[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 14410-14444]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    MILITARY CONSTRUCTION AND VETERANS AFFAIRS AND RELATED AGENCIES 
                        APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2011

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 1559 and rule 
XVIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of the Whole House 
on the state of the Union for the consideration of the bill, H.R. 5822.

                              {time}  1618


                     In the Committee of the Whole

  Accordingly, the House resolved itself into the Committee of the 
Whole House on the state of the Union for the consideration of the bill 
(H.R. 5822) making appropriations for military construction, the 
Department of Veterans Affairs, and related agencies for the fiscal 
year ending September 30, 2011, and for other purposes, with Ms. 
Edwards of Maryland in the chair.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The CHAIR. Pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered read the 
first time.
  The gentleman from Texas (Mr. Edwards) and the gentleman from Florida 
(Mr. Crenshaw) each will control 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. Madam Chair, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Madam Chair, it's a privilege for me to present the fiscal year 2011 
Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations bill. I 
believe this bill and the work we have done since January of 2007 is a 
work all of us can be very proud of.
  In this time of war, we have continued our tradition of a bipartisan 
Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriation bill. It has 
honored in a meaningful way the service and sacrifice of our servicemen 
and -women, our veterans and their families.
  With passage of this fiscal year 2011 bill, the Congress will have 
increased veterans health care and benefits funding by 70 percent in 
the last 3\1/2\ years. In addition, we have funded a new 21st century 
GI education bill that 510,000 servicemen and -women, veterans, and 
military children have used to further their education. This is an 
unprecedented increase in Congress' commitment to veterans.
  In our book, our veterans have earned every dime of this funding. We 
have, among other things, increased by 10,200 the number of permanent 
claims processors in the VA to reduce VA case backlogs, provided an 
additional 145 community-based outpatient clinics, built 92 new vet 
centers. This bill will add 30 mobile vet centers to serve rural 
communities. It allowed the Veterans Health Administration to hire an 
additional 18,000 new doctors and nurses.
  These resources mean that our veterans have better access to the 
health care they need and deserve, including improved access in rural 
areas, increased access for VA health care for low- and middle-income 
vets. Additionally, these resources ensure that our veterans receive, 
on a more timely basis, the services and benefits that they have 
earned.

[[Page 14411]]

  We have also worked hard to make sure that our military knows that 
the Congress respects the sacrifices that they and their families have 
made each and every day to keep our great Nation safe. We have heard 
time and time again in testimony that the best support we can give our 
military when they are deployed is the knowledge that their families 
are cared for here at home.
  We have listened and funded initiatives, such as:
  $2.8 billion for new military hospitals so servicemen and -women know 
that their families will get the best possible health care in high 
quality facilities;
  New child care centers to serve 20,000 military children;
  Over $500 million in additional funding for barracks, because 
Congress needs to show our volunteer forces from day one that we 
respect and honor their decision to serve.
  The Subcommittee for Military Construction and Veterans Affairs did 
not accomplish this alone. There are several key leaders that have 
worked tirelessly behind the scenes to support our efforts.
  Speaker Pelosi promised our veterans that they would be a top 
priority for her, and the fact is she has more than honored that 
promise. Her fingerprints are on every bill that has provided for our 
military and veterans in the past 3\1/2\ years through our 
subcommittee, and I thank her for her leadership in these efforts.
  Also, we would not have seen the historic funding increases that I 
have just highlighted were it not for the dedicated support of Chairman 
Dave Obey, who, in my book, is the unsung hero of America's veterans.
  I must also salute, and want to salute, the VA Committee chairman, 
Bob Filner, for his strong leadership every day on behalf of America's 
veterans. He has truly made a difference.
  Lastly, but definitely not least, our ranking member, Mr. Wamp of 
Tennessee, has been a vital partner in putting together this bill, and 
last year's bill as well. Mr. Wamp has a genuine heart for America's 
servicemen and -women and our veterans, and he has championed their 
cause. It has been a privilege to work with him, and also with Ander 
Crenshaw, who has filled in when Mr. Wamp could not be with us in some 
of our deliberations this year. Mr. Crenshaw has truly been a partner 
every step of the way in putting together this bipartisan bill, and I 
thank him for that.
  I also thank Mr. Farr on the Democratic side, the vice chairman of 
our subcommittee, who has done an outstanding job for our veterans and 
our military.
  Madam Chair, I would like to highlight several key initiatives in 
this bill.
  First, this bill continues an initiative begun last year to provide 
advance appropriation for VA medical care. This will allow the VA to 
invest taxpayer dollars more effectively and efficiently, and it is a 
top priority of America's veterans' service organizations.
  Second, we provide $190 million to new troop housing for Army 
trainees, over 60,000 of whom are presently living in barracks that 
don't even meet minimum DOD standards. Our 18- and 19-year-old military 
recruits don't have many lobbyists running around the halls of Capitol 
Hill, but they deserve our Nation's respect and support for their 
decision to serve in our military during a time of war.
  Third, we provide $200 million for a Guard and Reserve construction 
initiative, recognizing the vital role these troops are playing in Iraq 
and Afghanistan.
  Fourth, the bill provides $1.3 billion in emergency appropriations 
for military construction of facilities in support of our military 
operations in Afghanistan.
  Fifth, recognizing the mental wounds of war can sometimes be more 
painful and long lasting than the physical wounds of combat, we provide 
$5.2 billion for the VA to continue its improvements in PTSD and mental 
health care for America's veterans.
  Sixth, this bill includes funding for 4,048 new permanent VA claims 
processors in order to help veterans receive their earned benefits on a 
more timely basis.
  The seventh initiative I would highlight, this bill also continues to 
open up VA medical care to more middle-and low-income veterans by 
292,000, the number of veterans receiving health care since reopening 
enrollment in 2009.
  Finally, we want to ensure that historic increases in funding for the 
VA are spent wisely. To increase oversight of the taxpayers' dollars, 
we provide an additional $6 million to VA's Office of Inspector 
General.
  Madam Chair, I am going to skip over some of the numbers that we have 
in this bill, but I would be remiss if I did not thank the committee 
staff, very professional committee staff, a very dedicated committee 
staff, for their hard work and long hours during this process: the 
minority staff, led by Martin Delgado, Liz Dawson and Kelly Shea; and 
Erin Fogleman and Gilbert DMeza from Mr. Wamp's staff; and the majority 
staff led by Subcommittee Clerk Tim Peterson, Mary Arnold, Walter 
Hearne, Sue Quantius and Todd Friedman and Michelle Dominguez on my 
staff. They don't get public credit for the work, but the work of this 
bill would not have been done had it not been for their 
professionalism, and I thank each of them personally.
  In conclusion, this bill keeps our promise to our veterans. That is 
what the Paralyzed Veterans of America, AMVETS, Disabled American 
Veterans, and Veterans of Foreign Wars have said. In fact, they state, 
``We offer our strong support for the FY 2011 Military Construction and 
Veterans Affairs appropriations bill and we hope that the House will 
quickly pass this critical legislation.''
  This bill sends a clear message to America's servicemen and -women, 
their families, and our veterans. We appreciate and respect their 
service and sacrifice.

[[Page 14412]]





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[[Page 14415]]



[[Page 14416]]

  Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1630

  Mr. CRENSHAW. Madam Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  First let me just say that I rise in support of this appropriations 
bill. It's the first appropriations bill that we will bring to the 
floor today, and I think it's an excellent bill.
  I would like to start by thanking Chairman Edwards, not only for his 
leadership, but for the example that he sets to make every member of 
the subcommittee feel like they are valued. He has treated everyone 
with a sense of fairness. It has been an open process, bipartisan 
process, and we appreciate that very much. I think because of that 
atmosphere that everything we do in this subcommittee is really geared 
to make sure that we put the best interests of the men and women in 
uniform first, and put their families first, the veterans, and those 
fallen heroes.
  I want to say a word about Ranking Member Zach Wamp. I am here in his 
stead. He is back home in Tennessee trying to represent the people of 
Tennessee in a different way, as the Governor of that State. But I can 
tell you that even though he is not here, as Mr. Edwards mentioned, he 
has been very much a part of this process. I think this bill is a 
reflection of his dedication, his commitment to the men and women in 
uniform. And I know that I've heard Mr. Wamp say on occasion that 
serving as the ranking member of this subcommittee has been the highest 
achievement of his career here in the House of Representatives, and so 
we wish him well as he leaves.
  I want to also say a word about Mr. Young. He's not here today, but 
he has been a long-time member of this subcommittee. I think Chairman 
Edwards agrees that he has been a great champion of the men and women 
in uniform. He and his wife, Beverly, are often visitors at our 
military hospitals to see the folks that have come back, the wounded 
warriors. If he were here, I'm sure he would stand up and say that he 
believes this is a very good bipartisan bill. He is recovering from 
some surgery himself, so I know we all wish him well in this committee.
  Mr. Edwards has done a great job of talking about kind of an overview 
of what goes on here, and so I don't want to repeat that. I certainly 
want to echo his words of congratulations to the staff; we thank 
everyone for their hard work. But I want to mention a couple of items 
that were brought up that were concerns that, because of the open 
process, because of the bipartisan nature in our subcommittee markup, 
members had a chance to talk about some issues of concern.
  One was, and Mr. Edwards mentioned that, we found that while we were 
adding dollars to most of the programs in the VA, the Inspector General 
was kind of held to last year's level. We all felt like--it was a 
bipartisan agreement--that the Inspector General has so much to offer 
in terms of oversight, in terms of accountability, by doing audits, 
that they ought to have additional resources, and so we added $6 
million there.
  Another concern that was raised at the subcommittee level was the VA 
had decided that they wanted to reduce the number of claims processors 
they had in the new GI bill as part of the veterans affairs. You all 
remember when we passed that updated version of the GI bill and added 
benefits that are so important to our veterans as they come back, and 
yet we found out that last year there had been quite a bit of problems 
just because of the increased demand on those claims processors. We 
thought it would be a bad idea to reduce the number of folks that were 
processing those claims when last year this chaos was created--and my 
office got calls, I know other Members got calls because the tuition 
payments weren't being made in a timely fashion, the claims weren't 
being processed; in fact, sometimes the checks were written by hand and 
delivered without much accountability.
  And so while we applaud the VA for saying we want to try to do more 
with less, we thought right now that would be penny wise and pound 
foolish. And so we added back those claims processors. We want to make 
sure that we get everything done on time. Next year, they're actually 
estimating the increase will be 31 percent. There will be over 2.2 
million claims made under those new GI benefits, and we want to make 
sure that they are paid on time. So we added back those individuals.
  And, finally, there was a concern about Arlington National Cemetery. 
I think a lot of people read about some of the horror stories that went 
on there. We found out that the management was really a little bit 
behind in terms of modern day. So the Secretary of the Army, John 
McHugh, acted very quickly and very forcefully. He set up some 
guidelines to improve what's going on at Arlington National Cemetery. 
Mr. Young offered some report language to make sure that the members of 
this subcommittee will have a chance to exercise appropriate oversight.
  So those were areas of concern that I think were addressed because of 
this open process, and those amendments were adopted unanimously on a 
bipartisan basis.
  I would say from the big-picture standpoint, as Mr. Edwards has 
talked about, I came to Congress primarily because I believed that the 
number one responsibility of the Federal Government is to protect 
American lives, and I still believe that today. But what I found when I 
was assigned to this subcommittee was that we also have a sacred 
responsibility to make sure that the men and women who wear the uniform 
are treated with respect, that they have adequate housing, and that 
they have the quality of life they so richly deserve.
  This bill continues the commitment that we've made there. Sometimes 
when you think about military construction projects, you think about a 
new hangar or a new dock or a ship or a landing strip or a wharf; but 
as Mr. Edwards pointed out, housing is so very vital. We've done a 
great job, and we continue that commitment. Whether it's a barracks or 
whether it's married housing, we want to have the housing we would want 
our sons and daughters to live in, and we're making great progress in 
that area.
  I think we all agree we've got the best trained and the most equipped 
military in the world, and we've worked hard to do that. But we are 
also beginning to make sure that when people come back that have been 
under some stress, under unique situations, that they have adequate 
counseling, that they have those kinds of programs that are so very 
important; and I think this bill continues that commitment.
  And just finally I would say there are a couple of important projects 
that are funded this year as part of the administration's budget deal 
with my district in northeast Florida. There is a naval station, 
Mayport, that the Navy has decided to make that home port for a nuclear 
carrier; and so last year there was money to begin dredging, to begin 
wharf upgrades. This year, there is $2 million for planning and design 
to continue that process. I worked with the chief of naval operations--
in fact, spoke with him just about a month ago--and the Navy is still 
very committed, because of national security, to make sure that we have 
the ability to disperse our assets, to make sure we have a backup 
nuclear maintenance facility, and I thank the subcommittee and the 
members for their support.
  Also in northeast Florida, the Marines have a project called Blount 
Island, where a great deal of the materiel goes back and forth through 
that port to the Middle East. There is money to upgrade and make that 
more of a world-class facility.
  So this is a great bill that I think we can all be proud of. And it 
really is the result of the leadership of Mr. Edwards and his hard 
work, the leadership of Mr. Wamp and his hard work and, actually, the 
hard work of every member of this subcommittee. And I think because of 
that, we have a bill that truly honors our American heroes. It speaks 
to the people that defend us today, it speaks to those who have 
returned as veterans, and also to those who have paid the ultimate 
sacrifice. And so for those reasons, Madam Chair, I urge everyone to 
support this bill.

[[Page 14417]]

  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. Madam Chair, before introducing Chairman Obey, 
I would like to join with my friend and colleague, Mr. Crenshaw, in 
saluting Mr. Young of Florida. While he is not here because of an 
illness today, he has spent a lifetime of service and commitment to our 
servicemen and women, our veterans and their families.
  I also see Mr. Lewis on the floor, the ranking member of the full 
committee, the former chairman of the full committee, the former 
chairman of the Defense Appropriations Committee. I thank Mr. Lewis 
also for working on this bill and for his leadership throughout his 
long career here in Congress in support of our servicemen and -women.
  Madam Chair, it is one of two honors of my lifetime to recognize and 
introduce Chairman Dave Obey. I must say that in the last 3\1/2\ years, 
this Congress has increased veterans funding by more than any 3\1/2\-
year period in history. That would not have happened had it not been 
for the allocations and the personal leadership of Chairman Dave Obey. 
And while others of us at the subcommittee level or the VA authorizing 
subcommittee level have been the ones sometimes recognized by veterans 
groups for our work over these past 3\1/2\ years, it has been Chairman 
Obey's leadership and partnership with Speaker Pelosi behind the scenes 
that have made all of these new programs, including the funding of the 
GI bill, that has helped over 500,000 servicemen and -women and 
veterans and their families.
  It's been Mr. Obey's leadership that has truly made a difference in 
this process. Of his many great legacies of his service to this country 
and Congress, I hope he will always be remembered as a true champion of 
America's veterans.
  Madam Chair, I yield 5 minutes to Chairman Obey.

                              {time}  1640

  Mr. OBEY. I thank the gentleman for the time. I thank him for his 
overblown words.
  I do want to extend my best wishes to Bill Young, who is one of the 
most loved Members of this House and one of the most respected.
  I also want to congratulate the gentleman from Texas for the superb 
job he has done in putting this bill together. It is a well-balanced 
bill, and everyone understands the gentleman's convictions and his 
passionate desire to defend the interests of American veterans.
  Madam Chair, there are more than 6 million veterans and their 
families who depend on the Department of Veterans Affairs for medical 
care, for disability payments, and education benefits, and this bill 
represents our obligation to them. It builds on our actions of the last 
2 years, which have provided the most significant enlargement of 
education benefits for veterans since the passage of the original GI 
Bill of Rights.
  One of the bill's highest priorities is to help cut through the 
bureaucracy that disabled veterans face over their claims. They 
shouldn't have to wait months and months for their paperwork to be 
processed before receiving the benefits owed to them. The bill provides 
for an additional 4,000 permanent claims processors--a 25 percent 
increase to work through more than 1 million disability claims.
  These resources are especially needed now that the Vietnam veterans 
will be eligible to file claims for disabilities caused by Agent 
Orange. Veterans' medical care is the largest component of the bill. 
According to the VA, more than 6.1 million patients will be treated in 
2011, including nearly 440,000 veterans of the wars in Iraq and 
Afghanistan.
  Now, many people think of veterans' health care as being solely 
focused on physical injuries. We understand now, better than ever, how 
combat threatens soldiers' mental health as well. We owe it to every 
one of them to address not only their physical wounds but also the 
mental and emotional consequences of war. This bill includes added 
resources for services to veterans suffering from traumatic brain 
injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and other mental 
conditions. Full access to this care remains a problem for some 
veterans, for seeing the right specialist can mean expensive trips and 
hours and hours in the car.
  In Northern Wisconsin, for instance, there are tens of thousands of 
veterans who cannot regularly see counselors because there aren't vet 
centers anywhere near their homes. This bill makes critical investments 
to meet our obligations to them.
  This bill also addresses the high rate of veterans' homelessness. On 
any given night last year, 107,000 veterans were homeless. That is 
shameful. With the goal of ending veterans' homelessness in 5 years, 
this bill matches the budget request for VA homeless assistance grants 
and supportive services for veterans and their families who need them.
  At the end of the day, it is important to remember that this bill is 
not just about dollars and programs. It is about our duty to American 
veterans--to respect their service and sacrifice, not only with flowery 
words on the Fourth of July, but also with actions like this, on days 
like this, that are less noticed but every bit as important.
  I congratulate the subcommittee for the bill that they have produced.
  Mr. CRENSHAW. Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. Madam Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the vice 
chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction 
and Veterans Affairs, the gentleman from California (Mr. Farr), who has 
been a champion on this committee for veterans, our troops, their 
families, and for all of the many issues involved in this 
subcommittee's affairs.
  Mr. FARR. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
  To our current acting ranking member, Mr. Crenshaw, thank you very 
much for giving me this moment to speak on this very important bill.
  Madam Chair, yesterday, the House of Representatives had a very 
important vote, a very controversial vote here. The vote was on funding 
the war effort in Afghanistan. Those votes ought to be controversial--
whether we go to war, where we go to war, and how long the mission is 
going to take. Those ought to be votes that you can cast for and 
against. Yet there is one bill you can't vote against, and that is the 
bill that supports the troops in their residence, in their training and 
back here at home--the quality of life that we provide defense 
personnel, military personnel.
  This is the bill that funds the child care centers. This is the bill 
that creates the housing for men and women in uniform, who voluntarily 
join the service. This is the bill that creates the clinics and the 
hospitals, the support systems--any kind of community of support--and a 
special one for military personnel needs. So one can vote against the 
war, but one cannot vote against the support here at home.
  This bill has bipartisan support because it is interested in 
improving the quality of life of military personnel, who voluntarily 
come into the military. Everybody who passes through the Department of 
Defense ends up becoming a veteran. You cannot be a veteran without 
having served in active duty.
  This committee also supports the continuum of care. We ought not to 
have a silo of Defense Department quality of care and a separate silo 
for veterans. We are making it seamless. We are making it so that, when 
you enroll in the Department of Defense, you also automatically enroll 
in the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Department of Veterans 
Affairs takes care of you for the rest of your life. We owe it to any 
man or woman who has ever served in the military to provide them the 
promises that were made. These promises were made, but the quality of 
care until now has not been that great. It has changed.
  Please support this appropriations bill as the real ``support our 
troops'' bill.
  Mr. CRENSHAW. Madam Chair, I continue to reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. Madam Chair, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to a very 
important member of our Appropriations

[[Page 14418]]

subcommittee, the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Salazar), who has been a 
real champion for our vets and our troops.
  Mr. SALAZAR. Madam Chair, I want to take a moment to recognize my 
colleagues.
  Chairman Edwards has been a great champion of our veterans since his 
tenure here in Congress began. Also, I thank Ranking Member Wamp and 
Mr. Crenshaw for their valiant efforts in putting this bill together.
  I don't think that I have had a greater honor than to serve on a 
committee of this type where we all work together in a bipartisan 
manner. Chairman Edwards, Ranking Member Wamp, Mr. Crenshaw--all of 
us--have worked very hard for veterans and their families. All 17.5 
million living veterans in the United States should applaud you for 
your diligent work as you fight for those who provide us freedom.
  Madam Chair, as the chairman mentioned, it is important to recognize 
the bipartisanship and fiscal responsibility of this bill. In 
completing BRAC 2005, the subcommittee was able to reduce the overall 
spending of this bill by three-quarters of a billion dollars. The bill 
includes a total of $57 billion, which is an increase of nearly $4 
billion for veterans' medical care, disability, and educational 
benefits. Veterans in Colorado are a major winner in this bill again. 
Thanks to the President and to the subcommittee for their continued 
support of a new VA medical center in Denver, Colorado.
  I want to thank all of those Members who continue to fight the good 
fight for our veterans and military personnel.
  Mr. CRENSHAW. Madam Chair, I yield myself 1 minute.
  I would ask Chairman Edwards if he would engage in a brief colloquy.
  Mr. Edwards, it is my understanding that the committee authorized a 
study in March to review various portions of the Veterans Health 
Administration. As I understand it, the committee has just received the 
report. Once the report has been analyzed by the committee staff, I 
believe it would be important, as we move this veterans' appropriations 
bill forward, that we use the recommendations in the report, if 
feasible, to provide better oversight and better transparency to the 
health care spending at the VA.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. CRENSHAW. I yield to the gentleman.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. I want to thank the gentleman both for the 
points he is making now and also for his focus on oversight.
  As we have provided these historic increases in veterans' funding 
over the last several years, and as we have been working together on a 
bipartisan basis, I think it is also very important that we see that 
those tax dollars are spent wisely, efficiently, and effectively.
  I have been concerned for some time that the large increases we have 
provided the VA health care system have not always made their way down 
to the individual hospitals on a very rapid basis as quickly as we 
would like.
  The CHAIR. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. CRENSHAW. I yield myself 1 additional minute.
  Mr. Edwards, please continue.

                              {time}  1650

  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. Because of that and our work together, we asked 
the S&I staff to do this study to help us understand the process the 
Department's using in distributing money and to highlight areas where 
we can exert more oversight, if necessary, to ensure the efficient use 
of taxpayer dollars.
  The report just completed is quite large, and in the coming weeks, 
staff on both sides of the aisle will be evaluating it to determine how 
its recommendations can be incorporated into our final bill and report. 
And I certainly look forward to working with the gentleman on examining 
that report and seeing how we can incorporate some of its ideas into 
the final conference report on this bill.
  Mr. CRENSHAW. Madam Chair, I continue to reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. Madam Chair, I yield such time as he may 
consume to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Donnelly) for the purpose of 
my entering into a colloquy with him.
  Mr. DONNELLY of Indiana. Madam Chairman, I want to thank the chairman 
for his and his committee's work on this bill.
  As we all know, there are veterans across the country, including 
thousands in my district, who are forced to drive long distances to 
receive the medical care they earned through their service to the 
Nation. But I understand that included in this bill is $15 million for 
the VA Health Care Center Advance Planning account, which would go 
toward new VA Health Care Centers, which could help these veterans.
  I wonder if the chairman wouldn't mind going into some detail on this 
item.
  I yield to the gentleman.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. I want to thank the gentleman for his hard work 
on behalf of our veterans. He's been a leader on these issues. And 
thanks to you, Mr. Donnelly, this bill directs $15 million that you 
referenced to planning the VA health care centers across the country. 
It's an innovative way to make more services available to veterans 
locally.
  I understand that among the locations due to have a new VA health 
care center is South Bend, in the gentleman's district. And South 
Bend's demonstrated need for such an expansion of VA health care 
services was noted by the committee in its report language.
  Furthermore, the committee expects that this account will be utilized 
by the VA as soon as possible.
  Mr. DONNELLY of Indiana. Mr. Chairman, thank you so much for your 
leadership.
  Mr. CRENSHAW. I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. Madam Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman 
from Connecticut (Mr. Murphy), who has worked very hard on behalf of 
our veterans and troops.
  Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut. Mr. Chairman, thank you and the committee 
for bringing this bill before us.
  There's $13 billion in this legislation for construction. That's more 
in the last 4 years combined than any 4-year period since the 1940s. 
And though that will mean transformational things for our veterans, I 
want to just briefly highlight this afternoon what it will mean for the 
people that will do that work.
  We've lost 2 million construction jobs in this recession and the 
Associated General Contractors of America estimate that almost 400,000 
construction jobs could be created just by this bill alone. That's good 
news for jobs in this country. But we can have even better news if we 
make sure that the materials used to build those buildings are bought 
here in America as well.
  Many of us have been working very hard on reinforcing our Buy America 
law. This construction funding presents us with a unique opportunity to 
not only serve our veterans, not only honor our commitment to them, but 
also grow the types of jobs in construction and construction materials 
that this economy badly needs.
  I'm so thankful to the chairman for all of his work bringing this 
bill to the floor and what it will mean for veterans and for jobs.
  Mr. CRENSHAW. I continue to reserve.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. Madam Chair, there are several other speakers 
on our side of the aisle who said they would like to speak, but perhaps 
we have progressed more quickly than they thought.
  I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Rodriguez), a 
member of the Appropriations Committee who has been vocal in his strong 
support of our veterans and troops.
  Mr. RODRIGUEZ. Madam Chair, I just wanted to take this opportunity to 
come down to the House floor and congratulate our chairman, Congressman 
Chet Edwards, on his efforts in this area. I feel really elated in 
terms of the amount of resources that we have been able to put for our 
veterans.
  Having been on the Veterans' Committee and on the appropriations side 
and the authorizing side, I had the opportunity to witness the 
situation that

[[Page 14419]]

we suffered with when we had to do the copayments and require our 
veterans to come up and pay copayments. We cut Category 8 veterans from 
that. In addition, not only that, but we asked them to pay for 
additional fees for services.
  And in the last 3 years, it's been a turnaround, and this bill 
provides resources there for the first time that allow an opportunity 
for us to be able to look at our infrastructure and improve on those 
areas that are out there.
  We have a good number of hospitals out there that are lacking on 
infrastructure, and I'm hoping that in the future we continue to do 
this. This bill puts us on the right track to provide additional 
resources, and I want to thank him, personally, also.
  I know that it also has been able to put additional resources and 
creating additional polytrauma centers. We have four in the Nation. Now 
we have a fifth in Texas, and so I want to thank him personally, there 
in San Antonio, for the polytrauma center that has had the resources to 
be able to begin to provide those needed items that our veterans need.
  I also want to just thank him for putting the resources there and 
just advertise the fact that, just in the last year and a half, we have 
over 240,000 veterans that are now taking advantage of the GI Bill. And 
this is a tremendous bill. We expect to have over half a million 
veterans participating in the GI bill. And that, in the future, will 
show a tremendous amount of positiveness when those individuals get 
their bachelor's, their master's, and their doctorate degrees as they 
move forward. In addition to that bill, it also allows their kids and 
their spouses to take advantage.
  So congratulations on the great work that you have been doing, 
Chairman.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. Madam Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman 
from New York (Mr. Hall), who is a leading voice of America's veterans 
on the Veterans' Affairs Authorizing Committee.
  Mr. HALL of New York. Madam Chair, on behalf of the veterans of the 
Hudson Valley of New York and all those who have served our country in 
uniform, I'm strongly supportive of the bill which we're considering 
today. It's a solemn contract that we who do not serve in uniform--we 
have enjoyed the benefits of their sacrifice and their personal risk 
and their families doing without them--need to uphold our part of the 
bargain, which is to take care of them anytime after their return. And, 
therefore, I think it's really critical that we pass this bill to fund 
not just military construction but veterans facilities.
  We don't know yet what the cost will be from the conflicts we're 
currently engaged in. Unfortunately, our country has a habit of 
deciding to go into a conflict without an educated, informed figure 
being given out, or a guess even that's very accurate as to what the 
lifetime costs may be for care of the veterans created by that 
conflict, but it's essential that we protect those veterans facilities 
that we have and improve them as needed, construct new ones as needed.
  And I am concerned, first of all, with passing the underlying bill. 
But secondly, I'm also concerned with some amendments that have been 
offered to this bill, which I will speak to later when the amendments 
are being considered, which move money from what's considered to be, or 
what's called minor construction and, in particular, from an urgent 
care center and minor construction, and to other things which sound and 
are good in and of themselves.

