[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 70 (Tuesday, June 6, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5492-S5493]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CRAIG:
  S. 3421. A bill to authorize major medical facility projects and 
major medical facility leases for the Department of Veterans Affairs 
for fiscal years 2006 and 2007, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, I seek recognition today to introduce 
legislation to authorize major medical facility projects and major 
medical facility leases for the Department of Veterans Affairs, VA. 
Most VA hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and research facilities have 
ongoing needs for maintenance, repair, and modernization to promote 
patient and employee safety and provide a higher standard of care for 
our Nation's veterans. Earlier this month, I held a hearing of the 
Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs on these needs, at which VA and a 
service organization representative delivered testimony about what is 
required in the next phase of addressing the needs of health care 
facilities for our Nation's veterans. In addition, several committee 
members and noncommittee colleagues remarked about the significance of 
these projects to their States. It is my belief that this bill will 
expand VA's ability to provide health care services to this group of 
deserving Americans. I will take a few moments now to explain the 
provisions of this legislation.
  First, the bill authorizes three major medical facility projects in 
immediate need of fiscal year 2006 authorization; the restoration of 
VA's health care infrastructure in the Biloxi and New Orleans areas 
following Hurricane Katrina, and the cost of land acquisition for 
replacement of the current Denver VA Medical Center with a new facility 
at the former Fitzsimons Army Medical Center. The Denver facility was 
constructed over a half-century ago and many of the core facilities 
have been deemed to be past or near the end of their useful life.
  Second, this legislation reauthorizes 18 major medical facility 
construction projects that were authorized under Public Law 108-170, 
but for which it is unlikely that contract awards will be accomplished 
by September 30, 2006, as required by that law. Therefore, for each of 
these projects, the draft bill extends the date by which contracts must 
be awarded, from September 30, 2006, September 20, 2009. These projects 
were identified and prioritized under the capital asset realignment for 
enhanced services process. CARES, as it has become known, is a market-
based national assessment of infrastructure needs that VA has developed 
into a schedule for completion. These projects represent the most 
pressing CARES-identified needs that VA has undertaken in order to 
improve access-to-care and provide services in areas of recent, 
current, and projected growth in veterans population, such as Las Vegas 
and Orlando. To allow a lapse in VA's authority to move forward on 
these projects would result in tremendous setbacks, and conceivably, 
additional taxpayer expense.

  Third, the legislation authorizes major medical facility leases that 
did not receive. authorization in the current fiscal for outpatient 
clinics in Baltimore, MD, Marion, IL, and the Dallas, TX, area. In 
addition, five major medical facility leases fiscal year 2007 are 
included for outpatient clinics in Austin, TX, Lowell, MA, Grand 
Rapids, MI, Las Vegas, NV, and Parma, OH.
  This legislation represents the administration's request of the 
Veterans' Affairs Committee and the Congress, with a significant 
exception. I have chosen not to authorize the six requested fiscal year 
2007 major medical facility construction projects at this time. I want 
to make it clear to my colleagues that my intent is not to micromanage 
VA's construction budget or to delay the Department's capital plan. And 
no one in the Senate is more committed to seeing that we are not 
diverting important resources away from facilities that are extremely 
important to our veterans. But as chairman of this committee, my 
approach

[[Page S5493]]

puts Congress on record as expecting progress with the 18 CARES 
projects on which we are extending authorizations, attaching a 
reasonable amount of money to those efforts, and then monitoring the 
progress closely from the Veterans' Committee. As we have seen with the 
need for significant and expensive Katrina-related construction, VA's 
capital plan requires consistent monitoring, frequent review and, at 
times, significant modification. But VA must finish some of what it has 
started before taking on new major projects.
  Over the next several weeks, the Committee on Veterans' Affairs will 
be taking up this bill and other legislation introduced to improve the 
range of services and benefits available to our Nation's veterans. I 
look forward to working with my colleagues throughout the rest of this 
Congress on these and other important efforts.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 3421

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

     SECTION 1. AUTHORIZATION OF FISCAL YEAR 2006 MAJOR MEDICAL 
                   FACILITY PROJECTS.

       The Secretary of Veterans Affairs may carry out the 
     following major medical facility projects in fiscal year 
     2006, with each project to be carried out in the amount 
     specified for that project:
       (1) Restoration, new construction or replacement of the 
     medical center facility for the Department of Veterans 
     Affairs Medical Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, due to damage 
     from Hurricane Katrina in an amount not to exceed 
     $675,000,000.
       (2) Restoration of the Department of Veterans Affairs 
     Medical Center, Biloxi, Mississippi, and consolidation of 
     services performed at the Department of Veterans Affairs 
     Medical Center, Gulfport, Mississippi, in an amount not to 
     exceed $310,000,000.
       (3) Replacement of the Department of Veterans Affairs 
     Medical Center, Denver, Colorado, in an amount not to exceed 
     $52,000,000.

     SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF AUTHORIZATION FOR MAJOR MEDICAL FACILITY 
                   CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS AUTHORIZED UNDER CAPITAL 
                   ASSET REALIGNMENT INITIATIVE.

