[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 85 (Monday, May 17, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H2365-H2366]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           WEST LOS ANGELES VA CAMPUS IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2021

  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 711) to amend the West Los Angeles Leasing Act of 2016 to 
authorize the use of certain funds received pursuant to leases entered 
into under such Act, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                H.R. 711

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

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``West Los Angeles VA Campus 
     Improvement Act of 2021''.

     SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF LAND USE REVENUES UNDER WEST LOS ANGELES 
                   LEASING ACT OF 2016.

       (a) In General.--Subsection (d) of section 2 of the West 
     Los Angeles Leasing Act of 2016 (Public Law 114- 226; 130 
     Stat. 927) is amended to read as follows:
       ``(d) Land Use Revenues at the Campus.--
       ``(1) In general.--Any land use revenues received by the 
     Secretary shall be credited to the applicable Department 
     medical facilities accounts or minor construction accounts 
     and shall be available, without fiscal year limitation and 
     without further appropriation, exclusively for any of the 
     following:
       ``(A) Supporting construction, maintenance, and services at 
     the Campus relating to temporary or permanent supportive 
     housing for homeless or at-risk veterans and their families.
       ``(B) Renovating and maintaining the land and facilities at 
     the Campus.
       ``(C) Carrying out minor construction projects at the 
     Campus.
       ``(D) Carrying out community operations at the Campus that 
     support the development of emergency shelter or supportive 
     housing for homeless or at-risk veterans and their families.
       ``(2) Land use revenue defined.--In this subsection, the 
     term `land use revenue' means--
       ``(A) any funds received by the Secretary under a lease 
     described in subsection (b); and
       ``(B) any funds received as proceeds from any assets seized 
     or forfeited, and any restitution paid, in connection with 
     any third-party land use at the Campus.''.
       (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) 
     shall apply with respect to funds received by the Secretary 
     of Veterans Affairs after the date of the enactment of the 
     West Los Angeles Leasing Act of 2016 (Public Law 114-226; 130 
     Stat. 927).

     SEC. 3. MODIFICATION TO ENHANCED USE LEASES AT THE DEPARTMENT 
                   OF VETERANS AFFAIRS WEST LOS ANGELES CAMPUS.

       Paragraph (1) of section 2(b) of the West Los Angeles 
     Leasing Act of 2016 (Public Law 114-226; 130 Stat. 927), is 
     amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: 
     ``Notwithstanding section 8162(b)(2) of such title, the term 
     of such an enhanced-use lease at the Campus may not exceed 99 
     years.''.

     SEC. 4. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS.

       The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 
     complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall 
     be determined by reference to the latest statement titled 
     ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation'' for this Act, 
     submitted for printing in the Congressional Record by the 
     Chairman of the House Budget Committee, provided that such 
     statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Takano) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Bost) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.


                             General Leave

  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
to insert extraneous material on H.R. 711, as amended.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill, the West Los Angeles VA Campus Improvement 
Act, would amend a 2016 law concerning the West Los Angeles VA campus.
  H.R. 711, as amended, is sponsored by Congressman Ted Lieu, and is 
critical to the Department of Veterans Affairs' efforts, together with 
community partners, to address veteran homelessness in the Los Angeles 
area.
  In addition, this legislation helps VA use already available funding 
streams to fund supportive housing for homeless and at-risk veterans 
and their families; community operations that support emergency shelter 
and supportive housing; and renovations and minor construction 
projects.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this legislation, 
and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 711, as amended, the West Los 
Angeles VA Campus Improvement Act.
  In 2016, Congress gave the West Los Angeles VA campus the authority 
to carry out leases with third parties. These leases have the potential 
to create revenue for the VA. However, the funds generated by these 
leases could only be used for renovation and maintenance. This bill 
would change that.