                              {time}  1700

  Mr. CRENSHAW. Madam Chair, I continue to reserve my time.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. Madam Chair, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman 
from Rhode Island (Mr. Kennedy). And as he approaches the well, let me 
just thank him. This will be his last year to be in the House, a member 
of this committee. And he has been an inspiration to veterans 
throughout America and to every member of our subcommittee on both 
sides of the aisle in his championing the cause of mental health care 
services and other services for veterans, care for our homeless 
veterans. I thank the gentleman. It will be a legacy that will live on 
for many decades to come.
  Mr. KENNEDY. I thank the chairman and my ranking member for all the 
work they did to make this a fine veterans appropriations bill.
  Ladies and gentlemen, if our soldiers were caught behind enemy lines, 
we would think nothing of mounting the full might of military power to 
go in and retrieve those members of our military. In fact, every 
American would wrap yellow ribbons around their trees in solidarity in 
order that we may set those prisoners of war free, in order that we may 
bring back those hostages of the Taliban, or the terrorists, or 
whomever may have captured them.
  But ladies and gentlemen, something is going on in this country, 
something very tragic. Our military, our Veterans Affairs, everybody 
talks a good game, talks a very good game of patriotism when it comes 
to saying we're going to stand by our guardians of freedom, while those 
very guardians of freedom aren't free themselves. They may have come 
home in body, but they have not come home, many of them, in mind.
  They are suffering from the signature wound of this war. What is 
that? Traumatic brain injury. What is that? Post-traumatic stress 
disorder. My colleagues, these veterans in essence are being held 
hostage. They're being held hostage all over this great country. They 
are in essence prisoners of war. They are prisoners of this war, 
prisoners of traumatic brain injury and its symptoms, its many 
symptoms: loss of memory, loss of cognitive ability, and the symptoms 
that ensue.
  Many of them self-medicate. Many of them isolate. Why? Because these 
injuries are invisible, invisible to the naked eye, but not invisible 
to anybody who loves them. These are real injuries. They are injuries 
that can turn their lives upside down. All of the commanders in DOD say 
they are doing something about it. I'm not seeing it. In fact, I was 
briefed a year ago on some neuroscience research of an off-label drug 
that's used to treat bleeding in the intestines, to reduce swelling. 
They thought it might help reduce swelling of a concussion and the 
onset of swelling in the brain. Guess what? It proved to be effective, 
initial findings showed.
  If this were the battle of AIDS, that drug would have been in the 
field helping our soldiers. But no, we don't have the urgency we have 
with AIDS. Somehow we don't have the urgency when it comes to our 
veterans and the signature of this war wound, TBI and PTSD, that we 
bring when it comes to something like AIDS. We don't set aside 
parochial concerns. We don't set aside partisan. We don't set aside the 
value of someone's proprietary research concerns.
  When are we going to make our special interest the veteran? There's 
nothing dirty about special interests so long as we make it the right 
one. When are we going to agree that there is one special interest in 
this town that there should be no disagreement about, and that's the 
veteran. When are we going to say with our actions, not just our words, 
that the veteran is the one who counts? When are we going to say we're 
going to release them from terror, the terror and tyranny of their 
bondage, of their disability because they served us?
  Ladies and gentlemen, this study showed that if you reduce the 
swelling in the brain you can reduce the longer-term impact.
  The CHAIR. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. I yield the gentleman an additional 15 seconds.
  Mr. KENNEDY. The blood-brain barrier reduces the ability for a bruise 
that is absorbed by the regular body to be absorbed by the brain. This 
drug helped reduce the swelling. The DOD has an obligation to implement 
it. They are not. They should. And they ought to.
  Mr. CRENSHAW. Madam Chair, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  Madam Chair, I think we have heard today what a well-balanced bill 
this is, as we said at the beginning. And I think it demonstrates--it's 
an example

[[Page 14420]]

of what happens when people come together in an open process, in a fair 
process, in a bipartisan process. I think this bill demonstrates the 
work that we can do when we work together. So again, I am honored to be 
part of this process, to work with the chairman and the ranking member.
  I urge everyone to support this bill.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. Madam Chair, I want to finish by thanking Mr. 
Crenshaw for, again, his leadership on this and working together 
importantly on so many parts of this bill, and doing so in a bipartisan 
manner. We thanked a lot of people in this process. It's been a work of 
good faith on both sides of the aisle.
  I always want to save the best for the last in thanking our veterans 
service organizations for their partnership in putting together this 
legislation.
  I add two letters, one from the DAV, AMVETS, Paralyzed Veterans of 
America, and Veterans of Foreign Wars; another from the president of 
the National Guard Association of the United States, in support of this 
legislation.

                                       The Independent Budget,

                                                    July 27, 2010.
     Hon. Chet Edwards,
     Chairman, Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans 
         Affairs, House Committee on Appropriations, The Capitol, 
         Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Edwards: On behalf of the co-authors of the 
     Independent Budget, we would like to take this opportunity to 
     thank you for your unwavering support for our nation's sick 
     and disabled veterans, as well as all of the men and women 
     who have so honorably served this country. We appreciate your 
     efforts as Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee 
     on Military Construction and Veterans' Affairs to achieve an 
     excellent funding level for the Department of Veterans 
     Affairs (VA) once again this year. Through your leadership, 
     the VA will receive another significant funding increase for 
     FY 2011.
       More importantly, the Military Construction and Veterans 
     Affairs appropriations bill also includes approximately $50.6 
     billion in advance appropriations for the VA medical care 
     accounts--Medical Services, Medical Support and Compliance, 
     and Medical Facilities--for FY 2012. By providing the VA with 
     an advance appropriation for FY 2012, the VA will once again 
     be able to better plan for hiring critical new staff and 
     addressing demand on the health care system. The additional 
     planning time will also allow the VA to better work with 
     Congress to ensure that its true resource needs are met well 
     in advance of the start of the fiscal year.
       These actions reflect the priority that you and the House 
     leadership have placed on needs of the men and women who have 
     so honorably served this country. We offer our strong support 
     for the FY 2011 Military Construction and Veterans' Affairs 
     appropriations bill and we hope that the House will quickly 
     pass this critical legislation. Final passage of sufficient 
     funding for the VA will allow the VA to better address the 
     needs of the men and women returning from Operation Enduring 
     Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom as well as all veterans 
     who have served in the past.
           Sincerely,
     Raymond C. Kelley,
       National Legislative Director, AMVETS.
     Carl Blake,
       National Legislative Director, Paralyzed Veterans of 
     America.
     Joseph A. Violante,
       National Legislative Director, Disabled American Veterans.
     Eric A. Hilleman,
       Director, National Legislative Service, Veterans of Foreign 
     Wars.
                                  ____


 [From the National Guard Association of the United States, Inc., July 
                               14, 2010]

    NGAUS Hails House Efforts To Modernize National Guard Facilities

       Washington.--The association that represents the leadership 
     of nearly 465,000 National Guard men and women today 
     applauded efforts in the U.S. House of Representatives to 
     modernize Guard facilities across the country.
       This morning, the House appropriations subcommittee on 
     military construction and veterans' affairs (VA), led by 
     chairman Chet Edwards, D-Texas, and ranking member Zach Wamp, 
     R-Tenn., approved $200 million above the president's budget 
     request for Guard and Reserve military construction.
       The move came as the House appropriations committee marks 
     up the fiscal 2011 military construction/VA budget.
       ``Today, chairman Edwards and ranking member Wamp continued 
     to lead the congressional effort to modernize our aging 
     National Guard facilities,'' said retired Maj. Gen. Gus L. 
     Hargett Jr., NGAUS president. ``We are grateful for their 
     leadership, and the actions of the subcommittee speak volumes 
     about their support of citizen-soldiers and airmen.''
       Last year, the House appropriations subcommittee on 
     military construction and veterans affairs, took the unique 
     step of adding to its bill a block of funding to address 
     critical unfunded military construction requirements in the 
     National Guard and Reserve.
       The extra $30 million each for the Army and Air Guard 
     funded an additional eight projects, which otherwise may have 
     been lost for years or even permanently.
       NGAUS has been at the forefront of the push for additional 
     funds for military construction. Hargett sent a letter in 
     early March to House and Senate authorizers and appropriators 
     requesting additional funds for Guard facilities.
       According to the House appropriations committee press 
     release, the markup provides ``$200 million to continue the 
     subcommittee's Guard and Reserve initiative begun last year. 
     This money will go to the highest unfunded military 
     construction priorities of the commanders of the reserve 
     components of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force.''
       The appropriations mark mirrors the House-passed version of 
     the fiscal 2011 National Defense Authorization Act, which 
     authorizes an additional discretionary $60 million for the 
     Army National Guard and $50 million for the Air Guard for 
     military construction. The president's budget request for 
     Army Guard military construction for fiscal 2011 was $873.6 
     million; the Air Guard request was $177 million.
       NGAUS believes the Army Guard needs $1.5 billion annually 
     just to begin reducing a nationwide backlog of more than $13 
     billion in Army Guard military construction projects. The 
     average armory is 43 years old. Many can no longer 
     accommodate modern units and equipment.
       The Air Guard requires $300 million a year.

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Chair, I rise in support of the Military 
Construction Appropriations Act of 2011.
  This measure provides $141.1 billion for military construction of all 
kinds from military family housing, to construction of operational 
facilities in the U.S. and abroad. This funding will be used to 
construct schools, hospitals and other facilities for veteran's 
healthcare.
  The Veterans Health Administration has estimated that it will treat 
over 6.1 million patients next year. This number includes more than 
439,000 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. This measure provides $48.8 
billion for health programs within the Veterans Health Administration. 
Additionally, the bill provides $53 billion for service-connected 
compensation, pensions and benefits for the estimated 4 million 
veterans and their families.
  This measure provides $2.4 billion to further implement base closures 
and realignments outlined in the 2005 BRAC, including support for the 
re-stationing of troops and their families from overseas to the United 
States. The bill provides $1.3 billion to support our troops in 
Afghanistan and $259 million for U.S. construction funding obligations 
as part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Security Investment 
Program in that country.
  For military families living on base, the measure appropriates $1.8 
billion for housing as well as for operation and maintenance costs. 
These funds are used for everything from repairs, to furnishings, 
management, utilities, and even for mortgage insurance. To address the 
growing housing backlog for unmarried troops and trainees, the bill 
provides $190 million for Army trainee housing facilities.
  And finally, to ensure accountability, the measure provides funding 
to the Defense Department inspector general to audit these and other 
military construction projects.
  I encourage my colleagues to join me in support of this bill.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Madam Chair, I rise in strong support of 
the rule for H.R. 5822, the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs 
and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2011. I would like to thank 
my colleague, Mr. Edwards, for introducing this important bill honoring 
our continued commitment to support the brave men and women who have 
been willing to sacrifice their very lives in the service of our nation 
and the freedom we so cherish. Our armed forces and their family 
members are among the most valued members of our society, custodians of 
our freedom and protectors of our democracy. We must continually re-
commit ourselves to serving them with the same honor, dignity and 
respect with which they serve their country.
  This bill generously provides substantial funding, over 77 billion 
dollars, in the service of our men and women in uniform, veterans, and 
their families for fiscal year 2011. It is a continuation of three and 
a half years of hard work and tireless efforts on behalf of the House 
Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, 
and Related Agencies. This bill is a testament to their commitment to 
our soldiers, veterans and their

[[Page 14421]]

loved ones. Moreover, the bill contains specific guidelines and 
provisions to ensure that all funds are spent responsibly, accountably 
and in a way that serves our troops and American taxpayers.
  Of the 77 billion dollars, 18.7 billion are for Military 
Construction. The funds will provide adequate housing for our young 
military trainees bravely serving their country; it will fund 
environmental cleanup of closed or moved bases as we strategically re-
align resources; it will provide for a National Guard and Reserve 
initiative for the men and women serving their nation at home; and it 
grants funding for critical construction for overseas contingencies 
operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
  The bill also dedicates over 56 billion dollars to Veterans Affairs 
honoring those who, after serving their country overseas, returned home 
to re-integrate into the society they fought valiantly to protect. The 
majority of the funding, over 37 billion, will go to providing much 
needed and well deserved medical services for all veterans, including 
mental health services and assistance to homeless veterans. The 
remaining funding will be used for major and minor construction 
projects, medical and prosthetic research, and medical facilities in 
the service of our honored veterans.
  Finally, in Related Agencies, the bill is providing for a number of 
other critical needs, such as the National Cemetery, funding for an 
Armed Forces Retirement Home, and the Monuments Commission which 
manages and cares for the monuments and cemeteries around the world 
that honor the service of our armed forces.
  Additionally, in respect for the fact that the American public has 
rightly demanded greater efficiency in government and efforts to reduce 
our deficit spending, there are a number of important provisions to 
ensure that all funds are spent in the most effective, efficient and 
expedient way possible. The provisions include several controls for 
Veterans Affairs spending and contract oversight, as well as oversight 
provisions for all construction projects in Iraq and Afghanistan, among 
others.
  Although I am disappointed that my amendment, establishing 
portability between states for individualized education, disability and 
therapeutic benefits of a dependent of a member of the armed forces 
upon transfer of the member, was not included in the final version, I 
still gladly and proudly support this bill.
  However, I would like to reiterate that an important part of anyone's 
quality of life is their family and dependents. One of the ways in 
which we can serve the members of the armed forces who sacrifice so 
much for our safety and our liberty is to ensure that their families 
are taken care of, and eliminate the bureaucratic red tape involved in 
moving from one place to another. Members of the armed forces often 
find themselves moving, and uprooting their families and their lives. 
Hopefully such a provision, aimed at facilitating that process by 
making the educational, disability and therapeutic benefits of a child 
or dependent of a member of the armed forces transferable from one 
state to another, will be included in future legislation.
  In closing, I reiterate my strong support for this bill, and express 
my most sincere and heartfelt appreciation to everyone fighting to 
defend our country for their service and sacrifice for the good of the 
nation.
  Mr. DINGELL. Madam Chair, I rise in support of H.R. 5822, the 
Military Construction and Veterans Affairs (Mil Con-VA) and Related 
Agencies Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2011.
  I commend my friend and colleague, Chairman of the House 
Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans 
Affairs, Congressman Chet Edwards (D-TX) for writing a bill that 
provides tremendous support to our veterans and families. One of the 
greatest accomplishments since the Democrats regained control of 
Congress has been providing our veterans with a budget worthy of their 
service and sacrifice. The Mil Con-VA Appropriations Act for FY 2011 is 
no exception.
  Since the Democrats took back Congress in 2007, we have provided a 70 
percent increase in funding for veterans health care and benefits. Some 
of the highlights of this increase include the addition to the VA of 
more than 10,000 claims processors to reduce claims backlogs, 3,389 
doctors and 14,316 nurses, 145 community-based outpatient clinics, 92 
new vet centers, and more than 47,000 additional Veterans Health 
Administration employees.
  In addition, the FY 2011 Mil Con-VA Appropriations Act also fulfills 
a top priority of national veterans service organizations by continuing 
to provide advance appropriations of the VA. This way, the VA will be 
better able to plan for its future needs.
  Other important provisions in this legislation include $37.1 billion 
to improve access to medical services for all veterans; $5.2 billion 
for mental health services for our veterans suffering from post-
traumatic stress disorder, depression, and traumatic brain injury; and 
$4.2 billion to help our homeless veterans move from the streets to 
secure homes.
  Madam Chair, as a veteran of World War II, I am proud to support this 
legislation which continues the Democratic Congress' strong commitment 
to our veterans and their families. I urge my colleagues to join me in 
voting for H.R. 5822.
  Ms. BORDALLO. Madam Chair, I rise today to express my concern with 
the reduction in military construction funding to Guam for the 
realignment of U.S. Marines from Okinawa, Japan to Guam. I appreciate 
the Committee's recognition of the strategic importance of this 
realignment as well as their general support for these efforts. 
However, I remain concerned that these cuts send the wrong message at 
the wrong time. It is unfortunate that my counterparts in the 
Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs did not 
follow the funding levels for Guam military construction that were 
agreed to in H.R. 5136, the National Defense Authorization Act for 
Fiscal Year 2011. Given the recent reluctance by the Government of 
Japan to reaffirm the Guam International Agreement, I believe it is 
important to collectively move forward with a unified position.
  However, these cuts do make one point clear to my constituents. 
Congress holds the power of the purse. There are concerns on Guam and 
with certain federal agencies that the pace of construction during the 
military build-up could place an undue burden on our civilian 
infrastructure. However, I have made it clear that if construction was 
outpacing the local community's ability to handle the additional people 
we could put our foot on the brakes. Given the concerns raised by our 
local government this reduction in funding highlights how Congress can 
ensure that we get this build-up done right.
  Finally, I would like to rise in support of amendment #8 introduced 
by my colleague from Georgia, Congressman Phil Gingrey. His amendment 
would restrict funds authorized by this bill to be used for the 
purposes of eminent domain without providing payment of just 
compensation. This amendment highlights our concern that eminent domain 
is not a preferred method through which the Federal Government should 
obtain private or other government lands. I support this amendment 
because there is concern that the Department of the Navy would use the 
powers of eminent domain to obtain private and Government of Guam land 
to build a new training range. This amendment would demonstrate that I 
am opposed to any such action on Guam in the future.
  Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Madam Chair, I rise in support of H.R. 5822, 
the Fiscal Year 2011 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and 
Related Agencies Appropriations Act. It is with great pride that I 
serve on this subcommittee and I want to commend my colleague from 
Texas, Mr. Edwards, the Chairman of the Subcommittee, and our ranking 
member, my colleague from Tennessee, Mr. Wamp, for their work in 
putting together this legislation.
  The men and women of our armed forces and our veterans deserve the 
very best support and care that we can offer them and this bill 
achieves that. This legislation fulfills our commitment to their future 
and to their well being.
  We include in this appropriations bill $57.0 billion in funding for 
veterans programs, an increase of $3.9 billion over the level of 
funding we provided last year. These funds will address some of the 
major problems our Nation has in addressing the needs of our veterans, 
including those with mental illness, traumatic brain injuries, the 
homeless, and the disabled who are forced to wait countless months and 
even years to resolve their disability claims.
  The largest portion of this funding, $48.8 billion, is for veterans 
medical care. It will enable the VA doctors and staff to treat an 
estimated 6.1 million patients, including thousands of Iraq and 
Afghanistan veterans. We also continue our emphasis on mental health 
and medical services for our returning heroes who are suffering from 
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injuries.
  We also increase by 20 percent to $4.2 billion our commitment to 
providing housing and medical services to our homeless veterans. We 
must do better in providing transitional housing and serves to these 
American heroes who now find themselves with nowhere to live and 
nowhere to work.
  We also provide a 25 percent increase in funding, to $2.6 billion, to 
hire 4,000 additional claims processors to reduce the unacceptable 
backlog in claims for veterans benefits. With this increase in staffing 
levels, our Committee will have added more than 10,200 new claims 
processors over the past four years.

[[Page 14422]]

  Our committee's support has also been vital to my efforts to continue 
to support the work of the medical professionals at the Bay Pines VA 
Healthcare System, which I have the privilege to represent.
  We have opened at Bay Pines one of our Nation's most active VA 
Inspector General operations, to ferret out waste, fraud and abuse in 
veterans programs and to ensure that every dollar we appropriate to 
care for our veterans is spent as intended.
  We have also been able to speed up work on the construction of a 
brand new facility to treat veterans with mental illness and Post 
Traumatic Syndrome Disorder. We also have broken ground thin year on a 
new Ambulatory Surgery Center and Eye Treatment facility at Bay Pines, 
work is well underway on a new facility to provide radiation treatment 
for cancer patients, and we have opened two new VA medical clinics in 
northern and southern Pinellas County to better serve veterans and 
their medical needs closer to their homes.
  Finally, Madam Chair, I want to thank the members of the subcommittee 
for accepting my amendment to this legislation to ensure that we fix 
the problems associated with the national embarrassment that we find at 
Arlington National Cemetery. The committee has included $150 million in 
the bill to address the many problems, those which we already know 
about and those which we have yet to find out about, at Arlington. My 
amendment would require that the Army develop a clear timetable and 
specify their plan to resolve all identified issues before they can 
spend these funds. We owe no less to our America's fallen heroes for 
whom Arlington is their final resting place and to their families who 
share our shock and outrage at the situation that we find at one of our 
Nation's most sacred places.
  Madam Chair, this is a good bill, one that addresses the current and 
future needs of our Nation's veterans. It is also a bill that 
emphasizes what our committee and this House can do when we work 
together in a bipartisan way to solve our problems.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Madam Chair, this bill contains many worthy items, 
including a substantial investment in our Veterans Affairs programs. A 
strong safety net for our veterans is more important than ever, 
particularly in Oregon, where returning Guard and Reserve members face 
high unemployment and a difficult transition back to civilian life.
  I also want to highlight what my colleague Representative Chellie 
Pingree of Maine stated earlier in this debate: the cleanup of closed 
military bases is critical to health and growth of our communities. 
Across America, these closed bases contain discarded munitions, toxins, 
and shell fragments leftover from years of military training. Funding 
the return of these properties to safe and productive use is vital. 
Funds go directly to the development of detection and removal 
technology, the creation of skilled technician jobs, and generate 
economic growth as cleaned lands become commercial, residential, or 
recreational spaces.
  For the past decade I have worked with a bipartisan group of members 
to raise awareness of this issue. I am pleased that with the leadership 
of my friend Representative Sam Farr, the House has designated $100 
million over the President's budget request for the legacy BRAC 
account. This $460 million is critically needed to address the large 
backlog of environmental hazards still present at bases closed during 
the earliest Base Realignment and Closure rounds. I hope in future 
years we can build on this commitment to our nation's safety and 
prosperity.
  Mr. TIAHRT. Madam Chair, we have a moral obligation to fully fund our 
veteran programs. The liberties we enjoy today were earned through the 
bravery and sacrifice of patriotic Americans. Congress must ensure that 
these honorable men and women have access to benefits and top-notch 
healthcare. We can never turn our back on our veterans.
  As such, I am pleased to support H.R. 5822, the Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 
Military Construction/Department of Veterans Affairs Appropriations 
bill. This legislation continues the goal set by the Republican 
majority to prioritize veteran programs. H.R. 5822 provides $56.8 
billion in discretionary funding for the VA and $64.0 billion for 
mandatory VA programs. The legislation also makes available $37.1 
billion to improve access to medical services for all veterans, $2.4 
billion above last year's level.
  Among some of its most significant provisions, H.R. 5822 provides 
$50.6 billion in advance appropriations for VA medical accounts to 
ensure stable and uninterrupted services. It also provides new family 
caregiver benefits for disabled veterans as well as additional VA 
workers to address the continuing claims backlogs and to process new 
educational benefits. To address the needs of rural veterans, the 
legislation provides $250 million for innovative practices to improve 
access to care for veterans in rural areas. This is particularly 
important to many Kansas veterans.
  In addition to supporting this legislation, I applaud the work of all 
the Veteran Service Organizations (VSOs) who contributed to the bill. 
From the Veterans of Foreign Wars to the American Legion, VSOs provide 
the appropriations committee invaluable information on the needs of the 
veteran community. They are tremendous advocates for all veterans.
  H.R. 5822 is a good bill worthy of strong bi-partisan support. I 
encourage my colleagues to join with me in voting for this legislation.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. I yield back the balance of my time.
  The CHAIR. All time for general debate has expired.
  Pursuant to the rule, the bill shall be considered read for amendment 
under the 5-minute rule, and the bill shall be considered read through 
page 63, line 4.
  The text of that portion of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 5822

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the 
     following sums are appropriated, out of any money in the 
     Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for military 
     construction, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and related 
     agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011, and 
     for other purposes, namely:

                                TITLE I

                         DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

                      Military Construction, Army

       For acquisition, construction, installation, and equipment 
     of temporary or permanent public works, military 
     installations, facilities, and real property for the Army as 
     currently authorized by law, including personnel in the Army 
     Corps of Engineers and other personal services necessary for 
     the purposes of this appropriation, and for construction and 
     operation of facilities in support of the functions of the 
     Commander in Chief, $4,051,512,000, to remain available until 
     September 30, 2015, of which $190,000,000 shall be for 
     trainee troop housing facilities: Provided, That of this 
     amount, not to exceed $259,456,000 shall be available for 
     study, planning, design, architect and engineer services, and 
     host nation support, as authorized by law, unless the 
     Secretary of the Army determines that additional obligations 
     are necessary for such purposes and notifies the Committees 
     on Appropriations of both Houses of Congress of the 
     determination and the reasons therefor:  Provided further, 
     That, not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment 
     of this Act, the Secretary of the Army shall submit to the 
     Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of Congress an 
     expenditure plan for the funds provided for trainee troop 
     housing facilities.

