[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 699 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 699

To provide for the construction by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs of 
              a full service hospital in Far South Texas.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 25, 2009

 Mr. Cornyn (for himself and Mrs. Hutchison) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide for the construction by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs of 
              a full service hospital in Far South Texas.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Far South Texas Veterans Medical 
Center Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; DEFINITION.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The current and future health care needs of veterans 
        residing in the Far South Texas area are not being fully met by 
        the Department of Veterans Affairs.
            (2) The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that more 
        than 117,000 veterans reside in Far South Texas.
            (3) In its Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services 
        study, the Department of Veterans Affairs found that fewer than 
        three percent of its enrollees in the Valley-Coastal Bend 
        Market of Veterans Integrated Service Network 17 reside within 
        its acute hospital access standards.
            (4) Travel times for veterans from the market referred to 
        in paragraph (3) can exceed six hours from their residences to 
        the nearest Department of Veterans Affairs hospital for acute 
        inpatient health care.
            (5) Even with the significant travel times, veterans from 
        Far South Texas demonstrate a high demand for health care 
        services from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
            (6) Current deployments involving members of the Texas 
        National Guard and Reservists from Texas will continue to 
        increase demand for medical services provided by the Department 
        of Veterans Affairs.
    (b) Definition.--In this Act, the term ``Far South Texas'' means 
the following counties of the State of Texas: Aransas, Bee, Brooks, 
Calhoun, Cameron, Crockett, DeWitt, Dimmit, Duval, Goliad, Hidalgo, 
Jackson, Jim Hogg, Jim Wells, Kenedy, Kleberg, Nueces, Refugio, San 
Patricio, Starr, Victoria, Webb, Willacy, and Zapata.

SEC. 3. CONSTRUCTION OF MAJOR MEDICAL FACILITY IN FAR SOUTH TEXAS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall carry out 
the construction of a major medical facility project in Far South Texas 
consisting of a full service Department of Veterans Affairs hospital.
    (b) Facility Location.--The facility referred to in subsection (a) 
shall be located in a county in Far South Texas that the Secretary 
determines to be most appropriate to meeting the health care needs of 
veterans in Far South Texas.
    (c) Report.--Not later than 180 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 of Representatives a report 
identifying and outlining the determination of the Secretary under 
subsection (b) and a detailed estimate of the cost of and time 
necessary for completion of the project required by subsection (a).
    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for fiscal year 2009 
for the Construction, Major Projects account such sums as may be 
necessary for the project required by subsection (a).
                                 <all>