[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 130 (Monday, July 26, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H3884-H3885]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            MAJOR MEDICAL FACILITY AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2021

  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (S. 1910) to authorize major medical facility projects of the 
Department of Veterans Affairs for fiscal year 2021.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                S. 1910

       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 ``Major Medical Facility 
     Authorization Act of 2021''.

     SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF MAJOR MEDICAL FACILITY PROJECTS OF 
                   DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS FOR FISCAL YEAR 
                   2021.

       (a) In General.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs may 
     carry out the following major medical facility projects in 
     fiscal year 2021 at the locations specified and in an amount 
     for each project not to exceed the amount specified for such 
     location:
       (1) Construction of an outpatient clinic and national 
     cemetery in Alameda, California, in an amount not to exceed 
     $266,200,000.
       (2) Construction of a new specialty care building 201 in 
     American Lake, Washington, in an amount not to exceed 
     $110,600,000.
       (3) Construction of a community living center and 
     renovation of domiciliary and outpatient facilities in 
     Canandaigua, New York, in an amount not to exceed 
     $383,741,000.
       (4) Construction of a spinal cord injury center in Dallas, 
     Texas, in an amount not to exceed $249,000,000.
       (5) Realignment and closure of the Livermore Campus in 
     Livermore, California, in an amount not to exceed 
     $455,000,000.
       (6) Seismic corrections to the mental health and community 
     living center in Long Beach, California, in an amount not to 
     exceed $367,300,000.
       (7) Construction of a spinal cord injury building with a 
     community living center, including a parking garage, in San 
     Diego, California, in an amount not to exceed $252,100,000.
       (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized 
     to be appropriated to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for 
     fiscal year 2021 or the year in which funds are appropriated 
     for the Construction, Major Projects account, $2,083,941,000 
     for the projects authorized in subsection (a).

  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 S. 1910.
  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, I rise today in support of Senator Tester's S. 1910, the 
Major Medical Facility Authorization Act of 2021. I also thank my good 
friend and a valued member of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, 
Representative Colin Allred, for introducing the House companion to 
this vital and important piece of legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, each year, the Department of Veterans Affairs submits an 
annual budget request to Congress, and then it is our job to authorize 
and appropriate the funding that VA needs to care for America's 
veterans and their families. Within that larger funding request is VA's 
request for funds to replace and modernize its medical facilities.
  This year's major construction request totals just over $2 billion 
and will build a much-needed spinal cord injury center in Dallas, 
Texas; erect a community living center and renovate domiciliary and 
outpatient facilities in Canandaigua, New York; construct an outpatient 
clinic and a national cemetery in Alameda, California; and allow for 
the construction of a new specialty care building in American Lake, 
Washington, among other things.
  Mr. Speaker, this Congress, our committee has highlighted VA's aging 
infrastructure. It might surprise some Members to learn the median age 
of VA medical centers is 58 years old. In the private sector, it is 
about 11 years.
  Delivering 21st century healthcare in buildings that were built 
during the latter half of the 19th century is far from ideal and 
certainly not what our veterans deserve.
  Despite outdated facilities, RAND and other academic entities have 
found VA provides better care than private options, in most cases. That 
is right. The VA provides better care even though it is working from 
outdated facilities. Imagine what those findings would look like if VA 
was competing with a modern infrastructure.
  During our oversight efforts, the committee has learned that in order 
to fully recapitalize the Department's portfolio, VA would need roughly 
$100 billion. The Biden administration's $18 billion proposal to 
enhance VA's physical infrastructure is a downpayment in ensuring 
veterans have access to the most advanced healthcare and most robust 
infrastructure that we can provide.
  My colleagues across the aisle may argue that potentially spending 
$18 billion on VA's infrastructure is premature because it fails to 
consider existing reform efforts already underway, alluding to the AIR 
Commission. They will argue that we should wait for the Commission's 
findings. Given the severity of underfunding as it relates to VA's 
capital assets, we cannot afford to