              Military Construction, Navy and Marine Corps

       For acquisition, construction, installation, and equipment 
     of temporary or permanent public works, naval installations, 
     facilities, and real property for the Navy and Marine Corps 
     as currently authorized by law, including personnel in the 
     Naval Facilities Engineering Command and other personal 
     services necessary for the purposes of this appropriation, 
     $3,587,376,000, to remain available until September 30, 2015: 
     Provided, That of this amount, not to exceed $123,750,000 
     shall be available for study, planning, design, and architect 
     and engineer services, as authorized by law, unless the 
     Secretary of the Navy determines that additional obligations 
     are necessary for such purposes and notifies the Committees 
     on Appropriations of both Houses of Congress of the 
     determination and the reasons therefor.

                    Military Construction, Air Force

       For acquisition, construction, installation, and equipment 
     of temporary or permanent public works, military 
     installations, facilities, and real property for the Air 
     Force as currently authorized by law, $1,276,385,000, to 
     remain available until September 30, 2015: Provided, That of 
     this amount, not to exceed $73,536,000 shall be available for 
     study, planning, design, and architect and engineer services, 
     as authorized by law, unless the Secretary of the Air Force 
     determines that additional obligations are necessary for such 
     purposes and notifies the Committees on Appropriations of 
     both Houses of Congress of the determination and the reasons 
     therefor.

                  Military Construction, Defense-wide

                     (including transfer of funds)

       For acquisition, construction, installation, and equipment 
     of temporary or permanent public works, installations, 
     facilities, and real property for activities and agencies of 
     the Department of Defense (other than the military 
     departments), as currently authorized by law, $2,999,612,000, 
     to remain available until September 30, 2015: Provided, That 
     such amounts of this appropriation as may be determined by 
     the Secretary of Defense may be transferred to such 
     appropriations of the Department of Defense available for 
     military construction or family housing as the Secretary may 
     designate, to be merged with and to be available for the same 
     purposes, and for the same time period, as the appropriation 
     or fund to which transferred:

[[Page 14423]]

     Provided further, That of the amount appropriated, not to 
     exceed $434,217,000 shall be available for study, planning, 
     design, and architect and engineer services, as authorized by 
     law, unless the Secretary of Defense determines that 
     additional obligations are necessary for such purposes and 
     notifies the Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of 
     Congress of the determination and the reasons therefor: 
     Provided further, That of the amount appropriated, 
     notwithstanding any other provision of law, $31,863,000 shall 
     be available for payments to the North Atlantic Treaty 
     Organization for the planning, design, and construction of a 
     new North Atlantic Treaty Organization headquarters.

               Military Construction, Army National Guard

       For construction, acquisition, expansion, rehabilitation, 
     and conversion of facilities for the training and 
     administration of the Army National Guard, and contributions 
     therefor, as authorized by chapter 1803 of title 10, United 
     States Code, and Military Construction Authorization Acts, 
     $1,020,228,000, to remain available until September 30, 2015, 
     of which $60,000,000 shall be for critical unfunded 
     requirements: Provided, That of the amount appropriated, not 
     to exceed $57,182,000 shall be available for study, planning, 
     design, and architect and engineer services, as authorized by 
     law, unless the Director of the Army National Guard 
     determines that additional obligations are necessary for such 
     purposes and notifies the Committees on Appropriations of 
     both Houses of Congress of the determination and the reasons 
     therefor: Provided further, That, not later than 30 days 
     after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of 
     the Army National Guard shall submit to the Committees on 
     Appropriations of both Houses of Congress an expenditure plan 
     for the funds provided for critical unfunded requirements.

               Military Construction, Air National Guard

       For construction, acquisition, expansion, rehabilitation, 
     and conversion of facilities for the training and 
     administration of the Air National Guard, and contributions 
     therefor, as authorized by chapter 1803 of title 10, United 
     States Code, and Military Construction Authorization Acts, 
     $292,386,000, to remain available until September 30, 2015, 
     of which $50,000,000 shall be for critical unfunded 
     requirements: Provided, That of the amount appropriated, not 
     to exceed $21,214,000 shall be available for study, planning, 
     design, and architect and engineer services, as authorized by 
     law, unless the Director of the Air National Guard determines 
     that additional obligations are necessary for such purposes 
     and notifies the Committees on Appropriations of both Houses 
     of Congress of the determination and the reasons therefor: 
     Provided further, That, not later than 30 days after the date 
     of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Air 
     National Guard shall submit to the Committees on 
     Appropriations of both Houses of Congress an expenditure plan 
     for the funds provided for critical unfunded requirements.

                  Military Construction, Army Reserve

       For construction, acquisition, expansion, rehabilitation, 
     and conversion of facilities for the training and 
     administration of the Army Reserve as authorized by chapter 
     1803 of title 10, United States Code, and Military 
     Construction Authorization Acts, $358,325,000, to remain 
     available until September 30, 2015, of which $30,000,000 
     shall be for critical unfunded requirements: Provided, That 
     of the amount appropriated, not to exceed $26,250,000 shall 
     be available for study, planning, design, and architect and 
     engineer services, as authorized by law, unless the Secretary 
     of the Army determines that additional obligations are 
     necessary for such purposes and notifies the Committees on 
     Appropriations of both Houses of Congress of the 
     determination and the reasons therefor: Provided further, 
     That, not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment 
     of this Act, the Chief of Army Reserve shall submit to the 
     Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of Congress an 
     expenditure plan for the funds provided for critical unfunded 
     requirements.

                  Military Construction, Navy Reserve

       For construction, acquisition, expansion, rehabilitation, 
     and conversion of facilities for the training and 
     administration of the reserve components of the Navy and 
     Marine Corps as authorized by chapter 1803 of title 10, 
     United States Code, and Military Construction Authorization 
     Acts, $91,557,000, to remain available until September 30, 
     2015, of which $15,000,000 shall be for critical unfunded 
     requirements of the Navy Reserve and $15,000,000 shall be for 
     critical unfunded requirements of the Marine Forces Reserve: 
     Provided, That of the amount appropriated, not to exceed 
     $1,857,000 shall be available for study, planning, design, 
     and architect and engineer services, as authorized by law, 
     unless the Secretary of the Navy determines that additional 
     obligations are necessary for such purposes and notifies the 
     Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of Congress of 
     the determination and the reasons therefor: Provided further, 
     That, not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment 
     of this Act, the Chief of Navy Reserve and the Commander, 
     Marine Forces Reserve shall submit to the Committees on 
     Appropriations of both Houses of Congress an expenditure plan 
     for the funds provided for critical unfunded requirements.

                Military Construction, Air Force Reserve

       For construction, acquisition, expansion, rehabilitation, 
     and conversion of facilities for the training and 
     administration of the Air Force Reserve as authorized by 
     chapter 1803 of title 10, United States Code, and Military 
     Construction Authorization Acts, $48,182,000, to remain 
     available until September 30, 2015, of which $30,000,000 
     shall be for critical unfunded requirements: Provided, That 
     of the amount appropriated, not to exceed $2,503,000 shall be 
     available for study, planning, design, and architect and 
     engineer services, as authorized by law, unless the Secretary 
     of the Air Force determines that additional obligations are 
     necessary for such purposes and notifies the Committees on 
     Appropriations of both Houses of Congress of the 
     determination and the reasons therefor: Provided further, 
     That, not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment 
     of this Act, the Chief of Air Force Reserve shall submit to 
     the Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of Congress 
     an expenditure plan for the funds provided for critical 
     unfunded requirements.

                   North Atlantic Treaty Organization

                      Security Investment Program

       For the United States share of the cost of the North 
     Atlantic Treaty Organization Security Investment Program for 
     the acquisition and construction of military facilities and 
     installations (including international military headquarters) 
     and for related expenses for the collective defense of the 
     North Atlantic Treaty Area as authorized by section 2806 of 
     title 10, United States Code, and Military Construction 
     Authorization Acts, $258,884,000, to remain available until 
     expended.

                   Family Housing Construction, Army

       For expenses of family housing for the Army for 
     construction, including acquisition, replacement, addition, 
     expansion, extension, and alteration, as authorized by law, 
     $92,369,000, to remain available until September 30, 2015.

             Family Housing Operation and Maintenance, Army

       For expenses of family housing for the Army for operation 
     and maintenance, including debt payment, leasing, minor 
     construction, principal and interest charges, and insurance 
     premiums, as authorized by law, $518,140,000.

           Family Housing Construction, Navy and Marine Corps

       For expenses of family housing for the Navy and Marine 
     Corps for construction, including acquisition, replacement, 
     addition, expansion, extension, and alteration, as authorized 
     by law, $186,444,000, to remain available until September 30, 
     2015.

    Family Housing Operation and Maintenance, Navy and Marine Corps

       For expenses of family housing for the Navy and Marine 
     Corps for operation and maintenance, including debt payment, 
     leasing, minor construction, principal and interest charges, 
     and insurance premiums, as authorized by law, $366,346,000.

                 Family Housing Construction, Air Force

       For expenses of family housing for the Air Force for 
     construction, including acquisition, replacement, addition, 
     expansion, extension, and alteration, as authorized by law, 
     $78,025,000, to remain available until September 30, 2015.

          Family Housing Operation and Maintenance, Air Force

       For expenses of family housing for the Air Force for 
     operation and maintenance, including debt payment, leasing, 
     minor construction, principal and interest charges, and 
     insurance premiums, as authorized by law, $513,792,000.

         Family Housing Operation and Maintenance, Defense-wide

       For expenses of family housing for the activities and 
     agencies of the Department of Defense (other than the 
     military departments) for operation and maintenance, leasing, 
     and minor construction, as authorized by law, $50,464,000.

         Department of Defense Family Housing Improvement Fund

       For the Department of Defense Family Housing Improvement 
     Fund, $1,096,000, to remain available until expended, for 
     family housing initiatives undertaken pursuant to section 
     2883 of title 10, United States Code, providing alternative 
     means of acquiring and improving military family housing and 
     supporting facilities.

                       Homeowners Assistance Fund

       For the Homeowners Assistance Fund established by section 
     1013 of the Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan Development 
     Act of 1966, as amended (42 U.S.C. 3374), $16,515,000, to 
     remain available until expended.

          Chemical Demilitarization Construction, Defense-wide

       For expenses of construction, not otherwise provided for, 
     necessary for the destruction of the United States stockpile 
     of lethal

[[Page 14424]]

     chemical agents and munitions in accordance with section 1412 
     of the Department of Defense Authorization Act, 1986 (50 
     U.S.C. 1521), and for the destruction of other chemical 
     warfare materials that are not in the chemical weapon 
     stockpile, as currently authorized by law, $124,971,000, to 
     remain available until September 30, 2015, which shall be 
     only for the Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives program.

            Department of Defense Base Closure Account 1990

       For deposit into the Department of Defense Base Closure 
     Account 1990, established by section 2906(a)(1) of the 
     Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 (10 U.S.C. 
     2687 note), $460,474,000, to remain available until expended.

            Department of Defense Base Closure Account 2005

       For deposit into the Department of Defense Base Closure 
     Account 2005, established by section 2906A(a)(1) of the 
     Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 (10 U.S.C. 
     2687 note), $2,354,285,000, to remain available until 
     expended: Provided, That the Department of Defense shall 
     notify the Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of 
     Congress 14 days prior to obligating an amount for a 
     construction project that exceeds or reduces the amount 
     identified for that project in the most recently submitted 
     budget request for this account by 20 percent or $2,000,000, 
     whichever is less: Provided further, That the previous 
     proviso shall not apply to projects costing less than 
     $5,000,000, except for those projects not previously 
     identified in any budget submission for this account and 
     exceeding the minor construction threshold under section 2805 
     of title 10, United States Code.

                       Administrative Provisions

       Sec. 101.  None of the funds made available in this title 
     shall be expended for payments under a cost-plus-a-fixed-fee 
     contract for construction, where cost estimates exceed 
     $25,000, to be performed within the United States, except 
     Alaska, without the specific approval in writing of the 
     Secretary of Defense setting forth the reasons therefor.
       Sec. 102.  Funds made available in this title for 
     construction shall be available for hire of passenger motor 
     vehicles.
       Sec. 103.  Funds made available in this title for 
     construction may be used for advances to the Federal Highway 
     Administration, Department of Transportation, for the 
     construction of access roads as authorized by section 210 of 
     title 23, United States Code, when projects authorized 
     therein are certified as important to the national defense by 
     the Secretary of Defense.
       Sec. 104.  None of the funds made available in this title 
     may be used to begin construction of new bases in the United 
     States for which specific appropriations have not been made.
       Sec. 105.  None of the funds made available in this title 
     shall be used for purchase of land or land easements in 
     excess of 100 percent of the value as determined by the Army 
     Corps of Engineers or the Naval Facilities Engineering 
     Command, except: (1) where there is a determination of value 
     by a Federal court; (2) purchases negotiated by the Attorney 
     General or the designee of the Attorney General; (3) where 
     the estimated value is less than $25,000; or (4) as otherwise 
     determined by the Secretary of Defense to be in the public 
     interest.
       Sec. 106.  None of the funds made available in this title 
     shall be used to: (1) acquire land; (2) provide for site 
     preparation; or (3) install utilities for any family housing, 
     except housing for which funds have been made available in 
     annual Acts making appropriations for military construction.
       Sec. 107.  None of the funds made available in this title 
     for minor construction may be used to transfer or relocate 
     any activity from one base or installation to another, 
     without prior notification to the Committees on 
     Appropriations of both Houses of Congress.
       Sec. 108.  None of the funds made available in this title 
     may be used for the procurement of steel for any construction 
     project or activity for which American steel producers, 
     fabricators, and manufacturers have been denied the 
     opportunity to compete for such steel procurement.
       Sec. 109.  None of the funds available to the Department of 
     Defense for military construction or family housing during 
     the current fiscal year may be used to pay real property 
     taxes in any foreign nation.
       Sec. 110.  None of the funds made available in this title 
     may be used to initiate a new installation overseas without 
     prior notification to the Committees on Appropriations of 
     both Houses of Congress.
       Sec. 111.  None of the funds made available in this title 
     may be obligated for architect and engineer contracts 
     estimated by the Government to exceed $500,000 for projects 
     to be accomplished in Japan, in any North Atlantic Treaty 
     Organization member country, or in countries within the 
     United States Central Command Area of Responsibility, unless 
     such contracts are awarded to United States firms or United 
     States firms in joint venture with host nation firms.
       Sec. 112.  None of the funds made available in this title 
     for military construction in the United States territories 
     and possessions in the Pacific and on Kwajalein Atoll, or in 
     countries within the United States Central Command Area of 
     Responsibility, may be used to award any contract estimated 
     by the Government to exceed $1,000,000 to a foreign 
     contractor: Provided, That this section shall not be 
     applicable to contract awards for which the lowest responsive 
     and responsible bid of a United States contractor exceeds the 
     lowest responsive and responsible bid of a foreign contractor 
     by greater than 20 percent: Provided further, That this 
     section shall not apply to contract awards for military 
     construction on Kwajalein Atoll for which the lowest 
     responsive and responsible bid is submitted by a Marshallese 
     contractor.
       Sec. 113.  The Secretary of Defense is to inform the 
     appropriate committees of both Houses of Congress, including 
     the Committees on Appropriations, of the plans and scope of 
     any proposed military exercise involving United States 
     personnel 30 days prior to its occurring, if amounts expended 
     for construction, either temporary or permanent, are 
     anticipated to exceed $100,000.
       Sec. 114.  Not more than 20 percent of the funds made 
     available in this title which are limited for obligation 
     during the current fiscal year shall be obligated during the 
     last two months of the fiscal year.
       Sec. 115.  Funds appropriated to the Department of Defense 
     for construction in prior years shall be available for 
     construction authorized for each such military department by 
     the authorizations enacted into law during the current 
     session of Congress.
       Sec. 116.  For military construction or family housing 
     projects that are being completed with funds otherwise 
     expired or lapsed for obligation, expired or lapsed funds may 
     be used to pay the cost of associated supervision, 
     inspection, overhead, engineering and design on those 
     projects and on subsequent claims, if any.
       Sec. 117.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any 
     funds made available to a military department or defense 
     agency for the construction of military projects may be 
     obligated for a military construction project or contract, or 
     for any portion of such a project or contract, at any time 
     before the end of the fourth fiscal year after the fiscal 
     year for which funds for such project were made available, if 
     the funds obligated for such project: (1) are obligated from 
     funds available for military construction projects; and (2) 
     do not exceed the amount appropriated for such project, plus 
     any amount by which the cost of such project is increased 
     pursuant to law.

                     (including transfer of funds)

       Sec. 118.  In addition to any other transfer authority 
     available to the Department of Defense, proceeds deposited to 
     the Department of Defense Base Closure Account established by 
     section 207(a)(1) of the Defense Authorization Amendments and 
     Base Closure and Realignment Act (10 U.S.C. 2687 note) 
     pursuant to section 207(a)(2)(C) of such Act, may be 
     transferred to the account established by section 2906(a)(1) 
     of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 (10 
     U.S.C. 2687 note), to be merged with, and to be available for 
     the same purposes and the same time period as that account.

                     (including transfer of funds)

       Sec. 119.  Subject to 30 days prior notification, or 14 
     days for a notification provided in an electronic medium 
     pursuant to sections 480 and 2883, of title 10, United States 
     Code, to the Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of 
     Congress, such additional amounts as may be determined by the 
     Secretary of Defense may be transferred to: (1) the 
     Department of Defense Family Housing Improvement Fund from 
     amounts appropriated for construction in ``Family Housing'' 
     accounts, to be merged with and to be available for the same 
     purposes and for the same period of time as amounts 
     appropriated directly to the Fund; or (2) the Department of 
     Defense Military Unaccompanied Housing Improvement Fund from 
     amounts appropriated for construction of military 
     unaccompanied housing in ``Military Construction'' accounts, 
     to be merged with and to be available for the same purposes 
     and for the same period of time as amounts appropriated 
     directly to the Fund: Provided, That appropriations made 
     available to the Funds shall be available to cover the costs, 
     as defined in section 502(5) of the Congressional Budget Act 
     of 1974, of direct loans or loan guarantees issued by the 
     Department of Defense pursuant to the provisions of 
     subchapter IV of chapter 169 of title 10, United States Code, 
     pertaining to alternative means of acquiring and improving 
     military family housing, military unaccompanied housing, and 
     supporting facilities.
       Sec. 120. (a) Not later than 60 days before issuing any 
     solicitation for a contract with the private sector for 
     military family housing the Secretary of the military 
     department concerned shall submit to the Committees on 
     Appropriations of both Houses of Congress the notice 
     described in subsection (b).
       (b)(1) A notice referred to in subsection (a) is a notice 
     of any guarantee (including the making of mortgage or rental 
     payments) proposed to be made by the Secretary to the private 
     party under the contract involved in the event of--
       (A) the closure or realignment of the installation for 
     which housing is provided under the contract;

[[Page 14425]]

       (B) a reduction in force of units stationed at such 
     installation; or
       (C) the extended deployment overseas of units stationed at 
     such installation.
       (2) Each notice under this subsection shall specify the 
     nature of the guarantee involved and assess the extent and 
     likelihood, if any, of the liability of the Federal 
     Government with respect to the guarantee.

                     (including transfer of funds)

       Sec. 121.  In addition to any other transfer authority 
     available to the Department of Defense, amounts may be 
     transferred from the accounts established by sections 
     2906(a)(1) and 2906A(a)(1) of the Defense Base Closure and 
     Realignment Act of 1990 (10 U.S.C. 2687 note), to the fund 
     established by section 1013(d) of the Demonstration Cities 
     and Metropolitan Development Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 3374) to 
     pay for expenses associated with the Homeowners Assistance 
     Program incurred under 42 U.S.C. 3374(a)(1)(A). Any amounts 
     transferred shall be merged with and be available for the 
     same purposes and for the same time period as the fund to 
     which transferred.
       Sec. 122.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
     funds made available in this title for operation and 
     maintenance of family housing shall be the exclusive source 
     of funds for repair and maintenance of all family housing 
     units, including general or flag officer quarters: Provided, 
     That not more than $35,000 per unit may be spent annually for 
     the maintenance and repair of any general or flag officer 
     quarters without 30 days prior notification, or 14 days for a 
     notification provided in an electronic medium pursuant to 
     sections 480 and 2883 of title 10, United States Code, to the 
     Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of Congress, 
     except that an after-the-fact notification shall be submitted 
     if the limitation is exceeded solely due to costs associated 
     with environmental remediation that could not be reasonably 
     anticipated at the time of the budget submission: Provided 
     further, That the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) is 
     to report annually to the Committees on Appropriations of 
     both Houses of Congress all operation and maintenance 
     expenditures for each individual general or flag officer 
     quarters for the prior fiscal year.
       Sec. 123.  Amounts contained in the Ford Island Improvement 
     Account established by subsection (h) of section 2814 of 
     title 10, United States Code, are appropriated and shall be 
     available until expended for the purposes specified in 
     subsection (i)(1) of such section or until transferred 
     pursuant to subsection (i)(3) of such section.
       Sec. 124.  None of the funds made available in this title, 
     or in any Act making appropriations for military construction 
     which remain available for obligation, may be obligated or 
     expended to carry out a military construction, land 
     acquisition, or family housing project at or for a military 
     installation approved for closure, or at a military 
     installation for the purposes of supporting a function that 
     has been approved for realignment to another installation, in 
     2005 under the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 
     1990 (part A of title XXIX of Public Law 101-510; 10 U.S.C. 
     2687 note), unless such a project at a military installation 
     approved for realignment will support a continuing mission or 
     function at that installation or a new mission or function 
     that is planned for that installation, or unless the 
     Secretary of Defense certifies that the cost to the United 
     States of carrying out such project would be less than the 
     cost to the United States of cancelling such project, or if 
     the project is at an active component base that shall be 
     established as an enclave or in the case of projects having 
     multi-agency use, that another Government agency has 
     indicated it will assume ownership of the completed project. 
     The Secretary of Defense may not transfer funds made 
     available as a result of this limitation from any military 
     construction project, land acquisition, or family housing 
     project to another account or use such funds for another 
     purpose or project without the prior approval of the 
     Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of Congress. This 
     section shall not apply to military construction projects, 
     land acquisition, or family housing projects for which the 
     project is vital to the national security or the protection 
     of health, safety, or environmental quality: Provided, That 
     the Secretary of Defense shall notify the congressional 
     defense committees within seven days of a decision to carry 
     out such a military construction project.

                     (including transfer of funds)

       Sec. 125.  During the 5-year period after appropriations 
     available in this Act to the Department of Defense for 
     military construction and family housing operation and 
     maintenance and construction have expired for obligation, 
     upon a determination that such appropriations will not be 
     necessary for the liquidation of obligations or for making 
     authorized adjustments to such appropriations for obligations 
     incurred during the period of availability of such 
     appropriations, unobligated balances of such appropriations 
     may be transferred into the appropriation ``Foreign Currency 
     Fluctuations, Construction, Defense'', to be merged with and 
     to be available for the same time period and for the same 
     purposes as the appropriation to which transferred.
       Sec. 126.  None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made 
     available in this title may be used for any action that is 
     related to or promotes the expansion of the boundaries or 
     size of the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site, Colorado.
       Sec. 127.  Amounts appropriated or otherwise made available 
     in an account funded under the headings in this title may be 
     transferred among projects and activities within the account 
     in accordance with the reprogramming guidelines for military 
     construction and family housing construction contained in the 
     report of the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
     Representatives to accompany this bill and in the guidance 
     for military construction reprogrammings and notifications 
     contained in Department of Defense Financial Management 
     Regulation 7000.14-R, Volume 3, Chapter 7, of December 1996, 
     as in effect on the date of enactment of this Act.

                                TITLE II

                     DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

                    Veterans Benefits Administration

                       compensation and pensions

                     (including transfer of funds)

       For the payment of compensation benefits to or on behalf of 
     veterans and a pilot program for disability examinations as 
     authorized by section 107 and chapters 11, 13, 18, 51, 53, 
     55, and 61 of title 38, United States Code; pension benefits 
     to or on behalf of veterans as authorized by chapters 15, 51, 
     53, 55, and 61 of title 38, United States Code; and burial 
     benefits, the Reinstated Entitlement Program for Survivors, 
     emergency and other officers' retirement pay, adjusted-
     service credits and certificates, payment of premiums due on 
     commercial life insurance policies guaranteed under the 
     provisions of title IV of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act 
     (50 U.S.C. App. 541 et seq.) and for other benefits as 
     authorized by sections 107, 1312, 1977, and 2106, and 
     chapters 23, 51, 53, 55, and 61 of title 38, United States 
     Code, $53,492,234,000, to remain available until expended: 
     Provided, That not to exceed $30,423,000 of the amount 
     appropriated under this heading shall be reimbursed to 
     ``General operating expenses'', ``Medical support and 
     compliance'', and ``Information technology systems'' for 
     necessary expenses in implementing the provisions of chapters 
     51, 53, and 55 of title 38, United States Code, the funding 
     source for which is specifically provided as the 
     ``Compensation and pensions'' appropriation: Provided 
     further, That such sums as may be earned on an actual 
     qualifying patient basis, shall be reimbursed to ``Medical 
     care collections fund'' to augment the funding of individual 
     medical facilities for nursing home care provided to 
     pensioners as authorized.