       Notwithstanding subsection (d) of section 221 of the 
     Veterans Health Care, Capital Asset, and Business Improvement 
     Act of 2003 (Public Law 108-170; 117 Stat. 2050), the 
     Secretary of Veterans Affairs may enter into contracts before 
     September 30, 2009, to carry out each major medical facility 
     project, as originally authorized by such section 221, as 
     follows with each project to be carried out in the amount 
     specified for that project:
       (1) Construction of an outpatient clinic and regional 
     office at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 
     Anchorage, Alaska, in an amount not to exceed $75,270,000.
       (2) Consolidation of clinical and administrative functions 
     of the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in 
     Cleveland, Ohio, and the Department of Veterans Affairs 
     Medical Center in Brecksville, Ohio, in an amount not to 
     exceed $102,300,000.
       (3) Construction of the Extended Care Building at the 
     Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Des Moines, 
     Iowa, in an amount not to exceed $25,000,000.
       (4) Renovation of patient wards at the Department of 
     Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, in 
     an amount not to exceed $9,100,000.
       (5) Correction of patient privacy deficiencies at the 
     Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Gainesville, 
     Florida, in an amount not to exceed $85,200,000.
       (6) 7th and 8th Floor Wards Modernization addition at the 
     Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Indianapolis, 
     Indiana, in an amount not to exceed $27,400,000.
       (7) Construction of a new Medical Center Facility at the 
     Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Las Vegas, 
     Nevada, in an amount not to exceed $406,000,000.
       (8) Construction of an Ambulatory Surgery/Outpatient 
     Diagnostic Support Center in the Gulf South Submarket of 
     Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 8 and completion 
     of Phase I land purchase, Lee County, Florida, in an amount 
     not to exceed $65,100,000.
       (9) Seismic Corrections-Buildings 7 & 126 at the Department 
     of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Long Beach, California, 
     in an amount not to exceed $107,845,000.
       (10) Seismic Corrections-Buildings 500 & 501 at the 
     Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Los Angeles, 
     California, in an amount not to exceed $79,900,000.
       (11) Construction of a New Medical Center facility in the 
     Orlando, Florida, area in an amount not to exceed 
     $377,700,000.
       (12) Consolidation of Campuses at the University Drive and 
     H. John Heinz III divisions, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in an 
     amount not to exceed $189,205,000.
       (13) Ward Upgrades and Expansion at the Department of 
     Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas, in an 
     amount not to exceed $19,100,000.
       (14) Seismic Corrections-Building 1, Phase 1 Design at the 
     Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Juan, 
     Puerto Rico, in an amount not to exceed $15,000,000.
       (15) Construction of a Spinal Cord Injury Center at the 
     Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Syracuse, New 
     York, in an amount not to exceed $53,900,000.
       (16) Upgrade Essential Electrical Distribution Systems at 
     the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Tampa, 
     Florida, in an amount not to exceed $49,000,000.
       (17) Expansion of the Spinal Cord Injury Center addition at 
     the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Tampa, 
     Florida, in an amount not to exceed $7,100,000.
       (18) Blind Rehabilitation and Psychiatric Bed renovation 
     and new construction project at the Department of Veterans 
     Affairs Medical Center, Temple, Texas, in an amount not to 
     exceed $56,000,000.

     SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF FISCAL YEAR 2006 MAJOR MEDICAL 
                   FACILITY LEASES.

       The Secretary of Veterans Affairs may carry out the 
     following major medical facility leases in fiscal year 2006 
     at the locations specified, and in an amount for each lease 
     not to exceed the amount shown for such location:
       (1) For an outpatient clinic, Baltimore, Maryland, 
     $10,908,000.
       (2) For an outpatient clinic, Evansville, Illinois, 
     $8,989,000.
       (3) For an outpatient clinic, Smith County, Texas, 
     $5,093,000.

     SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF FISCAL YEAR 2007 MAJOR MEDICAL 
                   FACILITY LEASES.

       The Secretary of Veterans Affairs may carry out the 
     following major medical facility leases in fiscal year 2007 
     at the locations specified, and in an amount for each lease 
     not to exceed the amount shown for such location:
       (1) For an outpatient and specialty care clinic, Austin, 
     Texas, $6,163,000.
       (2) For an outpatient clinic, Lowell, Massachusetts, 
     $2,520,000.
       (3) For an outpatient clinic, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 
     $4,409,000.
       (4) For up to four outpatient clinics, Las Vegas, Nevada, 
     $8,518,000.
       (5) For an outpatient clinic, Parma, Ohio, $5,032,000.

     SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       (a) Authorization of Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2006 
     Major Medical Facility Projects.--There is authorized to be 
     appropriated to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for fiscal 
     year 2006 for the Construction, Major Projects, account, 
     $1,606,000,000 for the projects authorized in section 1.
       (b) Authorization of Appropriations for Major Medical 
     Facility Projects Under Capital Asset Realignment 
     Initiative.--
       (1) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized 
     to be appropriated for the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for 
     fiscal year 2007 for the Construction, Major Projects, 
     account, $1,750,120,000 for the projects whose authorization 
     is extended by section 2.
       (2) Availability.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to the 
     authorization of appropriations in paragraph (1) shall remain 
     available until September 30, 2009.
       (c) Authorization of Appropriations for Major Medical 
     Facility Leases.--
       (1) Fiscal year 2006 leases.--There is authorized to be 
     appropriated for the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for fiscal 
     year 2006 for the Medical Care account, $24,990,000 for the 
     leases authorized in section 4.
       (2) Fiscal year 2007 leases.--There is authorized to be 
     appropriated for the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for fiscal 
     year 2007 for the Medical Care account, $26,642,000 for the 
     leases authorized in section 5.
       (d) Limitation.--The projects authorized in sections 1 and 
     2 may only be carried out using--
       (1) funds appropriated for fiscal year 2006 or 2007 
     pursuant to the authorization of appropriations in 
     subsections (a), (b), and (c) of this section;
       (2) funds available for Construction, Major Projects, for a 
     fiscal year before fiscal year 2006 that remain available for 
     obligation;
       (3) funds available for Construction, Major Projects, for a 
     fiscal year after fiscal year 2006 or 2007 that are available 
     for obligation; and
       (4) funds appropriated for Construction, Major Projects, 
     for fiscal year 2006 or 2007 for a category of activity not 
     specific to a project.
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