[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1723 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1723

To appropriate amounts to the Department of Veterans Affairs to improve 
    health care furnished by the Department, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 2, 2017

  Mr. Sanders introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
             referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To appropriate amounts to the Department of Veterans Affairs to improve 
    health care furnished by the Department, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Strengthening Veterans Health Care 
Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 
        2014 (Public Law 113-146) established the Veterans Choice 
        Program under section 101 of such Act (Public Law 113-146; 38 
        U.S.C. 1701 note) as a temporary program to address a wait time 
        backlog for the receipt of health care from the Department of 
        Veterans Affairs and a shortage of health care professionals at 
        medical facilities of the Department;
            (2) as of the date of the enactment of this Act, there are 
        approximately 45,000 vacancies at the Veterans Health 
        Administration; and
            (3) of those vacancies, approximately 36,000 are vacancies 
        for positions relating to front line care for veterans.

SEC. 3. APPROPRIATION OF AMOUNTS FOR HEALTH CARE FROM DEPARTMENT OF 
              VETERANS AFFAIRS.

    (a) In General.--There is authorized to be appropriated, and is 
appropriated, to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, out of any funds in 
the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $5,000,000,000 to carry out 
subsection (c).
    (b) Availability of Amounts.--The amount appropriated under 
subsection (a) shall be available for obligation or expenditure without 
fiscal year limitation.
    (c) Use of Amounts.--The amount appropriated under subsection (a) 
shall be used by the Secretary as follows:
            (1) To increase the access of veterans to care as follows:
                    (A) To hire primary care and specialty care 
                physicians for employment in the Department of Veterans 
                Affairs.
                    (B) To hire other medical staff, including the 
                following:
                            (i) Physicians.
                            (ii) Nurses.
                            (iii) Social workers.
                            (iv) Mental health professionals.
                            (v) Dental professionals.
                            (vi) Other health care professionals as the 
                        Secretary considers appropriate.
                    (C) To carry out the following:
                            (i) Section 7412 of title 38, United States 
                        Code.
                            (ii) Section 7302(e) of such title.
                            (iii) Section 301(b)(2) of the Veterans 
                        Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 
                        (Public Law 113-146; 38 U.S.C. 7302 note).
                    (D) To pay for expenses, equipment, and other costs 
                associated with the hiring of primary care physicians, 
                specialty care physicians, and other medical staff 
                under subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C).
            (2) To improve the physical infrastructure of the 
        Department as follows:
                    (A) To maintain and operate hospitals, nursing 
                homes, domiciliary facilities, and other facilities of 
                the Veterans Health Administration.
                    (B) To enter into contracts or hire temporary 
                employees to repair, alter, or improve facilities under 
                the jurisdiction of the Department that are not 
                otherwise provided for under this paragraph.
                    (C) To carry out leases for facilities of the 
                Department.
                    (D) To carry out minor construction projects of the 
                Department.
    (d) Report.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than one year after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
        shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report 
        on how the Secretary has obligated the amount appropriated 
        under subsection (a) as of the date of the submittal of the 
        report.
            (2) Appropriate committees of congress defined.--In this 
        subsection, the term `` appropriate committees of Congress'' 
        means--
                    (A) the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the 
                Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and
                    (B) the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the 
                Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
                Representatives.
    (e) Funding Plan.--The Secretary shall submit to Congress a funding 
plan describing how the Secretary intends to use the amount 
appropriated under subsection (a).

SEC. 4. EMERGENCY DESIGNATIONS.

    (a) In General.--This Act is designated as an emergency requirement 
pursuant to section 4(g) of the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (2 
U.S.C. 933(g)).
    (b) Designation in Senate.--In the Senate, this Act is designated 
as an emergency requirement pursuant to section 403(a) of S. Con. Res. 
13 (111th Congress), the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal 
year 2010.
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