                         readjustment benefits

       For the payment of readjustment and rehabilitation benefits 
     to or on behalf of veterans as authorized by chapters 21, 30, 
     31, 33, 34, 35, 36, 39, 51, 53, 55, and 61 of title 38, 
     United States Code, $10,440,245,000, to remain available 
     until expended: Provided, That expenses for rehabilitation 
     program services and assistance which the Secretary is 
     authorized to provide under subsection (a) of section 3104 of 
     title 38, United States Code, other than under paragraphs 
     (1), (2), (5), and (11) of that subsection, shall be charged 
     to this account.

                   veterans insurance and indemnities

       For military and naval insurance, national service life 
     insurance, servicemen's indemnities, service-disabled 
     veterans insurance, and veterans mortgage life insurance as 
     authorized by title 38, United States Code, chapters 19 and 
     21, $62,589,000, to remain available until expended.

                 veterans housing benefit program fund

       For the cost of direct and guaranteed loans, such sums as 
     may be necessary to carry out the program, as authorized by 
     subchapters I through III of chapter 37 of title 38, United 
     States Code: Provided, That such costs, including the cost of 
     modifying such loans, shall be as defined in section 502 of 
     the Congressional Budget Act of 1974: Provided further, That 
     during fiscal year 2011, within the resources available, not 
     to exceed $500,000 in gross obligations for direct loans are 
     authorized for specially adapted housing loans.
       In addition, for administrative expenses to carry out the 
     direct and guaranteed loan programs, $163,646,000.

            vocational rehabilitation loans program account

       For the cost of direct loans, $48,000, as authorized by 
     chapter 31 of title 38, United States Code: Provided, That 
     such costs, including the cost of modifying such loans, shall 
     be as defined in section 502 of the Congressional Budget Act 
     of 1974: Provided further, That funds made available under 
     this heading are available to subsidize gross obligations for 
     the principal amount of direct loans not to exceed 
     $3,042,000.
       In addition, for administrative expenses necessary to carry 
     out the direct loan program, $337,000, which may be paid to 
     the appropriation for ``General operating expenses''.

          native american veteran housing loan program account

       For administrative expenses to carry out the direct loan 
     program authorized by subchapter V of chapter 37 of title 38, 
     United States Code, $707,000.

[[Page 14426]]



                     Veterans Health Administration

                            medical services

                     (including transfer of funds)

       For necessary expenses for furnishing, as authorized by 
     law, inpatient and outpatient care and treatment to 
     beneficiaries of the Department of Veterans Affairs and 
     veterans described in section 1705(a) of title 38, United 
     States Code, including care and treatment in facilities not 
     under the jurisdiction of the Department, and including 
     medical supplies and equipment, food services, and salaries 
     and expenses of health care employees hired under title 38, 
     United States Code, aid to State homes as authorized by 
     section 1741 of title 38, United States Code, assistance and 
     support services for caregivers as authorized by section 
     1720G of title 38, United States Code, and loan repayments 
     authorized by section 604 of Public Law 111-163, 
     $39,649,985,000, plus reimbursements, shall become available 
     on October 1, 2011, and shall remain available until 
     September 30, 2012: Provided, That, of the amount made 
     available under this heading $1,015,000,000 shall remain 
     available until September 30, 2013: Provided further, That, 
     notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of 
     Veterans Affairs shall establish a priority for the provision 
     of medical treatment for veterans who have service-connected 
     disabilities, lower income, or have special needs: Provided 
     further, That, notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
     the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall give priority funding 
     for the provision of basic medical benefits to veterans in 
     enrollment priority groups 1 through 6: Provided further, 
     That, notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 
     Secretary of Veterans Affairs may authorize the dispensing of 
     prescription drugs from Veterans Health Administration 
     facilities to enrolled veterans with privately written 
     prescriptions based on requirements established by the 
     Secretary: Provided further, That the implementation of the 
     program described in the previous proviso shall incur no 
     additional cost to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

                     medical support and compliance

       For necessary expenses in the administration of the 
     medical, hospital, nursing home, domiciliary, construction, 
     supply, and research activities, as authorized by law; 
     administrative expenses in support of capital policy 
     activities; and administrative and legal expenses of the 
     Department for collecting and recovering amounts owed the 
     Department as authorized under chapter 17 of title 38, United 
     States Code, and the Federal Medical Care Recovery Act (42 
     U.S.C. 2651 et seq.); $5,535,000,000, plus reimbursements, 
     shall become available on October 1, 2011, and shall remain 
     available until September 30, 2012: Provided, That, of the 
     amount made available under this heading, $145,000,000 shall 
     remain available until September 30, 2013.

                           medical facilities

       For necessary expenses for the maintenance and operation of 
     hospitals, nursing homes, and domiciliary facilities and 
     other necessary facilities of the Veterans Health 
     Administration; for administrative expenses in support of 
     planning, design, project management, real property 
     acquisition and disposition, construction, and renovation of 
     any facility under the jurisdiction or for the use of the 
     Department; for oversight, engineering, and architectural 
     activities not charged to project costs; for repairing, 
     altering, improving, or providing facilities in the several 
     hospitals and homes under the jurisdiction of the Department, 
     not otherwise provided for, either by contract or by the hire 
     of temporary employees and purchase of materials; for leases 
     of facilities; and for laundry services, $5,426,000,000, plus 
     reimbursements, shall become available on October 1, 2011, 
     and shall remain available until September 30, 2012: 
     Provided, That, of the amount made available under this 
     heading, $145,000,000 shall remain available until September 
     30, 2013: Provided further, That, of the amount available for 
     fiscal year 2012, $130,000,000 for non-recurring maintenance 
     shall be allocated in a manner not subject to the Veterans 
     Equitable Resource Allocation.

                    medical and prosthetic research

       For necessary expenses in carrying out programs of medical 
     and prosthetic research and development as authorized by 
     chapter 73 of title 38, United States Code, $590,000,000, 
     plus reimbursements, shall remain available until September 
     30, 2012.

                    National Cemetery Administration

       For necessary expenses of the National Cemetery 
     Administration for operations and maintenance, not otherwise 
     provided for, including uniforms or allowances therefor; 
     cemeterial expenses as authorized by law; purchase of one 
     passenger motor vehicle for use in cemeterial operations; 
     hire of passenger motor vehicles; and repair, alteration or 
     improvement of facilities under the jurisdiction of the 
     National Cemetery Administration, $259,004,000, of which not 
     to exceed $24,200,000 shall remain available until September 
     30, 2012.

                      Departmental Administration

                       general operating expenses

       For necessary operating expenses of the Department of 
     Veterans Affairs, not otherwise provided for, including 
     administrative expenses in support of Department-wide capital 
     planning, management and policy activities, uniforms, or 
     allowances therefor; not to exceed $25,000 for official 
     reception and representation expenses; hire of passenger 
     motor vehicles; and reimbursement of the General Services 
     Administration for security guard services, and the 
     Department of Defense for the cost of overseas employee mail, 
     $2,601,389,000: Provided, That expenses for services and 
     assistance authorized under paragraphs (1), (2), (5), and 
     (11) of section 3104(a) of title 38, United States Code, that 
     the Secretary of Veterans Affairs determines are necessary to 
     enable entitled veterans: (1) to the maximum extent feasible, 
     to become employable and to obtain and maintain suitable 
     employment; or (2) to achieve maximum independence in daily 
     living, shall be charged to this account: Provided further, 
     That the Veterans Benefits Administration shall be funded at 
     not less than $2,162,776,000: Provided further, That of the 
     funds made available under this heading, not to exceed 
     $111,000,000 shall remain available until September 30, 2012: 
     Provided further, That from the funds made available under 
     this heading, the Veterans Benefits Administration may 
     purchase (on a one-for-one replacement basis only) up to two 
     passenger motor vehicles for use in operations of that 
     Administration in Manila, Philippines.

                     information technology systems

       For necessary expenses for information technology systems 
     and telecommunications support, including developmental 
     information systems and operational information systems; for 
     pay and associated costs; and for the capital asset 
     acquisition of information technology systems, including 
     management and related contractual costs of said 
     acquisitions, including contractual costs associated with 
     operations authorized by section 3109 of title 5, United 
     States Code, $3,222,000,000, plus reimbursements, shall 
     remain available until September 30, 2012: Provided, That 
     none of the funds made available under this heading may be 
     obligated until the Department of Veterans Affairs submits to 
     the Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of Congress, 
     and such Committees approve, a plan for expenditure that: (1) 
     meets the capital planning and investment control review 
     requirements established by the Office of Management and 
     Budget; (2) complies with the Department of Veterans Affairs 
     enterprise architecture; (3) conforms with an established 
     enterprise life cycle methodology; and (4) complies with the 
     acquisition rules, requirements, guidelines, and systems 
     acquisition management practices of the Federal Government: 
     Provided further, That not later than 30 days after the date 
     of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans 
     Affairs shall submit to the Committees on Appropriations of 
     both Houses of Congress a reprogramming base letter which 
     sets forth, by project, the operations and maintenance costs, 
     with salary expenses separately designated, and development 
     costs to be carried out utilizing amounts made available 
     under this heading.

                      office of inspector general

       For necessary expenses of the Office of Inspector General, 
     to include information technology, in carrying out the 
     provisions of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. 
     App.), $115,367,000, of which $6,000,000 shall remain 
     available until September 30, 2012.

                      construction, major projects

       For constructing, altering, extending, and improving any of 
     the facilities, including parking projects, under the 
     jurisdiction or for the use of the Department of Veterans 
     Affairs, or for any of the purposes set forth in sections 
     316, 2404, 2406, 8102, 8103, 8106, 8108, 8109, 8110, and 8122 
     of title 38, United States Code, including planning, 
     architectural and engineering services, construction 
     management services, maintenance or guarantee period services 
     costs associated with equipment guarantees provided under the 
     project, services of claims analysts, offsite utility and 
     storm drainage system construction costs, and site 
     acquisition, where the estimated cost of a project is more 
     than the amount set forth in section 8104(a)(3)(A) of title 
     38, United States Code, or where funds for a project were 
     made available in a previous major project appropriation, 
     $1,166,036,000, to remain available until expended, of which 
     $6,000,000 shall be to make reimbursements as provided in 
     section 13 of the Contract Disputes Act of 1978 (41 U.S.C. 
     612) for claims paid for contract disputes: Provided, That 
     except for advance planning activities, including needs 
     assessments which may or may not lead to capital investments, 
     and other capital asset management related activities, 
     including portfolio development and management activities, 
     and investment strategy studies funded through the advance 
     planning fund and the planning and design activities funded 
     through the design fund, including needs assessments which 
     may or may not lead to capital investments, and salaries and 
     associated costs of the resident engineers who oversee those 
     capital investments funded through this account, and funds 
     provided for the purchase of land for the National Cemetery 
     Administration through the land acquisition line item, none 
     of the funds made available under this heading shall be used 
     for any project which has not been approved by the Congress 
     in the

[[Page 14427]]

     budgetary process: Provided further, That funds made 
     available under this heading for fiscal year 2011, for each 
     approved project shall be obligated: (1) by the awarding of a 
     construction documents contract by September 30, 2011; and 
     (2) by the awarding of a construction contract by September 
     30, 2012: Provided further, That the Secretary of Veterans 
     Affairs shall promptly submit to the Committees on 
     Appropriations of both Houses of Congress a written report on 
     any approved major construction project for which obligations 
     are not incurred within the time limitations established 
     above.

                      construction, minor projects

       For constructing, altering, extending, and improving any of 
     the facilities, including parking projects, under the 
     jurisdiction or for the use of the Department of Veterans 
     Affairs, including planning and assessments of needs which 
     may lead to capital investments, architectural and 
     engineering services, maintenance or guarantee period 
     services costs associated with equipment guarantees provided 
     under the project, services of claims analysts, offsite 
     utility and storm drainage system construction costs, and 
     site acquisition, or for any of the purposes set forth in 
     sections 316, 2404, 2406, 8102, 8103, 8106, 8108, 8109, 8110, 
     8122, and 8162 of title 38, United States Code, where the 
     estimated cost of a project is equal to or less than the 
     amount set forth in section 8104(a)(3)(A) of title 38, United 
     States Code, $507,700,000, to remain available until 
     expended, along with unobligated balances of previous 
     ``Construction, minor projects'' appropriations which are 
     hereby made available for any project where the estimated 
     cost is equal to or less than the amount set forth in such 
     section: Provided, That funds made available under this 
     heading shall be for: (1) repairs to any of the nonmedical 
     facilities under the jurisdiction or for the use of the 
     Department which are necessary because of loss or damage 
     caused by any natural disaster or catastrophe; and (2) 
     temporary measures necessary to prevent or to minimize 
     further loss by such causes.

       grants for construction of state extended care facilities

       For grants to assist States to acquire or construct State 
     nursing home and domiciliary facilities and to remodel, 
     modify, or alter existing hospital, nursing home, and 
     domiciliary facilities in State homes, for furnishing care to 
     veterans as authorized by sections 8131 through 8137 of title 
     38, United States Code, $85,000,000, to remain available 
     until expended.

          grants for construction of state veterans cemeteries

       For grants to assist States in establishing, expanding, or 
     improving State veterans cemeteries as authorized by section 
     2408 of title 38, United States Code, $46,000,000, to remain 
     available until expended.

                       Administrative Provisions

                     (including transfer of funds)

       Sec. 201.  Any appropriation for fiscal year 2011 for 
     ``Compensation and pensions'', ``Readjustment benefits'', and 
     ``Veterans insurance and indemnities'' may be transferred as 
     necessary to any other of the mentioned appropriations: 
     Provided, That before a transfer may take place, the 
     Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall request from the 
     Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of Congress the 
     authority to make the transfer and such Committees issue an 
     approval, or absent a response, a period of 30 days has 
     elapsed.

                     (including transfer of funds)

       Sec. 202.  Amounts made available for the Department of 
     Veterans Affairs for fiscal year 2011, in this Act or any 
     other Act, under the ``Medical services'', ``Medical support 
     and compliance'', and ``Medical facilities'' accounts may be 
     transferred among the accounts: Provided, That any transfers 
     between the ``Medical services'' and ``Medical support and 
     compliance'' accounts of 1 percent or less of the total 
     amount appropriated to the account in this or any other Act 
     may take place subject to notification from the Secretary of 
     Veterans Affairs to the Committees on Appropriations of both 
     Houses of Congress of the amount and purpose of the transfer: 
     Provided further, That any transfers between the ``Medical 
     services'' and ``Medical support and compliance'' accounts in 
     excess of 1 percent, or exceeding the cumulative 1 percent 
     for the fiscal year, may take place only after the Secretary 
     requests from the Committees on Appropriations of both Houses 
     of Congress the authority to make the transfer and an 
     approval is issued: Provided further, That any transfers to 
     or from the ``Medical facilities'' account may take place 
     only after the Secretary requests from the Committees on 
     Appropriations of both Houses of Congress the authority to 
     make the transfer and an approval is issued.
       Sec. 203.  Appropriations available in this title for 
     salaries and expenses shall be available for services 
     authorized by section 3109 of title 5, United States Code, 
     hire of passenger motor vehicles; lease of a facility or land 
     or both; and uniforms or allowances therefore, as authorized 
     by sections 5901 through 5902 of title 5, United States Code.
       Sec. 204.  No appropriations in this title (except the 
     appropriations for ``Construction, major projects'', and 
     ``Construction, minor projects'') shall be available for the 
     purchase of any site for or toward the construction of any 
     new hospital or home.
       Sec. 205.  No appropriations in this title shall be 
     available for hospitalization or examination of any persons 
     (except beneficiaries entitled to such hospitalization or 
     examination under the laws providing such benefits to 
     veterans, and persons receiving such treatment under sections 
     7901 through 7904 of title 5, United States Code, or the 
     Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 
     Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.)), unless reimbursement of the 
     cost of such hospitalization or examination is made to the 
     ``Medical services'' account at such rates as may be fixed by 
     the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
       Sec. 206.  Appropriations available in this title for 
     ``Compensation and pensions'', ``Readjustment benefits'', and 
     ``Veterans insurance and indemnities'' shall be available for 
     payment of prior year accrued obligations required to be 
     recorded by law against the corresponding prior year accounts 
     within the last quarter of fiscal year 2010.
       Sec. 207.  Appropriations available in this title shall be 
     available to pay prior year obligations of corresponding 
     prior year appropriations accounts resulting from sections 
     3328(a), 3334, and 3712(a) of title 31, United States Code, 
     except that if such obligations are from trust fund accounts 
     they shall be payable only from ``Compensation and 
     pensions''.

                     (including transfer of funds)

       Sec. 208.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
     during fiscal year 2011, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
     shall, from the National Service Life Insurance Fund under 
     section 1920 of title 38, United States Code, the Veterans' 
     Special Life Insurance Fund under section 1923 of title 38, 
     United States Code, and the United States Government Life 
     Insurance Fund under section 1955 of title 38, United States 
     Code, reimburse the ``General operating expenses'' and 
     ``Information technology systems'' accounts for the cost of 
     administration of the insurance programs financed through 
     those accounts: Provided, That reimbursement shall be made 
     only from the surplus earnings accumulated in such an 
     insurance program during fiscal year 2011 that are available 
     for dividends in that program after claims have been paid and 
     actuarially determined reserves have been set aside: Provided 
     further, That if the cost of administration of such an 
     insurance program exceeds the amount of surplus earnings 
     accumulated in that program, reimbursement shall be made only 
     to the extent of such surplus earnings: Provided further, 
     That the Secretary shall determine the cost of administration 
     for fiscal year 2011 which is properly allocable to the 
     provision of each such insurance program and to the provision 
     of any total disability income insurance included in that 
     insurance program.
       Sec. 209.  Amounts deducted from enhanced-use lease 
     proceeds to reimburse an account for expenses incurred by 
     that account during a prior fiscal year for providing 
     enhanced-use lease services, may be obligated during the 
     fiscal year in which the proceeds are received.

                     (including transfer of funds)

       Sec. 210.  Funds available in this title or funds for 
     salaries and other administrative expenses shall also be 
     available to reimburse the Office of Resolution Management of 
     the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Office of 
     Employment Discrimination Complaint Adjudication under 
     section 319 of title 38, United States Code, for all services 
     provided at rates which will recover actual costs but not 
     exceed $35,794,000 for the Office of Resolution Management 
     and $3,354,000 for the Office of Employment and 
     Discrimination Complaint Adjudication: Provided, That 
     payments may be made in advance for services to be furnished 
     based on estimated costs: Provided further, That amounts 
     received shall be credited to the ``General operating 
     expenses'' and ``Information technology systems'' accounts 
     for use by the office that provided the service.
       Sec. 211.  No appropriations in this title shall be 
     available to enter into any new lease of real property if the 
     estimated annual rental cost is more than $1,000,000, unless 
     the Secretary submits a report which the Committees on 
     Appropriations of both Houses of Congress approve within 30 
     days following the date on which the report is received.
       Sec. 212.  No funds of the Department of Veterans Affairs 
     shall be available for hospital care, nursing home care, or 
     medical services provided to any person under chapter 17 of 
     title 38, United States Code, for a non-service-connected 
     disability described in section 1729(a)(2) of such title, 
     unless that person has disclosed to the Secretary of Veterans 
     Affairs, in such form as the Secretary may require, current, 
     accurate third-party reimbursement information for purposes 
     of section 1729 of such title: Provided, That the Secretary 
     may recover, in the same manner as any other debt due the 
     United States, the reasonable charges for such care or 
     services from any person who does not make such disclosure as 
     required: Provided further, That any amounts so recovered for 
     care or services provided in a prior fiscal year may be 
     obligated by the Secretary during the fiscal year in which 
     amounts are received.

                     (including transfer of funds)

       Sec. 213.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
     proceeds or revenues derived

[[Page 14428]]

     from enhanced-use leasing activities (including disposal) may 
     be deposited into the ``Construction, major projects'' and 
     ``Construction, minor projects'' accounts and be used for 
     construction (including site acquisition and disposition), 
     alterations, and improvements of any medical facility under 
     the jurisdiction or for the use of the Department of Veterans 
     Affairs. Such sums as realized are in addition to the amount 
     provided for in ``Construction, major projects'' and 
     ``Construction, minor projects''.
       Sec. 214.  Amounts made available under ``Medical 
     services'' are available--
       (1) for furnishing recreational facilities, supplies, and 
     equipment; and
       (2) for funeral expenses, burial expenses, and other 
     expenses incidental to funerals and burials for beneficiaries 
     receiving care in the Department.

                     (including transfer of funds)

       Sec. 215.  Such sums as may be deposited to the Medical 
     Care Collections Fund pursuant to section 1729A of title 38, 
     United States Code, may be transferred to ``Medical 
     services'', to remain available until expended for the 
     purposes of that account.
       Sec. 216.  The Secretary of Veterans Affairs may enter into 
     agreements with Indian tribes and tribal organizations which 
     are party to the Alaska Native Health Compact with the Indian 
     Health Service, and Indian tribes and tribal organizations 
     serving rural Alaska which have entered into contracts with 
     the Indian Health Service under the Indian Self Determination 
     and Educational Assistance Act, to provide healthcare, 
     including behavioral health and dental care. The Secretary 
     shall require participating veterans and facilities to comply 
     with all appropriate rules and regulations, as established by 
     the Secretary. The term ``rural Alaska'' shall mean those 
     lands sited within the external boundaries of the Alaska 
     Native regions specified in sections 7(a)(1)-(4) and (7)-(12) 
     of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, as amended (43 
     U.S.C. 1606), and those lands within the Alaska Native 
     regions specified in sections 7(a)(5) and 7(a)(6) of the 
     Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, as amended (43 U.S.C. 
     1606), which are not within the boundaries of the 
     Municipality of Anchorage, the Fairbanks North Star Borough, 
     the Kenai Peninsula Borough or the Matanuska Susitna Borough.

                     (including transfer of funds)

       Sec. 217.  Such sums as may be deposited to the Department 
     of Veterans Affairs Capital Asset Fund pursuant to section 
     8118 of title 38, United States Code, may be transferred to 
     the ``Construction, major projects'' and ``Construction, 
     minor projects'' accounts, to remain available until expended 
     for the purposes of these accounts.
       Sec. 218.  None of the funds made available in this title 
     may be used to implement any policy prohibiting the Directors 
     of the Veterans Integrated Services Networks from conducting 
     outreach or marketing to enroll new veterans within their 
     respective Networks.
       Sec. 219.  The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit 
     to the Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of 
     Congress a quarterly report on the financial status of the 
     Veterans Health Administration.

                     (including transfer of funds)

       Sec. 220.  Amounts made available under the ``Medical 
     services'', ``Medical support and compliance'', ``Medical 
     facilities'', ``General operating expenses'', and ``National 
     Cemetery Administration'' accounts for fiscal year 2011, may 
     be transferred to or from the ``Information technology 
     systems'' account: Provided, That before a transfer may take 
     place, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall request from 
     the Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of Congress 
     the authority to make the transfer and an approval is issued.

                     (including transfer of funds)

       Sec. 221.  Amounts made available for the ``Information 
     technology systems'' account may be transferred between 
     projects: Provided, That no project may be increased or 
     decreased by more than $1,000,000 of cost prior to submitting 
     a request to the Committees on Appropriations of both Houses 
     of Congress to make the transfer and an approval is issued, 
     or absent a response, a period of 30 days has elapsed.
       Sec. 222.  None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made 
     available by this Act or any other Act for the Department of 
     Veterans Affairs may be used in a manner that is inconsistent 
     with--
       (1) section 842 of the Transportation, Treasury, Housing 
     and Urban Development, the Judiciary, the District of 
     Columbia, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006 
     (Public Law 109-115; 119 Stat. 2506); or
       (2) section 8110(a)(5) of title 38, United States Code.
       Sec. 223.  Of the amounts made available to the Department 
     of Veterans Affairs for fiscal year 2011, in this Act or any 
     other Act, under the ``Medical facilities'' account for non-
     recurring maintenance, not more than 20 percent of the funds 
     made available shall be obligated during the last 2 months of 
     that fiscal year: Provided, That the Secretary may waive this 
     requirement after providing written notice to the Committees 
     on Appropriations of both Houses of Congress.
       Sec. 224.  Of the amounts appropriated or otherwise made 
     available by this title, the Secretary may execute $5,000,000 
     for cooperative agreements with State and local government 
     entities or their designees with a demonstrated record of 
     serving veterans to conduct outreach to ensure that veterans 
     in underserved areas receive the care and benefits for which 
     they are eligible.

                     (including transfer of funds)

       Sec. 225.  Of the amounts appropriated to the Department of 
     Veterans Affairs in this Act, and any other Act, for 
     ``Medical services'', ``Medical support and compliance'', 
     ``Medical facilities'', ``Construction, minor projects'', and 
     ``Information technology systems'', such sums as may be 
     necessary, plus reimbursements, may be transferred to the 
     Joint Department of Defense-Department of Veterans Affairs 
     Medical Facility Demonstration Fund, established by section 
     1704 of title XVII of division A of Public Law 111-84, and 
     shall be available to fund operations of the integrated 
     Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center, 
     consisting of the North Chicago Veteran Affairs Medical 
     Center, and Navy Ambulatory Care Center, and supporting 
     facilities designated as a combined Federal medical facility 
     as described by Section 706 of Public Law 110-417.

                     (including transfer of funds)

       Sec. 226.  Such sums as may be deposited to the Medical 
     Care Collections Fund pursuant to section 1729A of title 38, 
     United States Code, for health care provided at the Captain 
     James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center may be transferred 
     to the Joint Department of Defense-Department of Veterans 
     Affairs Medical Facility Demonstration Fund, established by 
     section 1704 of title XVII of division A of Public Law 111-
     84, and shall be available to fund operations of the 
     integrated Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care 
     Center, consisting of the North Chicago Veteran Affairs 
     Medical Center, and Navy Ambulatory Care Center, and 
     supporting facilities designated as a combined Federal 
     medical facility as described by section 1706 of Public Law 
     110-417.

