 1993.
      Resolved, That the House agree to the amendments of the Senate to 
the bill (H.R. 2034) entitled ``An Act to amend title 38, United States 
Code, to revise and improve veterans' health programs, and for other 
purposes'', with the following

                              AMENDMENTS:

        In lieu of the matter proposed to be inserted by the amendment 
    of the Senate to the text of the bill, insert:

SECTION. 1. AUTHORIZATION OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 
              CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS.

    (a) Authorized Projects.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs may 
carry out the major medical facility leases for the Department of 
Veterans Affairs for which funds are requested in the budget of the 
President for fiscal year 1994 and may carry out (or, in the case of 
the project specified in paragraph (1), participate in) the following 
major medical facility projects in the amounts specified:
            (1) Construction in accordance with an agreement between 
        the Secretary of the Air Force and the Secretary of Veterans 
        Affairs of a medical facility at Elmendorf Air Force Base, 
        Anchorage, Alaska, to be shared by the Air Force and the 
        Department of Veterans Affairs, $11,500,000.
            (2) Construction of a psychiatric building at the 
        Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Lyons, New 
        Jersey, $41,700,000.
            (3) Modernization and seismic corrections at the Department 
        of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Memphis, Tennessee, 
        $10,700,000.
            (4) Construction of a replacement bed building at the 
        Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Muskogee, 
        Oklahoma, $33,200,000.
            (5) Construction of an outpatient care addition and parking 
        garage at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in 
        San Juan, Puerto Rico, $46,000,000.
            (6) Construction, or expansion and modernization, of a 120-
        bed nursing home facility in the area (referred to as the 
        ``Chesapeake network'') served by the Department of Veterans 
        Affairs medical centers in Baltimore, Maryland; Fort Howard, 
        Maryland; Martinsburg, West Virginia; Perry Point, Maryland; 
        and Washington, District of Columbia, the site for which shall 
        be selected in accordance with subsection (b).
    (b) Site Selection.--(1) The Secretary, in selecting a site for the 
project referred to in subsection (a)(6), shall conduct a study to 
determine the most appropriate location for that facility. In 
conducting the study, the Secretary shall determine--
            (A) what the specific mission of each medical center 
        operated by the Secretary in the Chesapeake network should be 
        to achieve within that network--
                    (i) effective planning;
                    (ii) reduction in duplication of services and 
                programs in the same geographic area;
                    (iii) realignment of services among facilities 
                within each network;
                    (iv) improved means of resource distribution; and
                    (v) more efficient delivery of needed services;
            (B) whether there is a need for expansion and modernization 
        of the nursing home care unit at the medical center at Fort 
        Howard, Maryland; and
            (C) what effect the construction of nursing home beds in 
        Baltimore, Maryland, as proposed in the President's budget for 
        the Department of Veterans Affairs for fiscal year 1994, would 
        have for the missions of each of the other medical centers 
        operated by the Secretary in the Chesapeake network.
    (2) Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans Affairs 
of the Senate and House a report on the study under paragraph (1). The 
Secretary shall include in the report a statement of each determination 
made by the Secretary under that paragraph.

SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) In General.--There is hereby authorized to be appropriated to 
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for fiscal year 1994--
            (1) $143,100,000 for the major medical facility projects 
        authorized in paragraphs (1) through (5) of section 101(a) and 
        such sums as may be necessary for the project described in 
        section 101(a)(6), but not to exceed $14,500,000 in the case of 
        construction of nursing home beds in Baltimore, Maryland, as 
        proposed in the President's budget for the Department of 
        Veterans Affairs for fiscal year 1994; and
            (2) $50,123,105 for the major medical facility leases 
        authorized in section 101(a).
    (b) Limitation.--The projects authorized in section 101 may only be 
carried out using--
            (1) funds appropriated for fiscal year 1994 pursuant to the 
        authorization of appropriations in subsection (a);
            (2) funds appropriated for Construction, Major Projects for 
        a fiscal year before fiscal year 1994 that remain available for 
        obligation; and
            (3) funds appropriated for Construction, Major Projects for 
        fiscal year 1994 for a category of activity not specific to a 
        project.

SEC. 3. INCREASE IN AMOUNT OF FACILITY PROJECT THRESHOLD.

    (a) Section 8104(a)(3)(A) of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended by striking out ``$2,000,000'' and inserting in lieu thereof 
``$3,000,000''.
    (b) Section 8109(i)(2) of such title is amended by striking out 
``$2,000,000'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``$3,000,000''.

SEC. 4. INCREASED TERM OF LEASE AUTHORITY RELATING TO PERSHING HALL, 
              FRANCE.

    Section 403(c)(1) of the Veterans' Benefits Programs Improvement 
Act of 1991 (36 U.S.C. 493) is amended by striking out ``35 years'' and 
inserting in lieu thereof ``99 years''.
            In lieu of the amendment of the Senate to the title of the 
        bill, amend the title so as to read: ``An Act to authorize 
        major medical facility construction projects for the Department 
        of Veterans Affairs for fiscal year 1994, and for other 
        purposes.''

            Attest:






                                                                 Clerk.