[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 137 (Monday, October 6, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H8368-H8369]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page H8368]]
  DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS--MAJOR MEDICAL CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

  Mr. STUMP. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 2571) to authorize major medical facility projects and major 
medical facility leases for the Department of Veterans Affairs for 
fiscal year 1998, and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 2571

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

     SECTION 1. AUTHORIZATION OF MAJOR MEDICAL FACILITY PROJECTS.

       The Secretary of Veterans Affairs may carry out the 
     following major medical facility projects, with each project 
     to be carried out in the amount specified for that project:
       (1) Seismic corrections at the Department of Veterans 
     Affairs medical center in Memphis, Tennessee, in an amount 
     not to exceed $34,600,000.
       (2) Seismic corrections and clinical and other improvements 
     to the McClellan Hospital at Mather Field, Sacramento, 
     California, in an amount not to exceed $48,000,000, to be 
     derived only from funds appropriated for Construction, Major 
     Projects, for a fiscal year before fiscal year 1998 that 
     remain available for obligation.
       (3) Outpatient improvements at Mare Island, Vallejo, 
     California, and Martinez, California, in a total amount not 
     to exceed $7,000,000, to be derived only from funds 
     appropriated for Construction, Major Projects, for a fiscal 
     year before fiscal year 1998 that remain available for 
     obligation.

     SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF MAJOR MEDICAL FACILITY LEASES.

       The Secretary of Veterans Affairs may enter into leases for 
     medical facilities as follows:
       (1) Lease of an information management field office, 
     Birmingham, Alabama, in an amount not to exceed $595,000.
       (2) Lease of a satellite outpatient clinic, Jacksonville, 
     Florida, in an amount not to exceed $3,095,000.
       (3) Lease of a satellite outpatient clinic, Boston, 
     Massachusetts, in an amount not to exceed $5,215,000.
       (4) Lease of a satellite outpatient clinic, Canton, Ohio, 
     in an amount not to exceed $2,115,000.
       (5) Lease of a satellite outpatient clinic, Portland, 
     Oregon, in an amount not to exceed $1,919,000
       (6) Lease of a satellite outpatient clinic, Tulsa, 
     Oklahoma, in an amount not to exceed $2,112,000.
       (7) Lease of an information resources management field 
     office, Salt Lake City, in an amount not to exceed $652,000.

     SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       (2) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated to 
     the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for fiscal year 1998--
       (1) for the Construction, Major Projects, account 
     $34,600,000 for the project authorized in section 1(1); and
       (2) for the Medical Care account, $15,703,000 for the 
     leases authorized in section 2.
       (b) Limitation.--The projects authorized in section 1 may 
     only be carried out using--
       (1) funds appropriated for fiscal year 1998 pursuant to the 
     authorization of appropriations in subsection (a);
       (2) funds appropriated for Construction, Major Projects for 
     a fiscal year before fiscal year 1998 that remain available 
     for obligation; and
       (3) funds appropriated for Construction, Major Projects for 
     fiscal year 1998 for a category of activity not specific to a 
     project.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Arizona [Mr. Stump] and the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Evans] each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arizona [Mr. Stump].
  (Mr. STUMP asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)