                     (including transfer of funds)

       Sec. 227.  Of the amounts available in this title for 
     ``Medical services'', ``Medical support and compliance'', and 
     ``Medical facilities'', a minimum of $15,000,000, shall be 
     transferred to the Department of Defense/Department of 
     Veterans Affairs Health Care Sharing Incentive Fund, as 
     authorized by section 8111(d) of title 38, United States 
     Code, to remain available until expended, for any purpose 
     authorized by section 8111 of title 38, United States Code.

                    (including rescission of funds)

       Sec. 228. (a) Of the funds appropriated in the Military 
     Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies 
     Appropriations Act, 2010 (Public Law 111-117, Division E), 
     the following amounts which become available on October 1, 
     2010 are hereby permanently cancelled from the accounts in 
     the amounts specified:
       ``Medical services'', Department of Veterans Affairs, 
     $1,015,000,000;
       ``Medical support and compliance'', Department of Veterans 
     Affairs, $145,000,000; and
       ``Medical facilities'', Department of Veterans Affairs, 
     $145,000,000.
       (b) An additional amount is appropriated to the following 
     accounts in the amounts specified, to become available on 
     October 1, 2010 and to remain available until September 30, 
     2012:
       ``Medical services'', Department of Veterans Affairs, 
     $1,015,000,000;
       ``Medical support and compliance'', Department of Veterans 
     Affairs, $145,000,000; and
       ``Medical facilities'', Department of Veterans Affairs, 
     $145,000,000.
       Sec. 229.  For an additional amount for the ``General 
     operating expenses'' account, $23,584,000, to increase the 
     Department's acquisition workforce capacity and capabilities: 
     Provided, That such funds may be transferred by the Secretary 
     to any other account in the Department to carry out the 
     purposes provided herein: Provided further, That such 
     transfer authority is in addition to any other transfer 
     authority provided in this Act: Provided further, That such 
     funds shall be available only to supplement and not to 
     supplant existing acquisition workforce activities: Provided 
     further, That such funds shall be available for training, 
     recruitment, retention, and hiring additional members of the 
     acquisition workforce as defined by the Office of Federal 
     Procurement Policy Act, as amended (41 U.S.C. 401 et seq.): 
     Provided further, That such funds shall be available for 
     information technology in support of acquisition workforce 
     effectiveness or for management solutions to improve 
     acquisition management.
       Sec. 230.  The Secretary of the Department of Veterans 
     Affairs shall report to the Committees on Appropriations of 
     both Houses of Congress within 30 days of enactment of this 
     Act the planned funding allocation from each of the Veterans 
     Health Administration accounts to the National Reserve Fund 
     and any subsequent increase in these allocations of ten 
     percent or more: Provided, That the Secretary shall notify 
     the Committees of any planned obligation of the National 
     Reserve Fund fifteen days before such obligation takes place, 
     as well as the intended use of the funds.

[[Page 14429]]

       Sec. 231.  The Secretary of the Department of Veterans 
     Affairs shall notify the Committees on Appropriations of both 
     Houses of Congress of all bid savings in major construction 
     projects that total at least $5,000,000, or five percent of 
     the programmed amount, whichever is less: Provided, That such 
     notification shall occur within 14 days after the date on 
     which funds are obligated.
       Sec. 232.  The scope of work for a project included in 
     ``Construction, major projects'', may not be increased above 
     the scope specified for that project in the original 
     justification data provided to the Congress as part of the 
     request for appropriations, without prior notification to the 
     Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of Congress.

                               TITLE III

                            RELATED AGENCIES

                  American Battle Monuments Commission

                         salaries and expenses

       For necessary expenses, not otherwise provided for, of the 
     American Battle Monuments Commission, including the 
     acquisition of land or interest in land in foreign countries; 
     purchases and repair of uniforms for caretakers of national 
     cemeteries and monuments outside of the United States and its 
     territories and possessions; rent of office and garage space 
     in foreign countries; purchase (one-for-one replacement basis 
     only) and hire of passenger motor vehicles; not to exceed 
     $7,500 for official reception and representation expenses; 
     and insurance of official motor vehicles in foreign 
     countries, when required by law of such countries, 
     $65,667,000, to remain available until expended: Provided, 
     That of the amount made available under this heading, 
     $1,000,000 shall be for improvements and rehabilitation of 
     the Bataan Death March Memorial at the Cabanatuan American 
     Memorial in the Philippines.

                 Foreign Currency Fluctuations Account

       For necessary expenses, not otherwise provided for, of the 
     American Battle Monuments Commission, such sums as may be 
     necessary, to remain available until expended, for purposes 
     authorized by section 2109 of title 36, United States Code.

           United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims

                         salaries and expenses

       For necessary expenses for the operation of the United 
     States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims as authorized by 
     sections 7251 through 7298 of title 38, United States Code, 
     $90,147,000: Provided, That, of the foregoing amount, 
     $62,000,000 shall be transferred to the General Services 
     Administration for the construction of a courthouse to house 
     the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims: 
     Provided further, That $2,515,229 shall be available for the 
     purpose of providing financial assistance as described, and 
     in accordance with the process and reporting procedures set 
     forth, under this heading in Public Law 102-229.

                      Department of Defense--Civil

                       Cemeterial Expenses, Army

                         salaries and expenses

       For necessary expenses, as authorized by law, for 
     maintenance, operation, and improvement of Arlington National 
     Cemetery and Soldiers' and Airmen's Home National Cemetery, 
     including the purchase of two passenger motor vehicles for 
     replacement only, and not to exceed $1,000 for official 
     reception and representation expenses, $39,600,000, to remain 
     available until expended: Provided, That none of the funds 
     available under this heading shall be for construction of a 
     perimeter wall at Arlington National Cemetery. In addition, 
     such sums as may be necessary for parking maintenance, 
     repairs and replacement, to be derived from the Lease of 
     Department of Defense Real Property for Defense Agencies 
     account.
       Funds appropriated under this Act may be provided to 
     Arlington County, Virginia, for the relocation of the 
     federally-owned water main at Arlington National Cemetery 
     making additional land available for ground burials.

                      Armed Forces Retirement Home

                               trust fund

       For expenses necessary for the Armed Forces Retirement Home 
     to operate and maintain the Armed Forces Retirement Home--
     Washington, District of Columbia, and the Armed Forces 
     Retirement Home--Gulfport, Mississippi, to be paid from funds 
     available in the Armed Forces Retirement Home Trust Fund, 
     $71,200,000, of which $2,000,000 shall remain available until 
     expended for construction and renovation of the physical 
     plants at the Armed Forces Retirement Home--Washington, 
     District of Columbia, and the Armed Forces Retirement Home--
     Gulfport, Mississippi.

                                TITLE IV

                    OVERSEAS CONTINGENCY OPERATIONS

                         Department of Defense

                      Military Construction, Army

                     (including transfer of funds)

       For an additional amount for ``Military Construction, 
     Army'', $929,996,000, to remain available until September 30, 
     2013: Provided, That notwithstanding any other provision of 
     law, such funds may be obligated and expended to carry out 
     planning and design and military construction projects not 
     otherwise authorized by law: Provided further, That of the 
     amount appropriated, $10,000,000 shall be transferred to 
     ``Department of Defense -- Other Department of Defense 
     Programs -- Office of the Inspector General'', to be merged 
     with and to be available for the same time period as the 
     appropriation to which transferred, for the purpose of 
     carrying out audits of military construction projects in 
     Afghanistan: Provided further, That this transfer authority 
     is in addition to any other transfer authority available to 
     the Department of Defense.

                    Military Construction, Air Force

       For an additional amount for ``Military Construction, Air 
     Force'', $280,504,000, to remain available until September 
     30, 2013: Provided, That notwithstanding any other provision 
     of law, such funds may be obligated and expended to carry out 
     planning and design and military construction projects not 
     otherwise authorized by law.

                  Military Construction, Defense-wide

       For an additional amount for ``Military Construction, 
     Defense-Wide'', $46,500,000, to remain available until 
     September 30, 2013: Provided, That notwithstanding any other 
     provision of law, such funds may be obligated and expended to 
     carry out planning and design and military construction 
     projects not otherwise authorized by law.

                       Administrative Provisions

       Sec. 401.  Unless otherwise specified, each amount in this 
     title is designated as an emergency requirement and necessary 
     to meet emergency needs pursuant to sections 403(a) and 
     423(b) of S. Con. Res. 13 (111th Congress), the concurrent 
     resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2010.
       Sec. 402.  None of the funds made available in this title 
     may be obligated for architect and engineer contracts 
     estimated by the Government to exceed $500,000, unless such 
     contracts are awarded to United States firms or United States 
     firms in joint venture with host nation firms.
       Sec. 403.  None of the funds made available in this title 
     may be used to award any contract estimated by the Government 
     to exceed $1,000,000 to a foreign contractor: Provided, That 
     this section shall not be applicable to contract awards for 
     which the lowest responsive and responsible bid of a United 
     States contractor exceeds the lowest responsive and 
     responsible bid of a foreign contractor by greater than 20 
     percent: Provided further, That the Secretary of Defense may 
     waive the limitation imposed by this section upon a 
     determination that such limitation is inconsistent with 
     national security: Provided further, That the Secretary of 
     Defense shall notify the Committees on Appropriations of both 
     Houses of Congress no later than five days following a 
     decision to waive the limitation imposed in this section.

                                TITLE V

                           GENERAL PROVISIONS

       Sec. 501.  No part of any appropriation contained in this 
     Act shall remain available for obligation beyond the current 
     fiscal year unless expressly so provided herein.
       Sec. 502.  Such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 
     2011 for pay raises for programs funded by this Act shall be 
     absorbed within the levels appropriated in this Act.
       Sec. 503.  None of the funds made available in this Act may 
     be used for any program, project, or activity, when it is 
     made known to the Federal entity or official to which the 
     funds are made available that the program, project, or 
     activity is not in compliance with any Federal law relating 
     to risk assessment, the protection of private property 
     rights, or unfunded mandates.
       Sec. 504.  No part of any funds appropriated in this Act 
     shall be used by an agency of the executive branch, other 
     than for normal and recognized executive-legislative 
     relationships, for publicity or propaganda purposes, and for 
     the preparation, distribution, or use of any kit, pamphlet, 
     booklet, publication, radio, television, or film presentation 
     designed to support or defeat legislation pending before 
     Congress, except in presentation to Congress itself.
       Sec. 505.  All departments and agencies funded under this 
     Act are encouraged, within the limits of the existing 
     statutory authorities and funding, to expand their use of 
     ``E-Commerce'' technologies and procedures in the conduct of 
     their business practices and public service activities.
       Sec. 506.  None of the funds made available in this Act may 
     be transferred to any department, agency, or instrumentality 
     of the United States Government except pursuant to a transfer 
     made by, or transfer authority provided in, this or any other 
     appropriations Act.
       Sec. 507.  Unless stated otherwise, all reports and 
     notifications required by this Act shall be submitted to the 
     Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, 
     and Related Agencies of the Committee on Appropriations of 
     the House of Representatives and the Subcommittee on Military 
     Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies of 
     the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate.
       Sec. 508.  None of the funds made available in this Act may 
     be used for a project or program named for an individual 
     serving as a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner of 
     the United States House of Representatives.

[[Page 14430]]

       Sec. 509. (a) Any agency receiving funds made available in 
     this Act, shall, subject to subsections (b) and (c), post on 
     the public website of that agency any report required to be 
     submitted by the Congress in this or any other Act, upon the 
     determination by the head of the agency that it shall serve 
     the national interest.
       (b) Subsection (a) shall not apply to a report if--
       (1) the public posting of the report compromises national 
     security; or
       (2) the report contains confidential or proprietary 
     information.
       (c) The head of the agency posting such report shall do so 
     only after such report has been made available to the 
     requesting Committee or Committees of Congress for no less 
     than 45 days.
       Sec. 510.  None of the funds made available in this Act may 
     be distributed to the Association of Community Organizations 
     for Reform Now (ACORN) or its subsidiaries.
       Sec. 511.  None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made 
     available by this Act may be obligated by any covered 
     executive agency in contravention of the certification 
     requirement of section 6(b) of the Iran Sanctions Act of 
     1996, as included in the revisions to the Federal Acquisition 
     Regulation pursuant to such section.
       Sec. 512. (a) None of the funds made available in this Act 
     may be used to maintain or establish a computer network 
     unless such network blocks the viewing, downloading, and 
     exchanging of pornography.
       (b) Nothing in subsection (a) shall limit the use of funds 
     necessary for any Federal, State, tribal, or local law 
     enforcement agency or any other entity carrying out criminal 
     investigations, prosecution, or adjudication activities.
       Sec. 513.  None of the funds made available in this Act may 
     be used for the processing of new enhanced-use leases at the 
     National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers located in 
     Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

  The CHAIR. No amendment is in order except those printed in House 
Report 111-570. Each such amendment may be offered only in the order 
printed in the report, may be offered by a Member designated in the 
report, shall be considered read, shall be debatable for 10 minutes, 
equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, and 
shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question.
  After consideration of the bill for amendment, the chair and ranking 
minority member of the Committee on Appropriations or their designees 
each may offer one pro forma amendment to the bill for the purpose of 
debate, which shall be controlled by the proponent.

                              {time}  1710


                  Amendment No. 1 Offered by Mr. Holt

  The CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 1 printed in 
House Report 111-570.
  Mr. HOLT. Madam Chair, I have amendment No. 1 at the desk.
  The CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Page 33, line 15, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(reduced by $20,000,000) (increased by $20,000,000)''.

  The CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1559, the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Holt) and a Member opposed each will control 5 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey.
  Mr. HOLT. Madam Chair, I want to thank the Rules Committee for making 
this amendment in order and for the strong support and encouragement I 
have received in this effort from the chairman of the Military 
Construction and Veterans Affairs subcommittee. The gentleman from 
Texas' leadership of the subcommittee and his concern and compassion 
and advocacy for the needs of veterans is truly an inspiration.
  Madam Chair, we have few responsibilities as solemn and as important 
as ensuring that our veterans receive the care that we have promised 
them as a Nation. To that end, my amendment directs the Department of 
Veterans Affairs to allocate $20 million for direct advertising, the 
use of online social media and other media for suicide prevention 
outreach. Let me take a moment to tell you why this issue means so much 
to me, and I would like to tell you about one very remarkable family 
from my central New Jersey congressional district.
  A little over a week ago, on July 14, I had the privilege of 
introducing Mrs. Linda Bean of East Brunswick, New Jersey, to the House 
Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Linda was appearing before the 
Oversight and Investigations subcommittee to tell the story of how her 
son, Coleman, came to take his own life in September 2008. Linda made 
it clear why she had traveled to Washington to, I would say, 
courageously share her family's painful story: ``I owe a duty to my son 
and our debt to the men with whom Coleman served.''
  You see, Coleman was a two-tour veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom. 
Like so many of our troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, 
Coleman developed post-traumatic stress disorder. In between and after 
those tours, he sought treatment for his PTSD. Because Sergeant Bean 
was a member of the Individual Ready Reserve, the so-called IRR--a pool 
of reserve soldiers not assigned to any unit but available for 
mobilization if needed--he could not get treatment for his condition 
because the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs refused to take 
ownership of Sergeant Bean and the thousands like him. A few weeks 
after Coleman took his life, the VA called to confirm his next 
appointment.
  As Linda closed her testimony before the House Veterans' Affairs 
Committee, she relayed how one VA official had told her, ``If they 
won't walk through the door, we can't help them.'' Linda's response 
must be our response: ``Of course we can help them. It is our duty to 
figure out how, not theirs.''
  Earlier this year, I secured the inclusion of a suicide prevention 
provision in the annual defense authorization bill that would require 
the Secretary of Defense to conduct periodic telephone or in-person 
outreach and counseling calls to reservists like Coleman. The idea is 
to check on the IRR member's mental, emotional and professional well-
being and to identify and treat any IRR members who are deemed to be at 
risk of harming themselves.
  Because the other body has thus far failed to act on the fiscal year 
2011 authorization, I have sent a letter to Secretaries Gates and 
Shinseki asking that they take whatever administrative action is 
necessary to reach out and monitor this very large pool of at-risk 
reservists. I have also asked that they meet with Greg and Linda Bean 
and explain in detail what those departments intend to do to prevent 
other Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans from suffering Coleman's fate.
  Our commitment to reducing suicides among our veterans must be 
comprehensive and unwavering. This amendment today is designed to give 
the VA the resources and the direction to get appropriate and broad-
based outreach under way as soon as President Obama signs this bill. I 
hope this amendment will be supported on a bipartisan basis, because, 
as Linda Bean says, ``It's not their job to figure out how, it's 
ours.''
  I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. I just want to commend the gentleman for his 
leadership on this effort. It is a heartbreaking tragedy every time a 
veteran takes his or her life as a result of their service to our 
country. I look forward to working with the gentleman and with the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Crenshaw) and the gentleman from Tennessee 
(Mr. Wamp) as we go to conference committee to see that we do more than 
everything that is already being done to see that we prevent suicides 
from occurring.
  If we save one life, then the gentleman's and our service here in 
Congress will have been time well served.
  Mr. HOLT. I thank the gentleman.
  In closing, I would say there are tens of thousands of people who 
will be helped.
  The CHAIR. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. CRENSHAW. Madam Chair, I would like to claim the time in 
opposition, although I'm not necessarily opposed to the amendment.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the gentleman from 
Florida is recognized for 5 minutes.
  There was no objection.
  Mr. CRENSHAW. Madam Chair, I just want to also commend the gentleman 
for offering this amendment. I think so often we have resources that 
are available like this that sometimes our veterans are not aware of. I 
think we've made great strides in dealing with this. We have a suicide 
prevention

[[Page 14431]]

hotline we're working every day, but I think he makes an excellent 
point that so often people are not aware of the services they might 
avail themselves of.
  I commend him for this. I would certainly favor this amendment so 
that we can get the word out to know that we're trying to help folks.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. CRENSHAW. I yield to the gentleman from Rhode Island.
  Mr. KENNEDY. I appreciate the gentleman's yielding.
  I too want to join in paying tribute to the gentleman from New Jersey 
for this amendment and also to the chairman, Chairman Edwards, for his 
diligence to this mental health issue in the bill.
  As I said earlier, these wounds may be invisible but they're not 
invisible to the members of our uniform who are suffering from them. I 
think it may not come as a surprise to most people that those 
servicemembers dying of suicide outnumber those who are killed in 
action. And that does not include our veterans. It wasn't until this 
defense bill that we just passed that we included a provision that the 
President of the United States would actually send a letter of 
condolence to the family of those who had taken their life in the 
field, and we all know what the pressures are on those individuals: 
more tours of duty, longer times away from their families, and more 
stress.
  The fact of the matter is I think that this work that you're doing, 
Rush, is to be commended. I think it is also important for everyone to 
note that this historic health bill that we just passed will encompass 
72 percent of all veterans who will get their care thanks to this 
Congress' work to include mental health parity in the health care 
reform bill that was just passed. Seventy-two percent of all vets will 
never see the VA for their health care but, rather, through private 
health insurance. And this Congress passed legislation making it 
illegal for them to be discriminated against based upon health status, 
whether it be mental, physical, and we all know that mental now is a 
neurological disorder.
  Thanks again for your good work. Again thank you to the chairman and 
ranking member for their good work on this.
  Mr. CRENSHAW. I yield back the balance of my time.
  The CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman 
from New Jersey (Mr. Holt).
  The amendment was agreed to.


                  Amendment No. 2 Offered by Mr. Buyer

  The CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 2 printed in 
House Report 111-570.
  Mr. BUYER. Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
  The CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Page 34, line 7, before the period at the end insert the 
     following: ``: Provided further, That of the funds made 
     available under this heading, $10,000,000 shall be available 
     to increase the number of Department of Veterans Affairs 
     employees who administer benefits under chapter 31 of title 
     38, United States Code''.

  The CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1559, the gentleman from 
Indiana (Mr. Buyer) and a Member opposed each will control 5 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Indiana.
  Mr. BUYER. Madam Chair, I rise today in support of my amendment to 
H.R. 5822. This amendment would fence off $10 million in the VA's 
general operating expenses account.
  The goal of the VA's vocational rehabilitation and employment program 
is to put disabled veterans back to work or, for the most severely 
disabled, to live as independently as possible.
  VA's counselors currently have an average caseload of over 130 
disabled veterans. Because of the heavy workload which includes a 
significant amount of case management and regular interaction with 
their clients, the time to actually enter vocational training is nearly 
six months. That is on top of the average of the 6 months it takes to 
receive a disability rating needed to even become eligible for this 
benefit.
  The $10 million included in this amendment would fund one hundred 
additional professional level staff and will be a small step towards 
reducing the caseload to a more manageable average of 100 per counselor 
thereby shortening the time it takes to begin training. For many 
veterans and servicemembers VR&E training is the bridge to meaningful 
and productive employment.
  I urge all members to vote in favor of my amendment to H.R. 5822.

                              {time}  1720

  I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. I want to commend Mr. Buyer for offering this 
amendment.
  Without this amendment, the VA would actually be reducing at the very 
worst time the number of vocational rehab employees. We ought to be 
increasing those numbers, and that's what we will be doing with this, 
particularly given a lot of our troops coming back from Iraq and 
Afghanistan are having difficult times finding jobs. They need this 
support.
  The VA gets a lot of things right, but I don't think they got this 
part of their budget right. And I thank the gentleman for correcting 
it, and it's a privilege to support his amendment.
  Mr. BUYER. I yield back the balance of my time.
  The CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman 
from Indiana (Mr. Buyer).
  The amendment was agreed to.


                  Amendment No. 3 Offered by Mr. Buyer

  The CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 3 printed in 
House Report 111-570.
  Mr. BUYER. I have an amendment at the desk.
  The CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Page 38, line 18, before the period insert the following: 
     ``: Provided further, That of the funds made available under 
     this heading, $162,734,000 shall be for renewable energy 
     projects at Department of Veterans Affairs medical facility 
     campuses pursuant to section 8103 of title 38, United States 
     Code''.

  The CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1559, the gentleman from 
Indiana (Mr. Buyer) and a Member opposed each will control 5 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Indiana.
  Mr. BUYER. I ask unanimous consent to modify my amendment.
  The CHAIR. The Clerk will report the modification.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Modification to Amendment No. 3 offered by Mr. Buyer:
       The amendment as modified is as follows:
       Page 54, after line 2, insert the following:
       Sec. __.  Of the amounts made available for fiscal year 
     2011 for ``Medical Facilities'' in Public Law 111-117, 
     $162,734,000 shall be available for renewable energy projects 
     at the Department of Veterans Affairs medical facility 
     campuses subject to section 8103 of title 38, United States 
     Code.

  The CHAIR. Is there objection to the modification?
  Without objection, the amendment is modified.
  There was no objection.
  The CHAIR. The gentleman from Indiana is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BUYER. I will proceed on the modified amendment.
  After discussion with Chairman Edwards and with the ranking member, 
Mr. Crenshaw, we've all agreed to a better way forward on the 
amendment. So I appreciate your efforts on the modification.
  Accordingly, what we're seeking to do here is overcome some 
challenges that we have with regard to the advance appropriation and 
how dollars can be dedicated to particular uses. So the Appropriations 
Committee has worked with me, and for that I am deeply appreciative.
  I want to express my thanks to Chairman Edwards and to Mr. Crenshaw. 
Both of you have been very good friends. I respect your leadership, and 
I appreciate your good faith in working with myself and my staff.
  Over the years, the 18 years I've been here, the years I've been 
privileged to work in leadership as chairman and as ranking member, I 
have respected the interoperability and cooperation between the 
Appropriations staff and the authorizers. It has worked really, really 
well. At times they can disagree, but

[[Page 14432]]

they can professionally work it out. I've been impressed by that, and 
it has continued.
  So I want to thank you for that. And this is a prime example. This is 
one of them whereby I look back to 2008 when we wanted to do these 
renewable energy projects, and you were challenged at the time because 
the Speaker didn't want renewable projects in the bill, but you agreed 
that this was something that we needed to do and tried to figure out 
how we're going to do it.
  So I recognize it couldn't be done at the time, but it was something 
that you also embraced and supported. And I went on down the street 
like I said I was going to do, and we did 16 of these renewable energy 
projects. Then we come back in 2009, you and I do a colloquy, and we're 
$147 million already down the road. That's how far we're into this now, 
Chairman Edwards and Mr. Crenshaw, and this is a good thing.
  The VA, such a very large enterprise, large consumer of energy and 
being the second largest department here of government, what you're 
doing here in this green management and renewable energy, geothermal, 
wind, solar, this is smart. It really is. It's smart what you're doing. 
So I really want to thank you for doing this.
  We've got more projects identified. They're around 60. These moneys 
will allow the VA to stay on track on their timelines, and I really 
appreciate your working with me to do this.
  I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. I just want to commend Mr. Buyer for his 
leadership. This is not the first time he has come to the floor 
fighting for renewable energy projects and conservation projects for 
the VA. And as he leaves Congress at the end of this Congress, I want 
to thank him for this effort. Every dollar we save by conservation 
investments and renewable energy investments is a dollar that's either 
back into the taxpayers' pocket or a dollar that goes to actually 
provide better health care for America's veterans. So that's why I'm 
enthusiastic in my support of this amendment, and I commend the 
gentleman for his authorship of it.
  Mr. BUYER. Reclaiming my time, I also want to extend my appreciation 
to Secretary Shinseki for his work and the previous Secretary.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The CHAIR. The question is on the amendment, as modified, offered by 
the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Buyer).
  The amendment, as modified, was agreed to.


                  Amendment No. 4 Offered by Mr. Buyer

  The CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 4 printed in 
House Report 111-570.
  Mr. BUYER. I have an amendment at the desk.
  The CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Page 34, line 7, before the period at the end insert the 
     following: ``: Provided further, That of the funds made 
     available under this heading, $8,000,000 shall be available 
     to fund the adaptive sports grant program under section 521A 
     of title 38, United States Code, and $2,000,000 shall be 
     available to carry out section 322 of title 38, United States 
     Code''.

