[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 43 (Wednesday, April 17, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2839-S2840]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. ROCKEFELLER (by request):
  S. 2186. A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a 
new Assistant Secretary to perform operations, preparedness, security 
and law enforcement functions, and for other purposes; to the Committee 
on Veterans' Affairs.
 Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, today I introduce legislation 
requested by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, as a courtesy to the 
Secretary and the Department of Veterans Affairs, VA. Except in unusual 
circumstances, it is my practice to introduce legislation requested by 
the Administration so that such measures will be available for review 
and consideration.
  This ``by-request'' bill would allow VA to create an office, directed 
by an Assistant Secretary, to address operations, preparedness, 
security, and law enforcement functions. With the increased focus on 
homeland security has come increased emphasis on the role that VA is 
expected to play in providing medical care to veterans, active duty 
military personnel, and civilians during disasters. In order to improve 
emergency preparedness without sacrificing its primary mission, caring 
for the Nation's veterans, the Secretary has proposed creating an 
Office of Operations, Security, and Preparedness to help coordinate 
preparedness strategies, both within VA and with other Federal, State, 
and local agencies.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill and Secretary 
Principi's transmittal letter that accompanied the draft legislation be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                S. 2186

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

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Department of 
     Veterans Affairs Reorganization Act of 2002''.

     SEC. 2. REFERENCES TO TITLE 38, UNITED STATES CODE.

       Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in this 
     Act an amendment is expressed in terms of an amendment to a 
     section or other provision, the reference shall be considered 
     to be made to a section or other provision of title 38, 
     United States Code.

     SEC. 3. INCREASE THE NUMBER OF AUTHORIZED ASSISTANT 
                   SECRETARIES; REVISION OF FUNCTIONS.

       Section 308 is amended:
       (a) in subsection (a) by substituting ``seven'' for ``six'' 
     in the first sentence.
       (b) by adding to the end of subsection (b) the following 
     new paragraph (11):
       ``(11) Operations, preparedness, security and law 
     enforcement functions.''

     SEC. 4. CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE.

       Section 5315 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 
     changing ``Assistant Secretaries, Department of Veterans 
     Affairs (6)'' to ``Assistant Secretaries, Department of 
     Veterans Affairs (7)''.
                                  ____



                            The Secretary of Veterans Affairs,

                                       Washington, April 12, 2002.
     Hon. Richard B. Cheney,
     President of the Senate,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. President: There is transmitted herein a draft 
     bill ``To amend title 38, United States Code, to increase the 
     number of certain Officers to perform operations, 
     preparedness, security and law enforcement functions, and for 
     other purposes.'' We request that it be referred to the 
     appropriate committee for prompt consideration and enactment.
       America has entered into an extended war against terrorism 
     in which the front lines include the home front as well as 
     the foreign battlefield. The tragic events of September 11, 
     2001, served as a reminder that terrorists are willing and 
     able to attack our civilian population, our centers for 
     military command and control, and our economic system. The 
     anthrax attacks that surfaced during October underscored our 
     nation's vulnerability to asymmetric attacks.
       National Defense and Homeland Security Offices project that 
     terrorist attacks on the United States will continue. 
     Terrorists may use any lethal means against domestic targets, 
     including chemical, biological, radiological, or kinetic 
     devices. Moreover, we can assume that terrorists and other 
     entities supporting terrorists may use chemical or

[[Page S2840]]