[[Page H3885]]

wait until the AIR Commission provides recommendations to Congress and 
the White House.
  Life safety and seismic issues across the portfolio must be addressed 
now. Regular maintenance should not be delayed because of budgetary 
concerns, nor should we delay retrofitting facilities to meet the needs 
of VA's fastest growing population--women veterans--or delay addressing 
the lessons learned from this Nation's first pandemic in more than 100 
years.
  If we are going to build back better, if we are going to build back 
trust in VA, we have to start making serious investments in the 
outdated infrastructure meant to serve them, and nearly three-fourths 
of Americans agree.
  Mr. Speaker, that is why I support S. 1910, and I thank Senator 
Tester, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, for 
prioritizing and passing this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 1910, the Major Medical 
Facility Authorization Act of 2021.
  This bill would authorize the VA's major medical facilities 
construction projects in California, Washington, New York, and Texas. 
Those projects include outpatient clinics, a specialty care building, a 
spinal cord injury center, two community living centers, and more.
  These projects are formally requested by the VA in the most recent 
budget submission. They would benefit hundreds, if not thousands, of 
veterans.
  This bill is sponsored by Senator Jon Tester, chairman of the Senate 
Veterans' Affairs Committee. I thank him for introducing it, and I urge 
my colleagues to join me in supporting it today.
  The VA healthcare system has a massive capital assets profile. It is 
comprised of medical facilities that are, on average, more than five 
times older than private-sector medical facilities.
  In 2018, Congress passed the Asset and Infrastructure Review Act, or 
the AIR Act, to bring the VA healthcare system into the 21st century. 
It would lay the foundation to modernize the VA medical facilities to 
better serve the veterans.
  I am proud to support this bill to help deliver updated medical 
facilities to the veterans in these four States, but we have much more 
to do to deliver modern medical care to our veterans across this 
country.
  Mr. Speaker, I hope that we can pass this bill today and then 
continue working together to ensure the AIR Act lives up to the immense 
promises that it has for the veterans.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Allred), my good friend and a member of the 
House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, where he is an active member of 
the Subcommittee on Health.
  (Mr. ALLRED asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. ALLRED. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bipartisan 
bill, the fiscal year 2021 Major Medical Facility Authorization Act.
  As the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq come to an end, as a Nation, we 
are reminded of our profound and sacred commitment to ensure that each 
and every one of our veterans gets the support, services, and care they 
need when they return home.
  We owe this commitment to every generation of veterans who have 
served. I know this from when I visited Afghanistan in 2019 as a member 
of this committee.
  Whether it is exposure to toxic air, coping with the stress and 
mental toll of their service, or trying to find a good job as they 
transition back to civilian life, we must do all we can to support our 
veterans who have served us so well.
  That is why I was proud to lead this bipartisan bill in the House. 
This bill would create jobs by authorizing the construction of several 
major VA medical facilities across the country, including a spinal cord 
injury center in Dallas, my hometown and just outside of my district.
  The Dallas project, currently underway, will construct a 30-bed, 
long-term care spinal cord injury center with the capacity to expand to 
60 beds. These funds will ensure this center has all the tools it needs 
to best serve veterans in its care, including a warehouse 
administration building, parking garage, and central plant 
improvements.
  In addition to providing long-term care for the medical complications 
of spinal cord injuries and disorders, the center will provide a 
residential setting in which highly dependent or medically complex 
veterans could live on a long-term basis, receiving the specialized 
environment, staff skills, and equipment that they require.
  In 2020, I worked with folks in both parties to help secure a new VA 
hospital in Garland, in my district. This was a vacant hospital that we 
were able to get donated to the VA system. It took months and months of 
meetings and calls, but we were able to get it done. It has now been up 
and running for over a year, and the folks there are doing 
extraordinary work. It proves that when we provide the VA with the 
resources it needs, the hardworking folks there will go above and 
beyond to serve our veterans.
  The facility is expected to eventually create 5,000 jobs and is 
helping us to better serve 174,000 veterans in north Texas.
  Mr. Speaker, I am so honored to keep building on this work with the 
passage of this bill because, like our veterans' service and sacrifice, 
our commitment to them must be sacred.
  I thank my House cosponsors, Representatives Derek Kilmer, Kim 
Schrier, and   Mike Levin. I also thank Chairman Takano and Ranking 
Member Bost for their leadership on this bill. I thank the Senate 
leads, Senator Jon Tester, chairman of the Senate Committee on 
Veterans' Affairs, and Senator Jerry Moran as well.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this measure.
  Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this 
bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I ask all my colleagues to join me in 
passing S. 1910, the Major Medical Facility Authorization Act of 2021, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  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, S. 1910.
  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. WEBER of Texas. 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.

                          ____________________