  The CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1559, the gentleman from 
Indiana (Mr. Buyer) and a Member opposed each will control 5 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Indiana.
  Mr. BUYER. Madam Chair, I rise today in support of my amendment to 
H.R. 5822, as reported.
  This amendment would provide $10 million in VA general operating 
expense funding for the VA-US Paralympic Adaptive Sports Grant Program.
  Madam Chairwoman, several years ago I had the opportunity to visit 
the U.S. Olympic Training Center in San Diego. From that moment we then 
set the course to restructure the United States Olympic Committee. Once 
we did that, by the relationships that developed, by the reorganization 
of the Olympic Committee, we then became a Nation at war. I then sought 
to leverage these relationships with the VA and their sports programs.
  I looked at this and how we can use sports as a platform for healing, 
and you know, when I looked back on this, yes, you know, we moved out 
and we embraced it. I started at the top and probably should have 
started at the bottom. I started where I started and it was with the 
Olympics, the Olympic Committee. Not everyone is an Olympian. That's 
the reality of this. Not everyone was blessed with an Olympic body or 
the mind or the will. But it's how do we, as a Nation, use sports as a 
platform for healing? And most of our warriors are athletes. And so 
when they get injured, how do we inspire them?
  Now, when we brought the Olympic Committee and the sports programs 
from the VA together, we were able to leverage that whereby our 
military athletes then could actually have an avenue to be part of the 
Olympic team. And that has, in fact, happened and has been done.
  Last year--and I want to thank Chairman Edwards--he supported the $10 
million that went into this adaptive sports program.

                              {time}  1730

  The Olympic committee helps with this grant program now to take the 
same ideal, the Olympic ideal, and move it out to all the communities 
across the country. And so an individual who may not be an Olympian can 
be an Olympian of their own community, can actually compete. It is that 
competition--it's not the winning. It's have you improved yourself, 
have you bettered your time, and making someone feel good about that, 
this Adaptive Sports program, whereby it's done at the local level and 
then builds up is really good, and this is a very good program. We're 
in our infancy, and I want to thank the chairman and for supporting 
this last time.
  So the concept I think is pretty simple. I do have some pictures here 
I'd like to share with everyone. This is a picture of disabled veterans 
and servicemembers running the 100 meter dash at the Warrior Games in 
Colorado Springs, Colorado, and this was in May of this year. And when 
you see this running the 100 meter dash, you know we've got a mixture 
here. This gentleman lost--this is a below the ankle, here is a below 
the knee amputation, and this is a double amputation, and they're 
sprinting the 100 meter dash. Think about the inspiration that they 
have. I mean, these warrior athletes are truly remarkable.
  I want to show you another photo of a double amputee. This Olympian 
right here during the winter games, this is Heath Calhoun, a 
Paralympian, and this was in Vancouver in March of this year. Mr. 
Calhoun is an Army Ranger. He was wounded when a rocket-propelled 
grenade hit his Humvee while he was serving in Iraq. He lost both legs 
as a result of that attack. His grandfather served in World War II, his 
father served in Vietnam, and he then sought to serve his country and 
lost both legs. He dedicated himself then to overcome this challenge 
and made the United States Olympic team and competed in Vancouver.
  So these Olympians also then mentor and aspire others into the 
Adaptive Sports Grant Program. So this is remarkable. This is building 
off the Olympic ideal to really help our warriors, and we're achieving 
the goal, and that is to use sports as a platform for healing.
  So $10 million can be a lot of money, but talking about what we get 
out of this, the intangibles that we can get out of this, when these 
men and women that go through this feel so good about themselves and 
take their bodies to new levels, guess what? They feel good about their 
families, they feel good about their jobs, and our goal here is to make 
sure that they can live as full a life as they possibly can.
  That's what we want to do.
  The CHAIR. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. CRENSHAW. Madam Chair, I claim the time in opposition, although 
I'm not necessarily opposing this amendment.
  The CHAIR. Without objection, the gentleman from Florida is 
recognized for 5 minutes.
  There was no objection.

[[Page 14433]]


  Mr. CRENSHAW. I just wanted to say that I think this is a wonderful 
program. I'm a little bit aware of that because in my home district in 
Jacksonville, Florida, there's an organization called the Wounded 
Warriors, and they work in conjunction with this program, and I've had 
the chance to visit that program to see and meet some of these Wounded 
Warriors.
  The thing that I hear over and over again is they say this is 
something that gives us our spirit back. We can compete. We can enjoy 
life. We can be with our families, and I think it is something that is 
very, very worthwhile and commend the gentleman for bringing it up.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. CRENSHAW. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. I just want to commend him and commend Mr. 
Buyer for this effort. These photographs are an inspiration to all of 
us, to our veterans, to our Wounded Warriors, but to every American. 
This program is an inspiration to our Wounded Warriors, our veterans, 
and all Americans who hear about it. I am in full support of this 
amendment. I also want to thank again Mr. Buyer, along with Mr. 
Perlmutter and Mr. Langevin, who over the last several years have been 
real champions, along with Mr. Buyer, of this program, and again, I'm 
honored to support the amendment.
  Mr. CRENSHAW. I yield back the balance of my time.
  The CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman 
from Indiana (Mr. Buyer).
  The amendment was agreed to.


                 Amendment No. 5 Offered by Mr. Cuellar

  The CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 5 printed in 
House Report 111-570.
  Mr. CUELLAR. Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
  The CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       At the end of the bill (before the short title), add the 
     following new section:
       Sec. 5__.  None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made 
     available in this Act may be used by an agency of the 
     executive branch to pay for first-class travel by an employee 
     of the agency in contravention of sections 301-10.122 through 
     301-10.124 of title 41, Code of Federal Regulations.

  The CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1559, the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Cuellar) and a Member opposed each will control 5 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. CUELLAR. Madam Chair, my amendment is a commonsense amendment 
that ensures no taxpayers dollars will be used to purchase first-class 
tickets for employees of agencies funded by this bill except in special 
circumstances as allowed under law.
  This is, again, important because it does prohibit unapproved first-
class travel and offers a direct method of guidance by referencing the 
Code of Federal Regulations to prohibit this type of premium travel for 
Federal employees.
  I think the chairman is in agreement with me that this is a way to 
save taxpayer dollars, and he's in agreement with this amendment.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. CUELLAR. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. I am glad to support this amendment.
  Mr. CUELLAR. I yield back the balance of my time.
  The CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman 
from Texas (Mr. Cuellar).
  The amendment was agreed to.


                  Amendment No. 6 Offered by Mr. Flake

  The CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 6 printed in 
House Report 111-570.
  Mr. FLAKE. Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
  The CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the 
     following:
       Sec. __.  None of the funds provided in this Act shall be 
     available from the following Department of Defense military 
     construction accounts for the following projects:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Account                           Location                   Project                 Amount
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Army...................................  Alabama: Fort Rucker.....  Emergency Medical                 $1,700,000
                                                                     Services Facility.
Air Force..............................  Alabama: Maxwell AFB.....  Air Traffic Control Tower           $810,000
Defense-Wide...........................  Arizona: Marana..........  SOF Parachute Training            $6,250,000
                                                                     Facility.
Army NG................................  Arkansas: Camp Robinson..  Regional Training                 $2,334,000
                                                                     Institute, Ph 2.
Navy...................................  California: Coronado NAB.  MESG-1 Consolidated Boat          $6,890,000
                                                                     Maintenance Facility.
Air Force..............................  California: Los Angeles    Parking Structure, Ph 2..         $4,500,000
                                          AFB.
Air NG.................................  California: Moffett Field  Relocate Main Gate.......         $2,000,000
Navy...................................  California: Monterey NSA.  International Academic           $11,960,000
                                                                     Instruction Building.
Army NG................................  California: Sacramento...  Field Maintenance Shop              $891,000
                                                                     Paving.
Air Force..............................  California: Travis AFB...  BCE Maintenance Shops and           $387,000
                                                                     Supply Warehouse.
Army NG................................  California: Ventura......  Renewable Photovoltaic            $1,466,000
                                                                     Solar Power.
Air NG.................................  Colorado: Buckley AFB....  Repair Taxiways Juliet            $4,000,000
                                                                     and Lima.
Army NG................................  Colorado: Watkins........  Parachute Maintenance             $3,569,000
                                                                     Facility.
Navy...................................  Connecticut: New London    Submarine Group Two                 $550,000
                                          NSB.                       Headquarters.
Air Force..............................  Florida: MacDill AFB.....  Infrastructure                      $249,000
                                                                     Improvements.
Navy...................................  Florida: Panama City NSA.  Land Acquisition-9 Acres.         $5,960,000
Navy...................................  Georgia: Albany MCLB.....  Maintenance Center Test           $5,180,000
                                                                     Firing Range.
Air Force..............................  Georgia: Robins AFB......  Combat Communications             $5,500,000
                                                                     Squadron Warehouse.
Army NG................................  Illinois: Marseilles       Simulation Center........         $2,500,000
                                          Training Area.
Air Force..............................  Illinois: Scott AFB......  New Fitness Facility, Ph            $396,000
                                                                     1.
Navy...................................  Indiana: Crane NSWC......  Platform Protection                 $760,000
                                                                     Engineering Complex.
Army NG................................  Iowa: Camp Dodge.........  Regional Training                   $800,000
                                                                     Institute, Ph 1.
Air NG.................................  Iowa: Des Moines.........  Corrosion Control Hangar.         $4,750,000
Army NG................................  Iowa: Iowa City..........  Simulation Center/MVSB/           $1,999,000
                                                                     Helipad/Parking.
Army NG................................  Kentucky: Frankfort......  Joint Forces                        $281,000
                                                                     Headquarters, Ph 1.
Air NG.................................  Kentucky: Standiford       Contingency Response                $534,000
                                          Field.                     Group Facility.
Air NG.................................  Louisiana: New Orleans     ASA Replace Alert Complex         $2,000,000
                                          NAS/JRB.
Navy...................................  Maine: Portsmouth NSY....  Consolidation of                 $11,910,000
                                                                     Structural Shops, Ph 1.
Army NG................................  Maryland: Easton.........  Readiness Center Add/Alt.           $347,000
Army...................................  Maryland: Fort Meade.....  Infrastructure-Mapes Road         $1,750,000
                                                                     & Cooper Avenue.
Navy...................................  Maryland: Patuxent River   Atlantic Test Range              $10,160,000
                                          NAS.                       Addition.
Air NG.................................  Massachusetts: Barnes      Add to Aircraft                   $6,000,000
                                          ANGB.                      Maintenance Hangar.
Army NG................................  Michigan: Fort Custer      Troop Service Support               $446,000
                                          (Augusta).                 Center.
Air NG.................................  Minnesota: Duluth........  Load Crew Training &              $8,000,000
                                                                     Weapons Release Shops.

[[Page 14434]]

 
Army NG................................  Minnesota: Mankato.......  Field Maintenance Shop...           $947,000
Defense-Wide...........................  Mississippi: Stennis       SOF Land Acquisition, Ph          $8,000,000
                                          Space Center.              3.
Air Force..............................  Missouri: Whiteman AFB...  Consolidated Air                 $23,500,000
                                                                     Operations Facility.
Army NG................................  Nevada: Las Vegas........  Civil Support Team Ready          $8,771,000
                                                                     Building.
Air NG.................................  New Jersey: Atlantic City  Fuel Cell and Corrosion           $8,500,000
                                          IAP.                       Control Hangar.
Army Reserve...........................  New Jersey: Fort Dix.....  Automated Multipurpose            $9,800,000
                                                                     Machine Gun Range.
Air Force..............................  New Mexico: Holloman AFB.  Parallel Taxiway, Runway          $8,000,000
                                                                     07/25.
Air Force..............................  New Mexico: Kirtland AFB.  Replace Fire Station 3...         $6,800,000
Army...................................  New York: Fort Drum......  Alert Holding Area                $6,700,000
                                                                     Facility.
Air Reserve............................  New York: Niagara Falls    C-130 Flightline                  $9,500,000
                                          ARS.                       Operations Facility, Ph
                                                                     1.
Army NG................................  New York: Ronkonkoma       Flightline Rehabilitation         $2,780,000
                                          (MacArthur Airport).
Air NG.................................  New York: Stewart ANGB...  Aircraft Conversion               $3,750,000
                                                                     Facility.
Army NG................................  North Carolina: Camp       Barracks (AT), Ph 1......         $1,484,000
                                          Butner.
Army NG................................  North Carolina:            AASF 1 Fixed Wing Hangar          $8,815,000
                                          Morrisville.               Annex.
Army NG................................  North Carolina: Murphy...  Fire Fighting Team                  $223,000
                                                                     Support Facility.
Air Force..............................  North Carolina: Pope AFB.  Crash/Fire/ Rescue               $13,500,000
                                                                     Station.
Air Force..............................  North Dakota: Grand Forks  Central Deployment Center           $495,000
                                          AFB.
Army NG................................  Ohio: Camp Sherman.......  Maintenance Building Add/         $3,100,000
                                                                     Alt.
Army NG................................  Ohio: Ravenna Training     Unit Training Equipment           $2,000,000
                                          Site.                      Site Add/Alt.
Air NG.................................  Ohio: Toledo Express       Replace Security Forces           $7,300,000
                                          Airport.                   Complex.
Defense-Wide...........................  Oklahoma: Tulsa IAP......  Fuels Storage Complex....         $1,036,000
Army NG................................  Oregon: Salem............  Armed Forces Reserve              $1,243,000
                                                                     Center Add/Alt (JFHQ).
Air NG.................................  Pennsylvania: Fort         Multipurpose Air National           $675,000
                                          Indiantown Gap.            Guard Training Facility.
Army NG................................  Pennsylvania: Hermitage..  Readiness Center.........           $671,000
Army NG................................  Pennsylvania: Tobyhanna..  Armed Forces Reserve              $1,513,000
                                                                     Center.
Army NG................................  Pennsylvania:              Field Maintenance Shop...         $1,508,000
                                          Williamsport.
Army NG................................  Rhode Island: Middletown.  Readiness Center Add/Alt.         $3,646,000
Army NG................................  Rhode Island: Quonset      Readiness Center.........         $3,729,000
                                          Point.
Air NG.................................  South Carolina: McEntire   Replace Operations and            $9,100,000
                                          JRB.                       Training Facility.
Air NG.................................  South Dakota: Joe Foss     Aircraft Maintenance              $3,600,000
                                          Field.                     Shops.
Air Force..............................  Tennessee: Arnold AFB....  AEDC Power Distribution             $378,000
                                                                     Modernization.
Army...................................  Texas: Corpus Christi      Rotor Blade Processing           $13,400,000
                                          Depot.                     Facility, Ph 2.
Army...................................  Texas: Fort Bliss........  Alternative Energy                $1,166,000
                                                                     Projects.
Army...................................  Texas: Fort Bliss........  Rail Yard Improvements...         $2,070,000
Army...................................  Texas: Fort Hood.........  Soldier Readiness                 $1,000,000
                                                                     Processing Center.
Navy...................................  Texas: Kingsville NAS....  Youth Center.............         $2,610,000
Air Force..............................  Texas: Lackland AFB......  Consolidated Security               $900,000
                                                                     Forces Ops Center, Ph 1.
Air Force..............................  Texas: Laughlin AFB......  Community Event Complex..        $10,500,000
Army NG................................  Texas: Laredo............  Receiving, Staging, &               $475,000
                                                                     Onward Integration
                                                                     Facility/Hangar.
Army NG................................  Texas: McLennan County...  Operational Reserve               $5,000,000
                                                                     Headquarters.
Army NG................................  Texas: South Texas         Cantonment and Support            $5,000,000
                                          Training Center.           Infrastructure.
Army...................................  Virginia: Fort Belvoir...  Growth Support                    $3,060,000
                                                                     Infrastructure.
Air Force..............................  Virginia: Langley AFB....  Clear Zone Land                   $3,000,000
                                                                     Acquisition, Ph 1.
Defense-Wide...........................  Washington: Fort Lewis...  SOF Military Working Dog          $4,700,000
                                                                     Kennel.
Navy...................................  Washington: Kitsap NB....  Charleston Gate ECP               $6,150,000
                                                                     Improvements.
Army NG................................  West Virginia: Bridgeport  FWAATS Apron Expansion...         $2,000,000
Army NG................................  West Virginia: Bridgeport  FWAATS Expansion.........         $2,000,000
Army NG................................  West Virginia: Glen Jean.  Emergency Power Generator         $1,500,000
Army NG................................  Wisconsin: Wausau........  Field Maintenance Shop...        $12,008,000
Army NG................................  Guam: Barrigada..........  Joint Forces HQ Readiness           $778,000
                                                                     Center Add/Alt.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  The CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1559, the gentleman from 
Arizona (Mr. Flake) and a Member opposed each will control 5 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arizona.
  Mr. FLAKE. Madam Chair, this amendment is straightforward.
  It would simply prevent the funding of all Member-requested earmarks 
in the bill. It would return the funds to the original accounts. I'm 
not here to dispute the merits of these projects. I have no doubt that 
some of those projects are worthwhile and would improve the quality of 
life for our military servicemembers and their families, but that's not 
what is at issue here.
  At issue, again, as I pointed out before, is the spoils system that 
this process of earmarking represents. This year's Military 
Construction-VA appropriations bill shows that the spoils system is 
alive and well. It's happened in previous years, and it's no different 
this year. The only difference here is we have basically just one party 
engaging in it, and so the spoils are even more concentrated in fewer 
Members.
  Let me just put this chart up here. These are the FY 2011 earmark 
dollars associated with powerful Members of Congress. By powerful 
Members I mean those who are on the Appropriations Committee, those who 
are in leadership, or those who are chairmen of committees. And if you 
look at the appropriations bills that have gone through either the 
subcommittee or full committee on appropriations, you see this 
appropriations spoils system in action here.
  This looks like a Pacman chart here with a hungry Pacman here. The 
red represents the percentage taken by powerful members. In the 
Homeland Security bill, 52 percent of the earmark dollars go to 
powerful Members. Fifty-two percent go to just 13 percent of this body; 
CJS bill, 57 percent; Agriculture, 76 percent; THUD, 42 percent; and 
MILCON VA, what we're doing now, 51 percent.
  More than half of the earmark dollars in this legislation are going 
to just 13 percent of the Members in this body. Madam Chair, that is 
simply not right. We shouldn't be doing this. Yet year after year we do 
it. No matter what kind of reforms we enact, we still have the spoils 
system alive and well.

[[Page 14435]]

  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. Madam Chair, I claim time in opposition.
  The CHAIR. The gentleman is recognized for 5 minutes.

                              {time}  1740

  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. Madam Chair, I respect the gentleman. He takes 
a principled position on congressionally sponsored projects, but I 
strongly oppose this amendment.
  The Flake amendment, regardless of its intentions, would cut $163 
million out of important military construction projects for the 
National Guard and Reserves, which are playing a key role in our war in 
Iraq and Afghanistan.
  This amendment would cut $57 million out of force protection, safety 
and security forces facilities, including more secure entrance gates at 
our military installations, fire stations to protect our troops and 
their families on posts.
  The Flake amendment would cut $30 million from quality of life 
facilities--much needed by our troops and earned by our troops, 
deserved by our troops--barracks, youth and community centers, roads. 
It cuts 44 projects that are in the Department of Defense's Future 
Years Defense Program.
  One of the programs this would cut is $1 million I put in this bill 
as an earmark to provide for a new Soldier Readiness Processing Center 
at Fort Hood so those soldiers, over 40,000 serving there, will not 
have to go through a processing center which was the site of the murder 
of 12 of their Army comrades and one civilian just months ago.
  A ``yes'' vote on this amendment will cut these kinds of worthy 
projects.
  Now, Mr. Flake will claim and has claimed that DOD will still have 
the money to spend, but that's not correct because this amendment is 
flawed in the way it's drafted because--well, first of all, let me say 
that let's at least get rid of the pretence that cutting earmarks would 
save taxpayer dollars if he says, well, this money could still be spent 
by DOD.
  But the reality is, because of the flawed nature of the way this 
amendment was put together, it would be the best--the worst, actually, 
of both worlds. One, it wouldn't save taxpayers' dollars because the 
appropriations would go to the Department of Defense; but because it 
would be in an account for programs not authorized, that money could 
not be spent for all of the worthwhile kinds of projects that I have 
just mentioned.
  Let me put in perspective what we are talking about here. This is a 
$140 billion bill. Less than three-tenths of 1 percent of this bill was 
designated by Members of Congress working with community leaders, 
military leaders, military base leaders.
  If I can ask my staff for a chart, I would just like to show, in 
perspective, what a small part of this total bill actually goes to 
congressionally sponsored projects.
  Now, Mr. Flake apparently has more trust in the Obama administration 
than I did. I don't think bureaucrats in Washington are right 100 
percent of the time, and it's not wrong--in fact, it's right--to say 
that Members of Congress, working with military leaders and community 
leaders, ought to have some voice in where their taxpayers' dollars go.
  Madam Chair, I want to point out this is a chart. This graph shows 
how much is spent in this bill. The part of the bill that Mr. Flake is 
objecting to is this red part right here. Probably from that side of 
the aisle it would be very, very hard to see it.
  But I just want people to understand that the administration gets a 
voice on this amount of money in the bill. Members of Congress working 
with military leaders get a voice on this amount. This is what we are 
talking about.
  But I want to talk and say this amount is significant because, if 
this amendment were to pass, and I hope it will not and I do not 
believe it will, it would harm important quality of life and protection 
projects for our service men and women. It would kill a major 
initiative in this bill to increase funding for the National Guard and 
Reserves who are playing a vitally important role in Iraq and 
Afghanistan.
  May I inquire how much time I have remaining?
  The CHAIR. The gentleman has 1 minute remaining.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. I would yield that time to my colleague Mr. 
Ortiz.
  Mr. ORTIZ. I rise in opposition to the Flake amendment. This 
amendment would seek to strike certain modifications to the Military 
Construction appropriations bill.
  I believe that it is essential that this body work with the 
administration and determine a budget that is best for the Nation. I 
believe that the process that my subcommittee and Chairman Edwards' 
subcommittee has put in place accomplishes this goal.
  For example, the projects that this amendment would seek to strike 
have been individually reviewed by the administration for cost and the 
way it's going to be executed. The projects are carefully compared 
against a very long list of requirements that the Department of Defense 
has generated. These projects have been included in the National 
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011 that this body has 
recently passed.
  Finally, all of these military construction projects that are 
included at the end of this process, including all of the projects that 
this amendment seeks to strike, will be competitively awarded.
  The CHAIR. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  The gentleman from Arizona has 3 minutes remaining.
  Mr. FLAKE. Madam Chair, I yield the gentleman another 30 seconds if 
he wants to finish.
  Mr. ORTIZ. We cannot forget the fact that we are involved in two 
wars. We have soldiers stationed in 120 countries. Whatever we do 
today, let's do it for our servicepeople. They are my sons and your 
daughters and family here who are serving our country.
  Mr. FLAKE. Madam Chair, I plan to withdraw this amendment. I had 
planned to from the beginning. What I wanted to do was come down here 
and explain the spoils system that this kind of earmarking represents.
  The problem, the gentleman mentioned that this amendment is crafted 
in a way that it would prohibit the spending of money on these 
projects. It would. The problem is there is no way to craft an 
amendment that wouldn't do that.
  What we have here is a situation where we simply can't go in and say 
this is a good earmark and this is not, not through this process. 
That's part of the whole flawed aspect of what we are doing here and 
why we need to change this.
  But the gentleman is correct, we shouldn't give the administration a 
free ride to say this is where things ought to be spent. We have the 
power of the purse. This is article I stuff, and we ought to exercise 
it.
  The problem I have is we basically exercise authority over that much 
of it and leave the administration with this, instead of saying, 
through the process of authorization, appropriation, and oversight, we 
have more control of what the administration is doing.
  Instead, we say we don't like the way you are spending this money--we 
say that to the executive branch--so we are going to run a little 
parallel track in the Congress where we determine where this much goes. 
Then when we determine where this much goes, 51 percent of it goes to 
just 13 percent of this body.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. FLAKE. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. I appreciate that, and I do respect his 
principled position on this, not with just this bill but with other 
bills.
  I just want to point out the reason we don't spread out earmarks 
evenly among 435 Members is military bases in the United States are not 
spread out evenly among 435 congressional districts. So it is logical 
and it makes sense and it's good policy that Members that represent 
military bases get more earmarks than Members that don't represent 
military bases.
  Mr. FLAKE. I think that is a valid point; although, I would argue 
that Members with military bases don't necessarily align with the 13 
percent represented in this chart.

[[Page 14436]]

  But I would again, before asking unanimous consent to withdraw this 
amendment, make the case, we will be dealing with another appropriation 
bill tomorrow that is cleaner than this one in terms of being able to 
target earmarks and prohibit funding for them and actually save money. 
The way this bill is structured makes it difficult to do that, but I 
recognize it.
  I just wanted to make the point and to drive it home again, through 
the process of authorization, appropriation, and oversight, we can do a 
far better job.
  The CHAIR. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. FLAKE. Madam Chair, I ask unanimous consent to withdraw the 
amendment.
  The CHAIR. Without objection, the amendment is withdrawn.
  There was no objection.


                  Amendment No. 7 Offered by Mr. Hill

  The CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 7 printed in 
House Report 111-570.
  Mr. HILL. I have an amendment at the desk.
  The CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Page 33, line 15, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(reduced by $100,000) (increased by $100,000)''.

  The CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1559, the gentleman from 
Indiana (Mr. Hill) and a Member opposed each will control 5 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Indiana.
  Mr. HILL. I want to thank Chairman Edwards for crafting this 
critically important bill for our Nation's veterans.
  My amendment simply removes funding from the VA General Operating 
Expense Account and replaces it back in the very same account. My 
intent in doing this is to highlight an issue for my colleagues and for 
the VA.
  I believe that the VA needs to examine its practice in how it 
accounts for returned post-9/11 GI benefit payments and that the VA 
should submit a report to Congress no later than January 1 of 2011 on 
changes they intend to make to ensure accurate, timely, and efficient 
accounting of any returned post-9/11 GI benefit payments.