     biological weapons against U.S. military members engaged in 
     combat operations. VA must anticipate military casualties in 
     numbers or of a type that could tax the Department of Defense 
     (DOD) medical system. Additionally, the United States can 
     expect terrorists to attempt to degrade our national 
     infrastructure by any means available to them, including 
     sabotage and cyber warfare.
       Congress has assigned to the Department of Veterans Affairs 
     statutory functions for response to terrorist attacks and 
     other emergencies and disasters, that are especially 
     challenging, particularly when compared with those of some 
     other executive branch agencies. The statutory functions 
     include the duty to provide medical services to military 
     personnel referred in time of war by the Department of 
     Defense; responsibilities in four emergency support 
     functions, as tasked under the Federal Response Plan by the 
     Federal Emergency Management Agency under the Stafford Act; 
     and the role of providing care to members of the community 
     during emergencies on a humanitarian basis.
       We can properly perform these responsibilities, however, 
     only in a way that ensures the effective continuity of VA's 
     primary mission of serving veterans.
       The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA or the Department) 
     has emerged from the events of the past few months with a 
     heightened commitment to our statutory roles as a key support 
     agency for disaster response and mitigation, including 
     response to the use of nuclear, chemical, or biological 
     weapons of mass destruction (WMD), as well as its traditional 
     Federal Response Plan roles. Since September 11, VA has 
     joined with other Federal agencies in greatly expanded inter-
     agency work. The necessary time commitment will expand 
     further as the Homeland Security Council (HSC), Federal 
     Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Health and 
     Human Services (HHS), and Department of Defense (DoD) 
     programs become fully operational and expand, and VA is asked 
     to provide additional support.
       In response, VA is reorganizing certain of its elements in 
     order to best meet its responsibility to protect veterans, 
     employees, and visitors to its facilities, to assure the 
     continuity of veterans' services, while at the same time 
     providing enhanced emergency preparedness and planning. These 
     responsibilities, which in recent months have become even 
     more imperative, belong to VA as a whole. They thus transcend 
     the Administrations and the staff offices. To help ensure the 
     Department as a whole meets these broad responsibilities, VA 
     needs a separate, and a separately accountable, coordinating 
     and policymaking entity. This reorganization creates a new 
     Office of Operations, Security & Preparedness (OSP) to carry 
     out Operations, Preparedness, Security and Law Enforcement 
     functions. VA's experiences during the last several months of 
     increased emergency management activities demonstrate that 
     OSP requirements are full-time activities for an Assistant 
     Secretary. In order to provide appropriate leadership and 
     accountability, the reorganization places OSP under a new 
     Assistant Secretary. Executive Branch requirements, as well 
     as the strategic and day-to-day requirements of OSP are 
     significant and require a full-time Assistant Secretary to 
     provide the necessary level of executive representation and 
     leadership and to meet time demands.
       To support the establishment of this new organization, this 
     draft bill would amend section 308 of title 38, United States 
     Code, to increase the number of Assistant Secretaries from 
     six to seven and would add Operations, Preparedness, Security 
     and Law Enforcement functions to the functions and duties to 
     be assigned to the Assistant Secretaries.
       The proposed OSP will enable the Department and its three 
     administrations--Veterans Health Administration (VHA), 
     Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), and National Cemetery 
     Administration (NCA)--to operate more cohesively in this 
     new, uncertain environment, and will help assure 
     continuity of operations in the event of an emergency 
     situation. OSP will:
       (a) Ensure that operational readiness and emergency 
     preparedness activities enhance VA's ability to continue its 
     ongoing services (Continuity of Operations);
       (b) Coordinate and execute emergency preparedness and 
     crisis response activities both VA-wide and with other 
     Federal, State, local and relief agencies;
       (c) Develop and maintain an effective working relationship 
     with the newly established US Office of Homeland Security and 
     reinforce existing relationships with the Department of 
     Defense (DOD), Federal Emergency Management Agency, 
     Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease 
     Control and Prevention, Department of Justice, and other 
     agencies actively involved in continuity of government, 
     counter-terrorism and homeland defense;
       (d) Ensure enforcement of the law and oversee the 
     protection of employees and veterans using VA facilities 
     while ensuring the physical security of VA's infrastructure;
       (e) Evaluate preparedness programs and develop Department-
     wide training programs that enhance VA's readiness and 
     exercises.
       The creation of this new organization will shift 
     responsibility for emergency preparedness, continuity of 
     operations, continuity of government, law enforcement, 
     physical security, and personnel security programs from the 
     Office of the Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and 
     Administration (HR&A) to OSP. The Office of Security & Law 
     Enforcement (S&LE) will be transferred from HR&A to OSP. In 
     addition, all or part of the following functions and offices 
     will transfer from VHA's Emergency Management Strategic 
     Healthcare Group (EMSHG) to OSP: DOD contingency support, 
     National Disaster Medical System, and Federal Response Plan.
       The reorganization establishing OSP would create a 
     standing, around-the-clock readiness operations capability to 
     monitor potential and ongoing situations of concern to the 
     Department and its administrators. It would create a more 
     resourced and focused approach to coordinating and executing 
     the Department's missions to respond as a key support agency 
     in national emergencies and to provide contingency support to 
     DOD in time of war.
       This proposed organization would have the capability to 
     meet both ongoing and projected operations center 
     requirements, while providing sufficient personnel to address 
     Departmental planning and policy development needs, and to 
     conduct ongoing training and evaluation at the Departmental 
     level. In addition, OSP would help the Department address 
     growing inter-agency cooperation responsibilities, much of 
     which is required to support the Homeland Security Council.
       The Office of Management and Budget has advised that there 
     is no objection from the standpoint of the Administration's 
     program to the submission of this proposed legislation to the 
     Congress.
           Sincerely yours,
                                      Anthony J. Principi.
                                 ______