[[Page H2366]]

  It would require that any land use revenues received by the VA from a 
third party be credited to the medical facility's account. The funding 
in these accounts would be used to meet existing needs and new services 
for homeless veterans.
  Revenues would now be available for the medical center to provide 
emergency shelter and supportive housing services for homeless or at-
risk veterans and their families. These funds would be available 
without fiscal year limitations and further appropriations.
  It makes sense that the medical center receives these funds and can 
use them to improve its campus and help homeless veterans.
  I thank Congresswoman Brownley for her amendment at the markup which 
eliminated the mandatory score for this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to support H.R. 711, as amended. I thank 
the gentleman and his staff for the hard work they have done on this 
bill to get it right. I appreciate it very much.
  Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this bill, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I also want to express my gratitude to my 
colleague, Ranking Member Bost, and the Republicans on the committee 
for working with the majority. I believe that the issues that we worked 
out were common sense, and upon further examination, I think taxpayers 
and most independent, reasonable observers would say this is what 
Congress should be doing on behalf of our veterans. I can't imagine why 
there would be any objection to this on the floor of the House.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask all of my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 
711, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. LIEU. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill H.R. 711, 
the West Los Angeles VA Campus Improvement Act of 2021. This 
legislation is critical to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) 
efforts, together with community partners, to address veteran 
homelessness in the Los Angeles area. In addition, it helps VA use 
already available funding streams for certain homeless veteran 
programs, thus reducing the need for taxpayer funds.
  I represent the West LA VA, a 388-acre campus that serves thousands 
of veterans in Southern California and across the state, including 
offering temporary housing for homeless veterans, legal aide, training, 
and other services. The land was deeded to the federal government in 
1888 and for decades thousands of veterans lived there. Unfortunately, 
following damage from a major earthquake in 1971, the VA began 
transitioning the land away from housing, costing Los Angeles County a 
crucial node in the battle to fight veteran homelessness. On top of 
that, fraud and general neglect of the campus before my tenure led to 
some of the campus falling into a state of disrepair. Finally, the VA 
settled in a suit alleging that many enhanced use leases on campus were 
not principally benefiting veterans, but instead serving other 
purposes.
  Mr. Speaker, a year after I took office, Congress passed my West Los 
Angeles Leasing Act of 2016, a law intended to clean up the campus and 
which directly led to the end of most non-veteran related leases. The 
law has also helped spur the redevelopment of the property into a true 
home for veterans. The VA is now implementing a plan to build at least 
1,200 new subsidized apartments, which is composed of 23 projects that 
range from renovating existing structures to developing and building 
new units.
  This progress is encouraging. But there is a serious problem that was 
brought to my attention recently by veteran advocates. A drafting error 
in the 2016 legislation prevents the West LA VA from using funds from 
enhanced use leases (EULs) for the purposes of housing construction. 
The VA can only use such funds for ``renovation and maintenance'' of 
the campus which means money is lying stagnant that could be used to 
build housing but instead, because of a technical error, cannot go 
toward helping the VA fight homelessness. This legislation fixes that 
error.
  Second, as a result of fraud on campus, the VA was supposed to get 
several million dollars in asset forfeiture funds. But instead, such 
funds go back to the general fund at the Treasury Department to be 
dispersed around the country, for any purpose at all. Veterans at the 
West LA VA are doubly harmed--first, by the initial fraud, and second, 
by the theft of funds that are supposed to make them whole. My 
legislation fixes this problem by making it clear funds from settlement 
money and asset forfeiture resulting from any past or future fraud on 
campus go to veterans at the facility that was harmed. It's just common 
sense.
  Finally, my bill increases the life of enhanced use leases on the 
campus from 75 to 99 years. Increasing the length of the leases would 
reduce the financing costs for new housing, further helping the VA and 
its partners tackle homelessness.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleagues on the House Veterans 
Affairs Committee for their support, including Chairman Takano, who has 
been a tireless champion for our nation's veterans and specifically 
veterans in Los Angeles. I am grateful to Members on both sides of the 
aisle who passed this bill out of Committee on May 4th by voice vote, 
bringing us one step closer to ensuring the VA has the legal 
authorities it needs help our veterans. Let's not let technical errors 
stand in the way of housing our nation's heroes.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Takano) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 711, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. ROSENDALE. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to section 3(s) of House Resolution 
8, the yeas and nays are ordered.
  Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on this motion 
are postponed.

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