                              {time}  1750

  I, along with many of my colleagues, enthusiastically supported the 
Post-
9/11 Veterans Education Assistance Act of 2008. This law provides 
qualified veterans with a full 4-year college scholarship, restoring a 
commitment our country made to our World War II-era veterans.
  I believe that the Post-9/11 GI bill can spark another period of 
economic growth and prosperity for the current generation of veterans, 
much like the Montgomery GI bill did for the previous generation of 
veterans. That is why I believe it is so critical that this bill be 
implemented accurately.
  I understand that the VA legitimately requires some payments to 
veterans and universities to be returned. There can be instances of a 
student taking fewer classes than what was originally thought, 
accidentally duplicating payments. This is reasonable to an extent. I 
believe that these funds need to be accounted for accurately; however, 
this is a two-way street. It has come to my attention that there has 
been some difficulty with the VA to properly and accurately account for 
returned payments from universities and veterans alike. In some 
instances, this has resulted in the VA withholding further post-9/11 
educational benefit payments to the student in question as they are 
credited with an outstanding debt despite having already paid back the 
necessary accounts. This is even after the returned checks have been 
cashed by the VA. This issue needs to be addressed in a timely manner.
  I do not believe that the VA is acting with any malice in this 
measure, far from it. I applaud the work that the VA is doing to 
improve the lives of veterans. They deserve this benefit, but they 
deserve for it to work for them.
  Madam Chair, I yield to the chairman, Mr. Edwards, for the purpose of 
a colloquy.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. I thank the gentleman. I support this 
amendment.
  Through no one's malicious intentions, students--our veteran 
servicemen and -women or their children using the new 21st Century GI 
Bill--are being punished for mistakes that they did not make, perhaps 
paperwork mistakes by a school administration or by the VA. The result 
can be that sometimes students can have halted their additional GI 
benefits in order to continue college. So this is really an important 
issue. I salute the gentleman. We are going to see that this issue is 
solved with his leadership, and I look forward to working with him.
  Mr. HILL. I thank the chairman for his support.
  This issue was brought to my attention by Indiana University, which 
is a university that I represent back home in Indiana. I have also been 
working with a community college, Ivy Tech in Indiana, with the same 
problem.
  I thank the chairman for his support for this amendment, and I 
encourage my colleagues to support it as well.
  Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman 
from Indiana (Mr. Hill).
  The amendment was agreed to.


           Amendment No. 8 Offered by Mr. Gingrey of Georgia

  The CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 8 printed in 
House Report 111-570.
  Mr. GINGREY of Georgia. Madam Chairman, I have an amendment at the 
desk.
  The CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       At the end of the bill (before the short title), add the 
     following new section:
       Sec. 5__.  None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made 
     available in this Act may be used by an agency of the 
     executive branch to exercise the power of eminent domain (to 
     take private property for public use) without the payment of 
     just compensation.

  The CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1559, the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Gingrey) and a Member opposed each will control 5 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Georgia.
  Mr. GINGREY of Georgia. Madam Chairman, my amendment would prohibit 
funds in the bill from being used to exercise eminent domain without 
just compensation to the individuals involved. This is necessary 
because the Kelo v. City of New London Supreme Court decision expanded 
the so-called ``public use'' provision of the takings clause of the 
Fifth Amendment. This decision allows State and local governments to 
practice eminent domain for the benefit of one private party over 
another.
  In this specific case, Madam Chairman, the City of New London, 
Connecticut, used its eminent domain authority to actually seize 
private property to sell to private developers in order to aid a 
struggling economy in the name of economic development, but not 
specifically in the traditional interpretation of ``public use.''
  Justice John Paul Stevens' majority opinion states that the Fifth 
Amendment does not require a literal ``public use.'' However, the Fifth 
Amendment of the document this Nation holds sacred--and I have it right 
here with me all the time, Madam Chairman--the Fifth Amendment of this 
document clearly reads: ``Nor shall private property be taken for 
public use without just compensation.''
  This decision represents the disparity between constitutional 
interpretation and, yes, judicial activism. Governments should solely 
be allowed to compel an individual to forfeit their property for the 
public's use, but not for the benefit of another private person.
  I agree with the dissenting views in the case which point out that 
the decision is an intrusion into private citizens' lives, and it picks 
winners and losers in the private market at the cost of an individual 
losing their personal property.
  Madam Chairman, according to the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, 
all levels of government have a responsibility and a moral obligation 
to defend the property rights of individuals and only exercise eminent 
domain when it's necessary for public use--the

[[Page 14437]]

literal interpretation of public use--and then just compensation is 
paid to those affected individuals. Any execution of eminent domain by 
State and local governments that does not specifically adhere to these 
requirements constitutes an abuse of government power and a usurpation 
of the individual property rights as indeed defined in the Fifth 
Amendment.
  My amendment would take one step toward ensuring that property rights 
of citizens are protected and they are justly compensated when they are 
taken for public use.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. GINGREY of Georgia. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. I want to thank the gentleman. I will support 
his amendment.
  I want to make it clear there is nothing, to my knowledge, in this 
bill intended to allow the exercise of eminent domain without payment 
of just compensation, but I believe in the principle of just 
compensation, and I would be glad to support the gentleman's amendment.
  Mr. GINGREY of Georgia. Madam Chairman, reclaiming my time, I thank 
Mr. Edwards for that commitment. I certainly appreciate his comments.
  Again, I would urge all of my colleagues to support the amendment. 
Let's end this abuse of eminent domain. Eminent domain is necessary, 
but it is being abused; this definition of which, with the help of very 
liberal interpretations by the Supreme Court in some cases, has been 
blurred to seemingly allow one private entity to benefit over another. 
That, as the gentleman from Texas indicated, is the intent of the 
amendment, and I am very grateful for his support.
  Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman 
from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey).
  The amendment was agreed to.


           Amendment No. 9 Offered by Mr. Gingrey of Georgia

  The CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 9 printed in 
House Report 111-570.
  Mr. GINGREY of Georgia. Madam Chairman, I have an amendment at the 
desk.
  The CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       At the end of the bill (before the short title) insert the 
     following:
       Sec. __.  None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made 
     available to the Department of Defense in this Act may be 
     used to renovate or construct any facility in the continental 
     United States for the purpose of housing any individual who 
     has been detained, at any time after September 11, 2001, at 
     United States Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

  The CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1559, the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Gingrey) and a Member opposed each will control 5 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Georgia.
  Mr. GINGREY of Georgia. Madam Chairman, I rise today to offer an 
amendment to ensure that no funds in this bill are used to construct or 
to renovate any facility in the United States to house Gitmo detainees.
  Now, I realize that the majority will likely support my amendment 
given that the bill contains no funds for this purpose; but today, 
Madam Chairman, I want to challenge the Democratic majority to commit 
to adhering to an underlying principle, that being that it is wholly 
unnecessary to transfer the detainees and to close Guantanamo Bay, or 
Gitmo. No matter what appropriations bills we are considering--today, 
MILCON/VA, when we come back, DOD, Homeland Security, CJS--this fact 
still holds true.

                              {time}  1800

  We have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the facilities at 
Gitmo, and the only reason we continue to debate its status is, quite 
honestly, Madam Chair, for public relations reasons.
  As I witnessed most recently in April during my third site visit, the 
Gitmo detainees are treated with dignity and with respect. They are 
allowed access to their attorneys. They are allowed access to the 
International Committee of the Red Cross. They are provided with 
excellent medical care. As I am a physician Member, I know of what I 
speak. They are even allowed to live in a communal setting. If they 
were to consume everything provided to them on a daily basis, they 
would take in 5,500 calories per day. Indeed, most of them have gained 
anywhere from 15 to 25 pounds since they were originally detained. 
Their religious customs in all areas of their lives are respected, and 
they are provided with everything necessary to observe those customs.
  If the world knew how we were actually treating these detainees, we 
would not be facing the prospect of spending hundreds of millions of 
dollars more--money that we don't have unless China will continue to 
lend it to us--to duplicate what we are already doing at Guantanamo 
Bay.
  Madam Chair, transferring the detainees to the United States could 
eventually lead to their release on American soil, which would put our 
own citizens at risk. It could create significant immigration issues as 
aliens could become eligible for asylum or other forms of immigration-
related relief from removal. It most certainly would make any facility 
where they are held a terrorist target.
  Not surprisingly, Madam Chair, the American people are overwhelmingly 
opposed to closing Gitmo. In a March 2010 CNN/Opinion Research 
Corporation poll, 60 percent of Americans expressed that the United 
States should continue to operate the detention center at Guantanamo 
Bay. They understand that the battlefield is not limited to our 
military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. They have recently 
witnessed two attempted attacks on our homeland in the skies over 
Detroit and, indeed, on the streets of New York City.
  The American people know that the detainees located at Gitmo are not 
minor offenders by any means. These detainees include terrorist 
trainers, terrorist financiers, bomb makers, Osama bin Laden's 
bodyguards, terrorist recruiters, and would-be suicide bombers. Indeed, 
one of three adolescents originally detained is currently being tried 
by a military tribunal. Another, who was released after extensive 
efforts at rehabilitation, was subsequently killed on the battlefield 
after returning to the fight in Afghanistan.
  Madam Chair, simply put, the American people believe that bringing 
Guantanamo Bay detainees to American soil for any purpose puts 
Americans at risk and is a national security threat. It is time this 
Congress listens to the collective voice of the American people and 
stops perpetrating the ``Washington knows best'' mindset.
  I urge my colleagues to support my amendment on this bill--and on all 
other appropriations bills--to prevent the wholly unnecessary transfer 
of Gitmo detainees to American soil.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. Madam Chair, I claim time in opposition to the 
amendment, though I am not opposed to the amendment.
  The CHAIR. Without objection, the gentleman is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  There was no objection.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. I will support this amendment, Madam Chair.
  I do want to clarify that there is no funding in this bill of any 
type to fund any kind of facility to house detainees from Guantanamo. 
Having said that, I would be glad to support the gentleman's amendment.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. GINGREY of Georgia. I want to thank my friend from Texas. In 
knowing him and his heart, I am not surprised that he would support 
this amendment, but I want to ask the gentleman a question.
  Mr. Edwards, can I count on you to commit to supporting this 
amendment in future appropriations bills so that we can end the debate 
as to whether Guantanamo Bay should be closed once and for all?
  I hope the gentleman will answer the question.
  The CHAIR. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Gingrey).

[[Page 14438]]

  The question was taken; and the Chair announced that the ayes 
appeared to have it.
  Mr. GINGREY of Georgia. Madam Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
  The CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further proceedings on 
the amendment offered by the gentleman from Georgia will be postponed.


               Amendment No. 10 Offered by Mrs. Halvorson

  The CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 10 printed in 
House Report 111-570.
  Mrs. HALVORSON. Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
  The CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Page 33, line 15, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(reduced by $10,000,000)''.
       Page 36, line 11, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(increased by $10,000,000)''.

  The CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1559, the gentlewoman from 
Illinois (Mrs. Halvorson) and a Member opposed each will control 5 
minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Illinois.
  Mrs. HALVORSON. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Chair, I would first like to take a moment and praise Chairman 
Obey and Chairman Edwards for their continued commitment to caring for 
American veterans. Three-and-a-half years ago, their committee made a 
commitment and renewed the promise to care for those who have served in 
our armed services. They have kept that promise and have dramatically 
increased funding for our veterans by 70 percent since 2007.
  As the only Member of Congress from Illinois who sits on the 
Veterans' Affairs Committee, I really can speak to the critical need 
that these funds have addressed for Illinois veterans.
  Madam Chair, my amendment is simple. It adds $10 million to the VA 
Major Construction Project and subtracts $10 million from the general 
operating expenses. Much of the VA medical infrastructure is aging, 
outdated and, in many cases, obsolete.
  According to the 2011 Independent Budget, which is written by some of 
the largest Veteran Service Organizations, a great number of current 
medical facilities were built after World War II and were constructed 
with structurally obsolete designs which ``typically do not meet the 
needs of modern health care delivery.'' The result of these outdated 
buildings has left the VA with a long list of major construction 
projects, which are just sitting there, waiting for congressional 
funding.
  Right now, there are over 60 medical construction projects in the 
backlog. That means that there are over 60 locations that are in need 
of major construction, renovation, or modification. It means that there 
are 60 locations where our veterans are not receiving optimal care in 
modern facilities. Unfortunately, this bill was only able to address a 
total of five of these projects, and only two of them are new medical 
facilities.
  With more women and men servicemembers transitioning from active duty 
to VA care and with multiple illnesses, such as PTSD and TBI, we will 
require even more new and modified medical facilities. Though $10 
million is far less than what is needed to address these aging medical 
facilities' infrastructures and construction needs, the amendment will 
still play a role in ensuring that more veterans are receiving the care 
they deserve in a modern and quality health care facility. This 
amendment is also supported by the American Legion.
  I urge my colleagues to stand up and to support modern medical 
facilities for our veterans and to vote ``yes'' on this amendment.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CRENSHAW. Madam Chair, I claim time in opposition, though I am 
not opposed to the gentlewoman's amendment.
  The CHAIR. Without objection, the gentleman from Florida is 
recognized for 5 minutes.
  There was no objection.
  Mr. CRENSHAW. I have a couple of questions.
  We have a process for building outpatient clinics. I just wondered: 
Does this amendment, in any way, try to circumvent the process? Does it 
direct where the money would be spent in any way?
  I yield to the gentlewoman.
  Mrs. HALVORSON. Absolutely not.
  You have the amendment, as do I, and it just takes $10 million out of 
the general operating to put it into major construction.
  You know, there are needs everywhere. I wish it were in some way to 
help my district. We have needs, but it does not help my district. This 
major construction is $28 million less than it was last year. So I 
would like to see that we gradually get it back up to the $28 million 
at least that it was last year.
  Mr. CRENSHAW. Reclaiming my time, the amendment allows the VA to use 
this funding at any location that it seeks?
  Mrs. HALVORSON. At any location anywhere. I wish I could say that it 
were for someplace special, but it is not.
  Mr. CRENSHAW. Reclaiming my time, I would just point out to the 
gentlewoman that there is $1.166 billion for construction. That is $15 
million above the request.
  I can appreciate that the gentlewoman would like to spend even more 
and that she, apparently, is not trying to circumvent the process, 
because a lot of people would like to have clinics in their districts, 
and a lot of people have been waiting in line and have been watching 
this process work, but if it doesn't seek to spend it at any one 
location, then that is helpful to me.
  I yield back the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1810

  Mrs. HALVORSON. Madam Chairman, our veterans deserve the best care in 
the world and at the best and most modern medical facilities, and 
that's why we're working to accomplish this here. And in this body we 
need to keep those promises. This is something that is very important, 
I think, to all of us here in Congress.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Halvorson).
  The amendment was agreed to.


               Amendment No. 11 Offered by Mr. Bilirakis

  The CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 11 printed in 
House Report 111-570.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
  The CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Page 38, line 18, before the period insert the following: 
     ``: Provided further, That of the funds made available under 
     this heading, $9,500,000 shall be for the acquisition, 
     construction, and alteration of up to four post-acute long-
     term care residential brain injury medical facilities 
     pursuant to section 8103 of title 38, United States Code''.

  The CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1559, the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Bilirakis) and a Member opposed each will control 5 
minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Florida.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Madam Chair, my amendment would provide $9.5 million 
to acquire and construct up to four long-term care residential brain 
injury medical facilities.
  The primary danger faced by our troops in Operation Enduring Freedom 
and Operation Iraqi Freedom comes in the form of improvised explosive 
devices. When an IED explodes, the blast wave can result in our 
servicemembers incurring catastrophic injuries including amputations, 
spinal cord injuries, visual and auditory impairments, traumatic brain 
injury, and posttraumatic stress.
  Wounded warriors with these complex injuries require a high level of 
health care coordination with an interdisciplinary clinical support 
team and a wide range of specialized services. Since 2003, almost 2,000 
severely injured servicemembers have received state-of-the-art care at 
one of the Department of Veterans Affairs four Polytrauma 
Rehabilitation Centers.
  But what happens to these heroes when they are discharged? Some of

[[Page 14439]]

them require intensive medical care for the rest of their lives. My 
amendment addresses the problem of how to provide ongoing recovery for 
these wounded warriors.
  These heroes honorably served their country. Now we have to step up 
to meet our obligation to them. They need a place to go that will 
provide for post-acute long-term care, subacute residential 
rehabilitation, and outpatient day rehabilitation with the dignity, 
respect, and honor they have earned.
  Their families, who are enduring the extreme stress of having one of 
their own come home with catastrophic injuries, also need this long-
term care facility for their loved ones.
  My amendment will enable the VA to construct facilities that are 
specifically designed to provide ongoing recovery for wounded warriors. 
Such facilities will enable families to visit in an atmosphere that is 
conducive to the rehabilitation and the reintegration.
  These facilities will be paid for with existing funds within the VA's 
budget and will allow the VA to select locations that are close enough 
to existing VA medical facilities to ensure that intensive, ongoing 
medical and specialist care is easily provided. At the same time, the 
facility can be in a location that would be natural and, importantly, 
family friendly.
  By supporting my amendment, you will be requiring funds already 
available to the VA to be directed toward relieving the obvious need 
for long-term, ongoing recovery for our veterans suffering from TBI and 
other polytrauma injuries.
  A properly selected and designed facility is so important, Madam 
Chair. My amendment will enable medical specialists from the VA to 
develop a special plan to allow our veterans to heal. That is so 
important. It should be our top priority. A doctor would be able to 
look in the eyes of a wounded warrior and tell him or her, This is your 
home, and we are going to help you participate in society and visit 
with your family.
  The facilities my amendment would promote, Madam Chairman, would 
enable our young wounded warriors to focus on hope and to focus on 
honor and have hope for a future. We owe them that, Madam Chair. Let's 
give them that.
  I ask my colleagues to recognize the extreme difficulty faced by our 
catastrophically wounded warriors. Show them your support and vote 
``yes'' on the Bilirakis amendment.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. Madam Chair, I rise to claim time in opposition 
to the amendment.
  The Acting CHAIR (Ms. Jackson Lee of Texas). The gentleman is 
recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. I want to salute the gentleman's focus, his 
genuine commitment on the important need of providing long-term care 
for our veterans and wounded warriors with traumatic brain injury.
  I care deeply about this. We all care deeply about it. In fact, 
several years ago I personally put the money in our VA appropriations 
bill to build a new polytrauma center where there was not one in the 
entire southwestern part of the United States.
  I wish the gentleman could agree to work with the majority and the 
minority, the conference committee, to try to find a way to also work 
with the VA to find a way to address the very important needs that he 
is wanting to address.
  If he's not willing to pull this amendment down, I must reluctantly 
rise in opposition to it for several reasons:
  First, the VA is studying this issue right now, and we ought to sit 
down with them and find out what they have learned and what they think 
are the best ways to use taxpayers' dollars to address these needs.
  Secondly, I don't know if we need four of these long-term centers or 
six or eight or 10. Rather than spending money on four centers, perhaps 
it would be better to do smaller renovations on 10 to 20 centers where 
our traumatically injured veterans could receive care closer to the 
homes of their loved ones.
  Third, I don't know what the full cost of this is going to be. The 
$9.5 million doesn't, I don't think, even come close to providing for 
the full cost of the construction of these four projects. Perhaps the 
gentleman could help illuminate for all of us both the cost of the 
construction plus the cost of the operations of those centers. And 
there are a lot of unanswered questions, important questions, such as: 
Where would the staff come from to man these centers? Would they come 
from existing VA facilities? I don't know. Perhaps there are good 
answers to those questions. I just don't think the committee has them 
at this point.
  Finally, there are pay-fors on this. The consequences of how this 
gentleman would pay for these would be that we would have a domiciliary 
extended-stay unit would not be replaced in Butler, Pennsylvania; a 
kidney dialysis unit expansion would not occur in Richmond, Virginia; 
an ambulatory surgery center would not be completed in Albuquerque, New 
Mexico; an urgent care center will not be renovated at Castle Point, 
New York; and a psychiatric residential rehab facility will not be 
replaced in Perry Point, Maryland.
  It was not the intention of the gentleman to try to prevent these 
five important projects from being completed, but it is the consequence 
of his amendment as written.
  I yield to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott).
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Madam Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment by the gentleman 
from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis). I support the underlying goal of the 
gentleman's amendment to acquire and construct long-term residential 
medical facilities for veterans suffering from traumatic brain injury; 
however, this designation will jeopardize other important construction 
projects because it is offset by a decrease in what is called the minor 
projects construction account.
  This would jeopardize an important project in my district at the 
Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Hospital. And if this amendment is 
adopted, it would hinder the expansion of McGuire's dialysis unit. This 
is an important project and will improve services that many veterans in 
the Richmond area need very desperately.
  So I appreciate the gentleman's intent; however, I believe that 
circumventing the Veterans Affairs Department's construction priorities 
is an inappropriate way to achieve that goal. The Nation has promised 
our veterans access to quality health care services, and we owe them to 
ensure that those services are there.
  So, Madam Chairman, I would urge the rejection of this amendment so 
that the underlying projects can go forward.
  Mr. CRENSHAW. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. I would be glad to yield.
  Mr. CRENSHAW. Mr. Edwards, I appreciate the concerns that have been 
raised here, and I think, as you point out, this is a very important 
subject, very worthwhile. And to the question of where the money comes 
from, those minor construction projects, I think everyone has a concern 
about that.

                              {time}  1820

  But I think if Mr. Bilirakis is willing to work, there is probably a 
way to find an offset that doesn't impact the minor construction. There 
are some funds, as you know, that might be available. And I would 
encourage Mr. Bilirakis, with your commitment, to say let's try to 
figure out a way to do this, find a way to pay for it, find out what 
the real costs are. And it says up to four. Maybe there is a way just 
to begin that process, because we know, based on what Mr. Kennedy had 
said earlier, it's a very, very important issue.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. Reclaiming my time, if Mr. Bilirakis would be 
willing to ask unanimous consent to bring down his amendment, I will 
make my genuine commitment to work with him, because I salute him for 
pointing out the important need that needs to be addressed here.
  I'll work with Mr. Crenshaw, the acting ranking member, Mr. Wamp, the

[[Page 14440]]

ranking member of the subcommittee, and we will get together with the 
VA and try to find a pay-for that doesn't take away from awfully 
important projects such as Mr. Scott's in Virginia and others.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. If you would agree to work with me on this particular 
amendment--this is a very important project, as you know. We do have 
our polytrauma centers, but we need the long-term care for our heroes. 
And this is a top priority of mine. If you would agree to work with me 
on this, then I will withdraw.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. If the gentleman will yield, I appreciate that. 
I will work in good faith. And let's see if by working with the VA, the 
majority and minority, see if we can find a way to most efficiently and 
effectively take care of these great Americans that have suffered such 
a sacrifice on behalf of our country, and do so without impacting these 
other important projects throughout the country.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. I yield to the gentleman from Virginia.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. I would join in support of this. Traumatic 
brain injuries is a very important problem that we need to deal with. I 
would join in support of that and work with you as long as you do not 
affect the other projects.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Reclaiming my time, I have studied this issue, and 
it's a top priority of mine. We need to get this done. So thank you for 
your willingness to work with me.
  With that, I appreciate the gentleman's willingness, as I said, to 
work with me. I look forward to doing so.
  Madam Chair, I ask unanimous consent to withdraw my amendment.
  The Acting CHAIR. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman 
from Florida?
  There was no objection.


                 Amendment No. 12 Offered by Mr. Peters

  The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 12 
printed in House Report 111-570.
  Mr. PETERS. Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Page 33, line 15, after the dollar amount, insert the 
     following: ``(reduced by $50,000) (increased by $50,000)''.

  The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1559, the gentleman 
from Michigan (Mr. Peters) and a Member opposed each will control 5 
minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Michigan.
  Mr. PETERS. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Chair, in the interests of common sense, I rise today to offer 
an amendment that will save taxpayer dollars by reducing waste in 
prescription medications at the VA. Currently, whenever patients leave 
a VA hospital, leftover medications like eye drops and inhalers are 
just thrown away. Often, veterans would have to go right to the 
pharmacy to refill what was discarded.
  My amendment simply directs the VA to implement a program that would 
re-label prescription drugs used in VA hospitals to be sent home with 
discharged patients for outpatient use. My amendment offers a simple, 
commonsense change that will save taxpayers an estimated $14 million 
over 10 years, while saving patients both time and effort.
  I am proud that this amendment has the support of the American Legion 
and the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, and urge its passage 
here today.
  I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. I just want to commend the gentleman. This is 
such a good amendment. Sometimes common sense can prevail, because it 
certainly makes no sense to take drugs that a veteran is using, 
prescription drugs used in a VA hospital, and then have a half a bottle 
or three-quarters of a bottle of those pills left, have to throw them 
away, and then go directly to the pharmacy at the VA hospital to get 
those exact same prescription drugs to take for use at home.
  So this is going to save taxpayers money. And every dollar that's 
saved can be put back into much-needed medical care for our veterans. 
So I am thrilled to support the gentleman's amendment and salute him 
for working on this.
  Mr. PETERS. Madam Chair, my amendment is a commonsense change and 
saves taxpayers money, saves time and effort for veterans. I urge 
passage.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Peters).
  The amendment was agreed to.


                 Amendment No. 13 Offered by Mr. Peters

  The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 13 
printed in House Report 111-570.
  Mr. PETERS. I have an amendment at the desk.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Page 33, line 15, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(reduced by $150,000) (increased by $150,000)''.

  The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1559, the gentleman 
from Michigan (Mr. Peters) and a Member opposed each will control 5 
minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Michigan.
  Mr. PETERS. Madam Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Chair, while I applaud the progress this Congress has made in 
ensuring that our Nation's veterans receive the care they deserve, and 
the efforts of Secretary Shinseki in making the VA a more proactive 
institution, we must continue to work to improve the responsiveness of 
the VA both in terms of treatment our veterans receive and the care 
with which the VA or any agency handles taxpayer money.
  It is in this spirit that I am offering my amendment to the MILCON-VA 
Appropriations Act. My amendment works to both increase the efficiency 
in which the VA obligates funds, and the speed at which necessary 
contracts for supplies and services are fulfilled.
  The VA Office of Inspector General audited a sample of over 18,000 VA 
contracts which identified some areas of concern regarding contracts 
that remain unfulfilled. With little or no oversight for months of 
these contracts, the OIG projected that $55 million a year, and $261 
million over 5 years, could be put to better use.
  By conducting a simple review after a period of 90 days in which the 
contract is inactive in fulfilling the contract, millions of dollars 
can be de-obligated from contracts that no longer need to be fulfilled 
or can be fulfilled in a more productive manner.
  The American Legion agrees with my amendment as a commonsense change 
and step in the right direction, and I urge its passage here today.
  I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. I once again on this amendment want to thank 
the gentleman for bringing this before the House. This could save up to 
$55 million in taxpayer funding according to the Inspector General. 
It's a good amendment, and I am glad to support it.
  Mr. PETERS. My amendment is a commonsense change that frees taxpayer 
dollars for better use to care for our veterans, and I urge its passage 
here today.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Peters).
  The amendment was agreed to.

