[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 157 (Sunday, November 9, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12407-S12408]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     VETERANS' BENEFITS ACT OF 1997

 Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, as the Ranking Minority Member 
of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, I am enormously pleased that the 
Senate is considering S. 714, as amended, a bill that would make 
valuable changes to a number of veterans benefits and services. In the 
waning days of this session, the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs 
Committees were able to reach compromise on a wide range of programs 
and services for veterans--from programs to assist homeless veterans, 
to providing home loans to Native American veterans, and I urge my 
colleagues to give their unanimous support to this measure. It is 
particularly fitting that we make these improvements for veterans 
programs now, as Veterans Day is just a few days away.
  Mr. President, because all the provisions of this measure--which I 
will refer to as the ``compromise agreement''--are set forth in the 
joint explanatory statement which Senator Specter will place in the 
Record, I will discuss here only some of the issues which are of 
particular interest to me. The explanatory statement was developed in 
cooperation with the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs and that 
Committee's Chairman, Bob Stump, will insert the same explanatory 
statement in the Record when the House considers this measure.


 extending and improving the native american housing loan pilot program

  Mr. President, section 201 of the compromise agreement will extend 
for four years the authority for the Native American Housing Loan Pilot 
Program, under section 3761, title 38, United States Code. This pilot 
program was created in 1993 to provide loans to eligible Native 
American veterans to purchase, build, or improve dwellings on Native 
American trust lands. This program is so important because commercial 
lenders will not finance the purchase of homes on Native American 
lands, as lenders cannot foreclose in the event of default. Therefore, 
the traditional VA loan guaranty program is not, in effect, available 
to Native American veterans residing on tribal lands.
  This program has been very successful in financing purchases of homes 
by Pacific Islanders. However, it has been somewhat underutilized by 
other Native American populations. Therefore, this bill would also 
provide for enhanced outreach by VA to inform Native American veterans 
of the availability of this program. It further tasks VA with analyzing 
what is working and what could be improved in its administration of the 
program.
  I would like to commend Senators Akaka and Campbell for their 
tireless advocacy on behalf of Native American veterans.


                      reinventing va's eeo system

  Title I of the compromise agreement will establish a new employment 
discrimination complaint system of the VA. This provision ensures that 
the employees who perform equal employment and opportunity (EEO) 
counseling and investigations are professional and independent by 
creating a new office to adjudicate complaints, separate from line 
management.
  The Committee has had grave concerns about how VA has handled several 
high profile EEO complaints filed against senior staff members. 
Therefore, this bill also provides for VA to submit a separate report 
regarding complaints filed against senior level employees, based on 
their personal conduct. I believe it is critical that VA's actions be 
subject to Congressional scrutiny, in order to assure accountability.
  I want to thank Senator Graham for his leadership on this important 
issue.


                   spina bifida eligibility clarified

  Mr. President, section 404 of the compromise agreement will clarify 
the eligibility--for compensation, health care, and educational 
assistance--of the children with spina bifida born to Vietnam veterans 
exposed to Agent Orange. Currently, the eligibility of the child is 
determined by looking to the veteran father. However, under title 38 of 
the United States Code, a former service member who received a 
dishonorable discharge is generally not considered a veteran, and is 
therefore not eligible for veterans benefits from the VA.
  It was Congress' intention to provide benefits to all Vietnam 
veterans' children with spina bifida. Congress did not mean to exclude 
the children of veterans with dishonorable discharges.
  This provision will clarify the eligibility criteria to include the 
child with spina bifida of a Vietnam veteran regardless of the 
character of his discharge. This is a minor modification in the law, 
but to the children who suffer from spina bifida, these benefits can 
make a significant difference in their lives. These benefits can 
improve their quality of health care, provide educational 
opportunities, and enhance their quality of life. It would be great 
injustice if these children were denied these benefits because of their 
father's discharge status.


                           mammography policy

  Section 208 of the compromise agreement seeks to address a 
discrepancy between VA's stated principles and their clinical practice 
with respect to breast cancer programs. Though a guiding principle of 
the Veterans Health Administration states that ``the quality of care in 
VHA must be demonstratively equal to, or better than, what is available 
in the local community,'' in my view, VHA's breast cancer detection 
policy fails to achieve community standards because it only targets 
women between the ages of 50 to 69.

  Mr. President, it is very important that veterans have access to 
preventive diagnostic tests to protect their health. Because breast 
cancer is the leading cause of cancer in women, I look forward to 
receiving VA's national policy on breast cancer detection.
  I thank Senator Specter for his leadership on this issue.


                HEALTH PROFESSIONAL SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

  Mr. President, I am pleased that the authority for the Health 
Professional Scholarship Program has been extended for one year. 
Aspiring health professionals have a strong interest in the scholarship 
program, and it has proven to be an effective recruitment tool for the 
VA in the past. Staffing analyses done within the VA have identified a 
need to increase the levels of nurse practitioners and physician 
assistants to adjust to the shift from inpatient to outpatient care, 
and this program is well suited to assist individuals in these career 
paths. We will continue to evaluate this program and look for other 
opportunities that will increase both recruitment and retention of 
health professionals in the VA.


       MAJOR MEDICAL FACILITY PROJECTS CONSTRUCTION AUTHORIZATION

  Of the projects authorized under Title III of this bill, I am 
especially pleased that we have included the authorizations for 
projects in Northern California. I have been concerned that veterans in 
Northern California have not been receiving convenient VA health care 
services ever since the Martinez VA Medical Center was closed in 1991.
  The conference agreement authorizes VA to move ahead with plans to 
create an accessible network of VA health care by specifically 
authorizing funds for upgrades and enhancements to McClellan Hospital 
at Mather Field in

[[Page S12408]]

Sacramento and improvements to the outpatient clinics at Mare Island in 
Vallejo and at Martinez. Once the McClellan Hospital is completed, VA 
expects capacity for 55 inpatient beds and 110,000 outpatient visits 
per year, and the projected workload for the outpatient clinics will 
exceed 140,000 outpatient visits per year.


                               CONCLUSION

  Mr. President, in closing, I acknowledge the work of my colleagues in 
the House--Chairman Bob Stump and ranking Minority Member Lane Evans--
and our Committee's Chairman, Senator Specter, in developing this 
comprehensive legislation.
  Mr President, I thank the staff who have worked extremely long and 
hard on this compromise--Mike Durishin, Jill Cochran, Mary Ellen 
McCarthy, Adam Sachs, Susan Edgerton, Carl Commenator, Pat Ryan, Mike 
Brinck, Ralph Ibson, Kingston Smith, Sloan Rappoport, and others on the 
House Committee, and Jim Gottlieb, Kim Lipsky, Mary Schoelen, Charlie 
Battaglia, Bill Tuerk, and John Bradley, with the Senate Committee. I 
also thank Bob Cover And Charlie Armstrong of the House and Senate 
Offices of Legislative Counsel for their excellent assistance and 
support in drafting this compromise agreement.

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