                             General Leave

  Mr. STUMP. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their 
remarks on H.R. 2571.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Arizona?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. STUMP. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, H.R. 2571 authorizes appropriations for VA major 
medical construction and major medical leases. The measure includes all 
the projects requested by the Department of Veterans Affairs for fiscal 
year 1998.
  Since the earthquake in California in 1991 that closed the hospital 
at Martinez, there has been uncertainty in the Congress about what the 
VA should do to serve veterans of northern California. This bill writes 
the conclusion of that debate by approving an approach which will 
recycle a closed air force hospital near Sacramento and a naval clinic 
near Vallejo for veterans' use, lead to expansion of veterans' use of 
community health care facilities throughout northern California, and 
improve existing VA outpatient clinics to better serve veterans who use 
them.
  This approach will save the U.S. Government almost $140 million in 
construction costs and will make VA health care more convenient for 
tens of thousands of veterans. This is a real victory for common sense.
  Madam Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Florida [Mr. Stearns], the chairman of the Subcommittee 
on Health, for any further explanation he may make.
  Mr. STEARNS. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2571, 
the fiscal year 1998 VA major construction authorization bill, and urge 
my colleagues to join me in passing this legislation.
  This bill authorizes several major medical construction projects as 
well as leases. First, this bill authorizes $34.6 million to complete 
seismic corrections begun earlier at the Memphis VA Medical Center. It 
is important that we authorize this project because the Memphis 
facility does not conform to current seismic standards and lies on a 
fault line which has a high probability for earthquake activity.
  It is important to note that this is the only project in the bill for 
which new funding for major construction is recommended. The bill also 
authorizes the expenditure of previously appropriated construction 
funds for several interrelated projects in northern California. The 
bill would authorize VA to undertake seismic corrections and clinical 
and other improvements at the McClellan Hospital at Mather Field in 
Sacramento, CA, and to make outpatient improvements at two other sites 
in northern California.
  The bill would authorize the VA to undertake these projects in lieu 
of previous plans to construct a 234-bed hospital at Travis Air Force 
Base. The proposed Travis project was intended as a replacement for the 
VA medical center in Martinez which was closed in 1991 because of 
earthquake damage.
  Studies done by the General Accounting Office and Price Waterhouse 
recommended against proceeding with the replacement project. The 
committee concurs with the view that the veterans of northern 
California will be better served by a plan that does not rely on a 
single hospital site as a source of hospital care for this large 
region.
  The McClellan Hospital, however, has the capacity to serve the 
Sacramento area effectively, and VA anticipates that the McClellan 
facility will be transferred at no cost from the Air Force under the 
BRAC process.
  Madam Speaker, H.R. 2571 also authorizes some $15 million for the VA 
to enter into lease agreements for needed satellite outpatient clinics 
in Jacksonville, FL; Boston, MA; Canton, OH; Portland, OR; and Tulsa, 
OK; and information resources management field offices in Birmingham, 
AL, and Salt Lake City, UT.
  H.R. 2571 is a sound, fiscally responsible bill. It defers further 
major construction spending authorizations until VA makes more progress 
on strategic planning requirements that have been initiated by our 
committee. VA itself has urged that the Congress authorize these 
projects, and I urge Members to support this measure.
  Mr. EVANS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, I rise to support H.R. 2571. This bill accommodates 
the administration's construction spending priorities as well as those 
projects for which our committee anticipates appropriations will be 
made.
  The major construction projects require modest funding but are 
critical to provide access to veterans in areas where their needs 
cannot be met or in maintaining patient safety in existing facilities 
which are deficient in conforming to the earthquake code.
  I am also pleased with the emphasis this bill places on outpatient 
projects and development of information resources management centers.
  Leasing, rather than building, to meet VA's needs is also a move in 
the right direction. VA has sometimes been criticized for using bricks 
and mortar to meet its space requirements while facilities in the 
community stand vacant.
  The leases this bill authorizes are more flexible than in the past, 
and the

[[Page H8369]]

VA can provide the capacity it needs not only for today but it may need 
maybe tomorrow. The authorizations for construction and for leases also 
allow the VHA to continue on its course of shifting the care to 
ambulatory settings and providing increased access to the health care 
needs of our veterans in 1998.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. STUMP. Madam Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may 
consume.
  Madam Speaker, I would like to commend the gentleman from Illinois 
[Mr. Evans] on his commitment on this bill and also to the gentleman 
from Florida [Mr. Stearns] and the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. 
Gutierrez], again, the chairman and the ranking member of the 
subcommittee, for all their work on behalf of the veterans.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. EVANS. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Arizona [Mr. Stump] that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 2571.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof), the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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