[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 98 (Wednesday, June 12, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S3391]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 289. Mr. SULLIVAN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed
by him to the bill S. 1790, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2020 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the appropriate place in title VII, insert the
following:
SEC. ___. AUTHORITY TO PLAN, DESIGN, AND CONSTRUCT, OR LEASE,
SHARED MEDICAL FACILITIES.
(a) In General.--Chapter 55 of title 10, United States
Code, is amended by inserting after section 1104 the
following new section:
``Sec. 1104a. Shared medical facilities with the Department
of Veterans Affairs
``(a) Agreements.--The Secretary of Defense and the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs may enter into agreements with
each other for the planning, design, and construction, or
leasing, of facilities to be operated as shared medical
facilities.
``(b) Transfer of Amounts by Secretary of Defense.--(1) The
Secretary of Defense may transfer to the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs amounts as follows:
``(A) Amounts, not in excess of the amount authorized by
law for an unspecified minor military construction project,
for the construction of a shared medical facility if--
``(i) the amount of the share of the Department of Defense
for the estimated cost of the project does not exceed the
amount specified in subsection (a)(2) of section 2805 of this
title; and
``(ii) the other requirements of such section have been met
with respect to amounts identified for transfer.
``(B) Amounts appropriated for the Defense Health Program
for the purpose of the planning, design, and construction, or
the leasing of space, for a shared medical facility.
``(2) The authority to transfer amounts under this section
is in addition to any other authority to transfer amounts
available to the Secretary of Defense.
``(3) Section 2215 of this title does not apply to a
transfer of funds under this subsection.
``(c) Transfer of Amounts by Secretary of Veterans
Affairs.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs may transfer to
the Secretary of Defense amounts as follows:
``(1) Amounts appropriated to the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs for `Construction, minor projects' for use for the
planning, design, or construction of a shared medical
facility if the amount of the share of the Department of
Veterans Affairs for the estimated cost of the project does
not exceed the amount specified in section 8104(a)(3)(A) of
title 38.
``(2) Amounts appropriated to the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs for `Construction, major projects' for use for the
planning, design, or construction of a shared medical
facility if--
``(A) the amount of the share of the Department of Veterans
Affairs for the estimated cost of the project exceeds the
amount specified in subsection (a)(3) of section 8104 of
title 38; and
``(B) the other requirements of such section have been met
with respect to amounts identified for transfer.
``(3) Amounts appropriated to the applicable appropriation
account of the Department of Veterans Affairs for the purpose
of leasing space for a shared medical facility if the amount
of the share of the Department of Veterans Affairs for the
estimated cost of the project does not exceed the amount
specified in section 8104(a)(3)(B) of title 38.
``(d) Receipt of Amounts by Secretary of Defense.--(1) Any
amount transferred to the Secretary of Defense by the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs for necessary expenses for the
planning, design, and construction of a shared medical
facility, if the amount of the share of the Department of
Defense for the cost of such project does not exceed the
amount specified in section 2805(a)(2) of this title, may be
credited to accounts of the Department of Defense available
for the construction of a shared medical facility.
``(2) Any amount transferred to the Secretary of Defense by
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for the purpose of the
planning and design, or the leasing of space, for a shared
medical facility may be credited to accounts of the
Department of Defense available for such purposes, and may be
used for such purposes.
``(3) Using accounts credited with transfers from the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs under paragraph (1), the
Secretary of Defense may carry out unspecified minor military
construction projects, if the share of the Department of
Defense for the cost of such project does not exceed the
amount specified in section 2805(a)(2) of this title.
``(e) Receipt of Amounts by Secretary of Veterans
Affairs.--(1) Any amount transferred to the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs by the Secretary of Defense for necessary
expenses for the planning, design, and construction of a
shared medical facility, if the amount of the share of the
Department of Veterans Affairs for the cost of such project
does not exceed the amount specified in section 8104(a)(3)(A)
of title 38, may be credited to the `Construction, minor
projects' account of the Department of Veterans Affairs and
used for the necessary expenses of constructing such shared
medical facility.
``(2) Any amount transferred to the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs by the Secretary of Defense for necessary expenses
for the planning, design, and construction of a shared
medical facility, if the amount of the share of the
Department of Veterans Affairs for the cost of such project
exceeds the amount specified in subsection (a)(3)(A) of
section 8104 of title 38, may be credited to the
`Construction, major projects' account of the Department of
Veterans Affairs and used for the necessary expenses of
constructing such shared medical facility if the other
requirements of such section have been met with respect to
amounts identified for transfer.
``(3) Any amount transferred to the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs by the Secretary of Defense for the purpose of
leasing space for a shared medical facility may be credited
to accounts of the Department of Veterans Affairs available
for such purposes, and may be used for such purposes.
``(f) Merger of Amounts Transferred.--Any amount
transferred under this section shall be merged with, and be
available for the same purposes and the same time period as,
the appropriation or fund to which transferred.
``(g) Shared Medical Facility Defined.--(1) In this
section, the term `shared medical facility' means a building
or buildings, or a campus, intended to be used by both the
Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs
for the provision of health care services, whether under the
jurisdiction of the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs, and whether or not located on a military
installation or on real property under the jurisdiction of
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
``(2) Such term includes any necessary building and
auxiliary structure, garage, parking facility, mechanical
equipment, abutting sidewalks, and accommodations for
attending personnel.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the
beginning of chapter 55 of such title is amended by inserting
after the item relating to section 1104 the following new
item:
``1104a. Shared medical facilities with the Department of Veterans
Affairs.''.
(c) Technical Correction.--Paragraph (3) of section 8104(a)
of title 38, United States Code, is amended to read as
follows:
``(3) For purposes of this subsection:
``(A) The term `major medical facility project' means a
project for the construction, alteration, or acquisition of a
medical facility involving a total expenditure of more than
$20,000,000, but such term does not include an acquisition by
exchange, nonrecurring maintenance projects of the
Department, or the construction, alteration, or acquisition
of a shared Federal medical facility for which the
Department's estimated share of the project costs does not
exceed $20,000,000.
``(B) The term `major medical facility lease' means a lease
for space for use as a new medical facility at an average
annual rent of more than the dollar threshold for leases
procured through the General Services Administration under
section 3307(a)(2) of title 40, which shall be subject to
annual adjustment in accordance with section 3307(h) of such
title, but such term does not include a lease for space for
use as a shared Federal medical facility for which the
Department's estimated share of the lease costs does not
exceed that dollar threshold.''.
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