[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 174 (Tuesday, December 10, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S8597]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




VETERANS AFFAIRS MAJOR MEDICAL FACILITY LEASE AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2013

  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I want to actually talk a few minutes 
this evening about a very important bill the House just passed by an 
extraordinary vote of 346 to 1. My colleague, Congressman Boustany in 
the House, was the lead sponsor, and I want to really congratulate him 
for his extraordinary work on this particular bill. It is something he 
and I have worked together on across party lines. He is a Republican 
and I am a Democrat, but we worked very closely together to get this 
entire bill passed not only for the benefit of Louisiana--which is 
shaded here on this chart as one of the States that would benefit--but 
we can see here how many other States between 2013 and 2017 will be 
affected positively by the passage of this bill.
  The bill is the Veterans Affairs Major Medical Facility Lease 
Authorization Act. That is a mouthful, but it takes important action. 
It basically uses the guidance of the Office of Management and Budget--
we received a letter from them at my request--and formulates a piece of 
legislation that will allow the Veterans Administration to build 
clinics the way they have been building clinics for our veterans--who 
really need the highest and best quality care--using a lease 
arrangement.
  The reason we had to pass this bill--and I will be working with 
Senator Vitter and many others to ask unanimous consent at the proper 
time for this bill to pass through the Senate--is because about 6 years 
ago there was an administrative ruling that basically stopped the 
ability of the Veterans Affairs Department to be able to build these 
very needed veterans clinics by using a lease.
  Internally, the administration just decided to score it differently. 
That threw lots of sand into the gears, and those gears have been stuck 
for 6 years. In our State, veterans in Lafayette and in Lake Charles 
have been waiting and waiting and waiting. We had some added 
complications, which the Veterans Administration has taken the blame 
for, in that the bid process that was used initially for one of our 
clinics was defective and they had to throw it out.
  But the end of this sad story is that a great bill passed the House 
of Representatives, literally just a few hours ago, and I wanted to 
come to the floor to say how proud I am of Congressman Boustany and his 
dogged pursuit of justice. The district of Congressman Boustany is in 
the part of the State where these two clinics will be built, in 
Lafayette and Lake Charles, so I worked closely with him, as has 
Senator Vitter, to make sure we brought some clarity and focus to this 
issue in order to move forward. As the bill moved through to help us 
with our problem, it turns out it is also going to help many other 
States that are scheduled for veterans clinics.
  I also want to thank Congressman Miller of Florida, who is the chair 
of the VA committee. He worked very closely with Congressman Boustany. 
Also I want to thank Bernie Sanders, our Senator from Vermont who 
chairs our committee here. Senator Sanders--whose desk is right here, 
next to mine--has been very supportive of this effort. While I am not 
going to ask unanimous consent at this moment, he and I have had a 
discussion earlier today about how strongly he supports this effort and 
how much he wants to help us get this done.
  There are 27 clinics in 22 States. This process--or nightmare, I 
should say--began in Louisiana about 6 years ago. Four years ago the 
ruling was made, but our legislation that was passed in the House will 
override that and basically set us on a course that is both fiscally 
responsible and so important to our veterans. We must honor the 
promises we made to them that we would provide clinics close enough so 
they could access them and so they are not driving hundreds of miles 
for regular care. We can be very smart in the way we design these 
leases so it will be a benefit to the taxpayer, a benefit to the 
veterans and it will really meet our obligation to them.
  So again, the bill just passed the House, and tomorrow I will be 
asking unanimous consent, along with Senator Vitter, to move this bill, 
to get it to the President's desk and get it signed so that veterans 
who have been waiting--particularly in our State--for so long will have 
something extra special to celebrate this Christmas holiday.
  I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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