                              {time}  1830


         Amendment No. 14 Offered by Mr. Garrett of New Jersey

  The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 14 
printed in House Report 111-570.
  Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey. Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the 
desk.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Page 38, line 7, after the dollar amount, insert the 
     following: ``(decreased by $7,000,000)''.
       Page 39, line 8, after the dollar amount, insert the 
     following: ``(increased by $7,000,000)''.

  The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1559, the gentleman

[[Page 14441]]

from New Jersey (Mr. Garrett) and a Member opposed each will control 5 
minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey.
  Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey. I thank the Chair.
  This amendment would increase the amount of funding for grants for 
construction of States veterans cemeteries by $7 million while reducing 
funding for grants for construction of minor projects by an equal 
amount.
  The VA provides funding for State veterans cemeteries through the 
grants for construction of State veterans cemeteries program. All 
pending projects are evaluated by the VA and ranked in order of 
priority. This is not an earmark program. It is a competitive ranking 
process.
  The current priority list shows that there are $121 million worth of 
projects where the State matching funds are already in place. More than 
half of these projects--totaling $70 million--are still awaiting 
Federal matching grants. Yet the appropriations bill we are considering 
today provides only $46 million for grants for construction of State 
veterans cemeteries.
  The first priority for the State cemetery program is to provide 
funding for the expansion of existing cemeteries. The second priority 
is for the construction of new cemeteries according to geographical 
need. The third is for improvements to existing cemeteries. So what 
this means is that existing cemeteries which require improvements do 
not receive the necessary funding.
  For example, my State of New Jersey is home to the BGWC Doyle 
Veterans Memorial Cemetery. This cemetery is the busiest State veterans 
cemetery in the Nation. On average, it has seven burials per day. For 
the past 2 years, the cemetery has had two important improvement 
projects with State grants in place, but there hasn't been sufficient 
funding for matching Federal grants.
  The following States also have a State matching grant but have at 
least one unfunded project: Tennessee, Minnesota, Kentucky, Alabama, 
California, Idaho, South Dakota, Hawaii, Maryland, Montana, Virginia, 
Nevada and Maine.
  To make matters worse, the State veterans cemetery grant program has 
been underfunded over the past several years, even though the number of 
World War II veterans that are needing interments is rapidly 
increasing. VA and VFW officials at both the State and national level 
agree that there is a need for an overall increase to the annual budget 
of the grants to State cemeteries program. In fact, it is one of their 
top priorities.
  This bipartisan amendment would increase the amount for this program 
by $7 million. This amendment would simultaneously decrease by $7 
million the amount for the minor projects. However, the construction of 
minor project account is already fully funded at a level that is $40 
million above both the VA and the President's budget requests.
  Last year, during consideration of the FY10 MILCON-VA appropriations 
bill, I introduced an almost identical amendment. The only difference 
was that the amount of increase/decrease was $4 million rather than $7 
million. That amendment passed this House by voice vote.
  With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. Madam Chair, I rise to claim time in opposition 
to the amendment.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. Madam Chair, I will salute the gentleman from 
New Jersey for focusing on the need to fund our State veterans 
cemeteries. I believe in those cemeteries. I think they're an important 
partnership between the Federal Government and our State governments. 
So I have absolutely no objection to his wanting to try to find 
additional funding for State cemeteries.
  However, I will object and ask my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this 
amendment because of the way in which he pays for it. While not 
intended in any way, it just turns out the money that he would be 
taking out of the VA minor construction project would come out of these 
specific projects:
  A domiciliary extended stay unit will not be replaced in Butler, 
Pennsylvania; a kidney dialysis unit expansion will not occur in 
Richmond, Virginia; an ambulatory surgery center will not be completed 
in Albuquerque, New Mexico; and an urgent care center will not be 
renovated at Castle Point, New York.
  So you have an amendment that won't even guarantee that even one dime 
of this amendment's funding will go to State veterans cemeteries in New 
Jersey. In fact, the last list I saw the VA has put out officially has 
the New Jersey project significantly down the list. But regardless of 
that, I think it's just not right to take funding out of these much-
needed health care construction projects.
  I would like to yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Altmire) for any time he would care to consume.
  Mr. ALTMIRE. I thank the chairman.
  Madam Chair, I rise in opposition to the Garrett amendment to the 
Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations bill which 
would transfer $7 million in funding for the grants for construction, 
minor projects account into another unrelated account. This amendment 
would adversely affect veterans in my district by shifting funding away 
from priority construction projects, such as the domiciliary extended 
stay unit in Butler, Pennsylvania. That facility is a vital source of 
shelter and rehabilitation for homeless veterans in western 
Pennsylvania, and I will not allow its upkeep and improvement to be 
compromised by this type of unwise amendment.
  Last-minute shifts in funding for parochial concerns take away from 
priority projects and plans that the VA has determined to be necessary 
for veterans' health and safety nationwide. I ask my colleagues to join 
me in strongly opposing the Garrett amendment to prevent harmful 
construction project cuts for the VA.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. I would like to now yield time to the gentleman 
from Virginia (Mr. Scott).
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Chair, I too rise in opposition to the 
amendment.
  As it has been said before, this would jeopardize the dialysis unit 
in the McGuire Hospital in Richmond. Although I appreciate the 
gentleman from New Jersey's intent, I do not believe that shortchanging 
important projects at the VA to improve and expand quality health care 
for our veterans is the appropriate way to achieve that goal. We have 
promised our veterans health care and decreases in what is called the 
minor projects account will actually jeopardize important projects all 
over the country, including one in Richmond, Virginia.
  I urge my colleagues to reject the amendment. Hopefully we can work 
out some other pay-for. But we do not want it taken out of the projects 
in Richmond, Virginia; Pennsylvania; and other projects around the 
country.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. I now yield to the gentleman from New York.
  Mr. HALL of New York. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
  I rise in opposition to the amendment, although I do support the 
underlying intent; but not, however, the pay-for.
  One project that would be affected by this cutback is the renovation 
of the urgent care center at Castle Point, New York, a VA hospital that 
was built in 1926. It's the oldest VA hospital in the country and has 
never undergone a major renovation. The project would dramatically 
increase urgent care capacity at Castle Point and make the facility 
more accommodating for female veterans who are increasingly a large 
part of our force.
  I ask that before you vote on this measure, please take a moment to 
consider the unintended consequences and the negative consequences, not 
just in the Hudson Valley but across the country.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. Madam Chair, do I have any time remaining?
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman has 30 seconds remaining.

[[Page 14442]]


  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. Let me just conclude by saying no one objects 
to the gentleman's goal. We would be glad to try to work in good faith 
to see if we can find another pay-for to improve funding for our 
veterans cemeteries. But I will strongly object and ask my colleagues 
to vote ``no'' on this amendment because of the damage done to veterans 
at these facilities that need the care that they would otherwise not 
get if this amendment is passed into law.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey. Madam Chair, I would just remind the 
gentleman that the money you appropriated is already $40 million over 
what the President asked for and also what the VA asked for.
  I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Lance).
  Mr. LANCE. Madam Chair, I rise in support of Congressman Garrett's 
amendment also sponsored in a bipartisan capacity by Congressman Adler 
on the other side of the aisle and by me. This is bipartisan in nature, 
and, of course, we believe that across the country, veterans and their 
families are dealing with the hardships of overcrowded and unkempt 
State cemeteries.
  For example, in New Jersey there is only one State veterans cemetery 
that is currently available for new burials--the Doyle Veterans 
Memorial Cemetery in Wrightstown, in southern New Jersey, not in my 
district and not in Congressman Garrett's district, but this is 
bipartisan in nature on our side of the aisle; and certainly we think 
that this amendment will help fund these projects and reduce existing 
backlogs in the State veterans cemetery grant program.
  I certainly concur with Congressman Garrett's point of view that the 
funding is already over what has been requested by the administration 
and we believe strongly that this is in the best interest of the United 
States.
  Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey. May I inquire of the time remaining.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from New Jersey has 1 minute 
remaining.
  Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey. In conclusion, I will end where I started, 
and that is to say, there is a need for the cemeteries not just in the 
state of New Jersey but across the country as well. In a bipartisan 
manner we passed this bill with the support presumably from the 
chairman last year in a similar manner as we are doing this year. As 
was stated already, the amount of money that is already appropriated is 
$40 million more than not only what the White House wants but also what 
the VA wants.
  I do find it curious that the chairman is able to come to the floor 
and cite specifically what programs would be cut when our staff tried 
diligently through the committee to ask them to identify exactly which 
ones would be cut and we could never get an answer from them as to what 
would be cut whatsoever with regard to priorities. Now the chair comes 
and says, well, this program, this program, and this program will be 
cut.

                              {time}  1840

  How can anybody say it's being cut when we're already spending $40 
million more than what the VA and the administration is asking for?
  This is a duty that we owe to our veterans, and we should do it in a 
proper manner, and we should do it now. We should not be pointing 
fingers saying that we want a cut from this or a cut from that. We have 
set out the program this year as we have done in the past. And we 
should meet that moral obligation.
  The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Garrett).
  The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the noes 
appeared to have it.
  Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey. Madam Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
  The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further 
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from New Jersey 
will be postponed.


                    Announcement by the Acting Chair

  The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, proceedings 
will now resume on those amendments printed in House Report 111-570 on 
which further proceedings were postponed, in the following order:
  Amendment No. 9 by Mr. Gingrey of Georgia.
  Amendment No. 14 by Mr. Garrett of New Jersey.
  The first electronic vote will be conducted as a 15-minute vote. The 
second electronic vote will be conducted as a 5-minute vote.


           Amendment No. 9 Offered by Mr. Gingrey of Georgia

  The Acting CHAIR. The unfinished business is the demand for a 
recorded vote on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Georgia 
(Mr. Gingrey) on which further proceedings were postponed and on which 
the ayes prevailed by voice vote.
  The Clerk will redesignate the amendment.
  The Clerk redesignated the amendment.


                             Recorded Vote

  The Acting CHAIR. A recorded vote has been demanded.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 353, 
noes 69, not voting 16, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 480]

                               AYES--353

     Ackerman
     Aderholt
     Adler (NJ)
     Alexander
     Altmire
     Arcuri
     Austria
     Baca
     Bachmann
     Bachus
     Barrett (SC)
     Barrow
     Bartlett
     Barton (TX)
     Bean
     Berkley
     Berry
     Biggert
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boccieri
     Boehner
     Bonner
     Bono Mack
     Boozman
     Boren
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boustany
     Boyd
     Brady (PA)
     Brady (TX)
     Bright
     Broun (GA)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown, Corrine
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Buchanan
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Butterfield
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp
     Campbell
     Cantor
     Cao
     Capito
     Capuano
     Cardoza
     Carnahan
     Carney
     Carson (IN)
     Carter
     Cassidy
     Castle
     Chaffetz
     Chandler
     Childers
     Clarke
     Clyburn
     Coble
     Coffman (CO)
     Cole
     Conaway
     Connolly (VA)
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costa
     Costello
     Courtney
     Crenshaw
     Critz
     Cuellar
     Culberson
     Cummings
     Dahlkemper
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (KY)
     Davis (TN)
     DeFazio
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Dent
     Deutch
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Dicks
     Djou
     Donnelly (IN)
     Doyle
     Dreier
     Driehaus
     Duncan
     Edwards (TX)
     Ellsworth
     Emerson
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Flake
     Fleming
     Forbes
     Fortenberry
     Foster
     Foxx
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gerlach
     Giffords
     Gingrey (GA)
     Gohmert
     Gonzalez
     Goodlatte
     Gordon (TN)
     Granger
     Graves (GA)
     Graves (MO)
     Grayson
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Griffith
     Guthrie
     Hall (NY)
     Hall (TX)
     Halvorson
     Hare
     Harper
     Hastings (FL)
     Hastings (WA)
     Heinrich
     Heller
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Herseth Sandlin
     Higgins
     Hill
     Himes
     Hinojosa
     Hirono
     Hodes
     Holden
     Holt
     Hoyer
     Hunter
     Inglis
     Issa
     Jackson (IL)
     Jenkins
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones
     Jordan (OH)
     Kagen
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick (MI)
     Kilroy
     Kind
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Kirkpatrick (AZ)
     Kissell
     Klein (FL)
     Kline (MN)
     Kosmas
     Kratovil
     Lamborn
     Lance
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Latta
     Lee (NY)
     Levin
     Lewis (CA)
     Linder
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Loebsack
     Lowey
     Lucas
     Luetkemeyer
     Lujan
     Lummis
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     Lynch
     Mack
     Maffei
     Maloney
     Manzullo
     Marchant
     Markey (CO)
     Markey (MA)
     Marshall
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCaul
     McClintock
     McCollum
     McCotter
     McGovern
     McHenry
     McIntyre
     McKeon
     McMahon
     McMorris Rodgers
     McNerney
     Meek (FL)
     Meeks (NY)
     Melancon
     Mica
     Michaud
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, Gary
     Miller, George
     Minnick
     Mitchell
     Mollohan
     Moore (KS)
     Moran (KS)
     Murphy (CT)
     Murphy, Patrick
     Murphy, Tim
     Myrick
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Neugebauer
     Nunes
     Nye
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olson
     Ortiz
     Owens
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Paul
     Paulsen
     Payne
     Pence
     Perlmutter
     Perriello
     Peters
     Peterson
     Petri
     Pitts
     Platts
     Poe (TX)
     Polis (CO)
     Pomeroy
     Posey
     Price (GA)
     Putnam
     Radanovich
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Rehberg
     Reichert
     Reyes

[[Page 14443]]


     Richardson
     Rodriguez
     Roe (TN)
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Rooney
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Roskam
     Ross
     Rothman (NJ)
     Royce
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (WI)
     Salazar
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sarbanes
     Scalise
     Schauer
     Schiff
     Schmidt
     Schock
     Schrader
     Schwartz
     Scott (GA)
     Sensenbrenner
     Serrano
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shea-Porter
     Sherman
     Shimkus
     Shuler
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Sires
     Skelton
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Space
     Speier
     Spratt
     Stearns
     Stupak
     Sullivan
     Sutton
     Tanner
     Taylor
     Teague
     Terry
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Thompson (PA)
     Thornberry
     Tiberi
     Tierney
     Titus
     Tonko
     Turner
     Upton
     Van Hollen
     Visclosky
     Walden
     Walz
     Weiner
     Welch
     Westmoreland
     Whitfield
     Wilson (OH)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman
     Wolf
     Yarmuth
     Young (AK)

                                NOES--69

     Baird
     Baldwin
     Becerra
     Berman
     Blumenauer
     Bordallo
     Braley (IA)
     Capps
     Castor (FL)
     Christensen
     Chu
     Clay
     Cohen
     Davis (IL)
     DeGette
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Edwards (MD)
     Ellison
     Engel
     Farr
     Fattah
     Filner
     Frank (MA)
     Fudge
     Garamendi
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Harman
     Hinchey
     Honda
     Inslee
     Israel
     Jackson Lee (TX)
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Kucinich
     Lee (CA)
     Lofgren, Zoe
     McDermott
     Moore (WI)
     Moran (VA)
     Murphy (NY)
     Nadler (NY)
     Norton
     Olver
     Pastor (AZ)
     Pierluisi
     Pingree (ME)
     Price (NC)
     Quigley
     Roybal-Allard
     Ryan (OH)
     Sablan
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Schakowsky
     Scott (VA)
     Sestak
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Towns
     Tsongas
     Velazquez
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watt
     Waxman
     Woolsey
     Wu

                             NOT VOTING--16

     Akin
     Andrews
     Cleaver
     Crowley
     Davis (AL)
     Ehlers
     Faleomavaega
     Fallin
     Hoekstra
     Lewis (GA)
     Slaughter
     Stark
     Tiahrt
     Wamp
     Watson
     Young (FL)

                              {time}  1911

  Mr. ELLISON, Ms. NORTON, Ms. LINDA T. SANCHEZ of California, Ms. 
DeGETTE, Mr. TOWNS, Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas, Mr. ISRAEL, Ms. WASSERMAN 
SCHULTZ, Mr. CLAY, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Messrs. DAVIS of 
Illinois, DOGGETT, INSLEE, COHEN and SCOTT of Virginia changed their 
vote from ``aye'' to ``no.''
  Mr. POLIS, Ms. RICHARDSON, Messrs. AL GREEN of Texas, SERRANO, 
McGOVERN, MINNICK and GEORGE MILLER of California changed their vote 
from ``no'' to ``aye.''
  So the amendment was agreed to.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.


         Amendment No. 14 Offered by Mr. Garrett of New Jersey

  The Acting CHAIR. The unfinished business is the demand for a 
recorded vote on the amendment offered by the gentleman from New Jersey 
(Mr. Garrett) on which further proceedings were postponed and on which 
the noes prevailed by voice vote.
  The Clerk will redesignate the amendment.
  The Clerk redesignated the amendment.


                             Recorded Vote

  The Acting CHAIR. A recorded vote has been demanded.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The Acting CHAIR. This will be a 5-minute vote.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 128, 
noes 296, not voting 14, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 481]

                               AYES--128

     Aderholt
     Adler (NJ)
     Alexander
     Bachmann
     Bachus
     Barrett (SC)
     Bartlett
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Boehner
     Bonner
     Bono Mack
     Boustany
     Brady (TX)
     Burton (IN)
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Campbell
     Cantor
     Capito
     Cassidy
     Chaffetz
     Cole
     Conaway
     Crenshaw
     Davis (KY)
     DeFazio
     Deutch
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Emerson
     Flake
     Fleming
     Foxx
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Giffords
     Gingrey (GA)
     Gohmert
     Graves (MO)
     Guthrie
     Hall (TX)
     Harper
     Hastings (WA)
     Heller
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Herseth Sandlin
     Hodes
     Holt
     Hunter
     Issa
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, Sam
     King (NY)
     Kline (MN)
     Lamborn
     Lance
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Lee (NY)
     Lewis (CA)
     Linder
     LoBiondo
     Lucas
     Lummis
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     Mack
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCaul
     McClintock
     McCotter
     McHenry
     McKeon
     McMahon
     Mica
     Michaud
     Miller (MI)
     Miller, Gary
     Mitchell
     Myrick
     Neugebauer
     Nunes
     Nye
     Olson
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Paul
     Pence
     Petri
     Pingree (ME)
     Pitts
     Poe (TX)
     Price (GA)
     Radanovich
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Rehberg
     Roe (TN)
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Roskam
     Rothman (NJ)
     Ruppersberger
     Ryan (WI)
     Scalise
     Schmidt
     Sensenbrenner
     Shadegg
     Simpson
     Sires
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Stearns
     Sullivan
     Walden
     Westmoreland
     Wilson (SC)
     Wu

                               NOES--296

     Ackerman
     Altmire
     Arcuri
     Austria
     Baca
     Baird
     Baldwin
     Barrow
     Barton (TX)
     Bean
     Becerra
     Berkley
     Berman
     Berry
     Biggert
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Blumenauer
     Blunt
     Boccieri
     Boozman
     Bordallo
     Boren
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boyd
     Brady (PA)
     Braley (IA)
     Bright
     Broun (GA)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown, Corrine
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Buchanan
     Burgess
     Butterfield
     Camp
     Cao
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardoza
     Carnahan
     Carney
     Carson (IN)
     Carter
     Castle
     Castor (FL)
     Chandler
     Childers
     Christensen
     Chu
     Clarke
     Clay
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Coble
     Coffman (CO)
     Cohen
     Connolly (VA)
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costa
     Costello
     Courtney
     Critz
     Cuellar
     Culberson
     Cummings
     Dahlkemper
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis (TN)
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Dent
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Djou
     Doggett
     Donnelly (IN)
     Doyle
     Driehaus
     Edwards (MD)
     Edwards (TX)
     Ellison
     Ellsworth
     Engel
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Farr
     Fattah
     Filner
     Forbes
     Fortenberry
     Foster
     Frank (MA)
     Fudge
     Garamendi
     Gerlach
     Gonzalez
     Goodlatte
     Gordon (TN)
     Granger
     Graves (GA)
     Grayson
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Griffith
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Hall (NY)
     Halvorson
     Hare
     Harman
     Hastings (FL)
     Heinrich
     Higgins
     Hill
     Himes
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Hirono
     Holden
     Honda
     Hoyer
     Inglis
     Inslee
     Israel
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson Lee (TX)
     Jenkins
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Jones
     Jordan (OH)
     Kagen
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick (MI)
     Kilroy
     Kind
     King (IA)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Kirkpatrick (AZ)
     Kissell
     Klein (FL)
     Kosmas
     Kratovil
     Kucinich
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Latta
     Lee (CA)
     Levin
     Lipinski
     Loebsack
     Lofgren, Zoe
     Lowey
     Luetkemeyer
     Lujan
     Lynch
     Maffei
     Maloney
     Manzullo
     Marchant
     Markey (CO)
     Markey (MA)
     Marshall
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McIntyre
     McMorris Rodgers
     McNerney
     Meek (FL)
     Meeks (NY)
     Melancon
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, George
     Minnick
     Mollohan
     Moore (KS)
     Moore (WI)
     Moran (VA)
     Murphy (CT)
     Murphy (NY)
     Murphy, Patrick
     Murphy, Tim
     Nadler (NY)
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Norton
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Owens
     Pastor (AZ)
     Paulsen
     Payne
     Perlmutter
     Perriello
     Peters
     Peterson
     Pierluisi
     Platts
     Polis (CO)
     Pomeroy
     Posey
     Price (NC)
     Putnam
     Quigley
     Reichert
     Reyes
     Richardson
     Rodriguez
     Rooney
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Ross
     Roybal-Allard
     Royce
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Sablan
     Salazar
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sarbanes
     Schakowsky
     Schauer
     Schiff
     Schock
     Schrader
     Schwartz
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Serrano
     Sessions
     Sestak
     Shea-Porter
     Sherman
     Shimkus
     Shuler
     Shuster
     Skelton
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Space
     Speier
     Spratt
     Stark
     Stupak
     Sutton
     Tanner
     Taylor
     Teague
     Terry
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Thompson (PA)
     Thornberry
     Tiberi
     Tierney
     Titus
     Tonko
     Towns
     Tsongas
     Turner
     Upton
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Walz
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watt
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Welch
     Whitfield
     Wilson (OH)
     Wittman
     Wolf
     Woolsey
     Yarmuth
     Young (AK)

                             NOT VOTING--14

     Akin
     Andrews
     Crowley
     Ehlers
     Faleomavaega
     Fallin
     Hoekstra
     Lewis (GA)
     Moran (KS)
     Slaughter
     Tiahrt
     Wamp
     Watson
     Young (FL)

                              {time}  1919

  Mr. ROONEY changed his vote from ``aye'' to ``no.''
  So the amendment was rejected.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will read.
  The Clerk read as follows:
        This Act may be cited as the ``Military Construction and 
     Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 
     2011''.

  The Acting CHAIR. Under the rule, the Committee rises.

[[Page 14444]]

  Accordingly, the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Ms. 
Baldwin) having assumed the chair, Ms. Jackson Lee of Texas, Acting 
Chair of the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, 
reported that that Committee, having had under consideration the bill 
(H.R. 5822) making appropriations for military construction, the 
Department of Veterans Affairs, and related agencies for the fiscal 
year ending September 30, 2011, and for other purposes, and pursuant to 
House Resolution 1559, reported the bill back to the House with sundry 
amendments adopted in the Committee of the Whole.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the rule, the previous question is 
ordered.
  Pursuant to House Resolution 1559, the question on adoption of the 
amendments will be put en gros.
  The question is on the amendments.
  The amendments were agreed to.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the engrossment and third 
reading of the bill.
  The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, and was 
read the third time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the passage of the bill.
  Under clause 10 of rule XX, the yeas and nays are ordered.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 411, 
nays 6, not voting 15, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 482]

                               YEAS--411

     Ackerman
     Aderholt
     Adler (NJ)
     Alexander
     Altmire
     Arcuri
     Austria
     Baca
     Bachmann
     Bachus
     Baird
     Baldwin
     Barrett (SC)
     Barrow
     Bartlett
     Barton (TX)
     Bean
     Becerra
     Berkley
     Berman
     Berry
     Biggert
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blumenauer
     Blunt
     Boccieri
     Boehner
     Bonner
     Bono Mack
     Boozman
     Boren
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boustany
     Boyd
     Brady (PA)
     Brady (TX)
     Bright
     Broun (GA)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown, Corrine
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Buchanan
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Butterfield
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp
     Cantor
     Cao
     Capito
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardoza
     Carnahan
     Carney
     Carson (IN)
     Carter
     Cassidy
     Castle
     Castor (FL)
     Chaffetz
     Chandler
     Childers
     Chu
     Clarke
     Clay
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Coble
     Coffman (CO)
     Cohen
     Cole
     Conaway
     Connolly (VA)
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costa
     Costello
     Courtney
     Crenshaw
     Critz
     Cuellar
     Culberson
     Cummings
     Dahlkemper
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis (KY)
     Davis (TN)
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Dent
     Deutch
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Djou
     Doggett
     Donnelly (IN)
     Doyle
     Dreier
     Driehaus
     Edwards (MD)
     Edwards (TX)
     Ellison
     Ellsworth
     Emerson
     Engel
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Farr
     Fattah
     Filner
     Fleming
     Forbes
     Fortenberry
     Foster
     Foxx
     Frank (MA)
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Fudge
     Gallegly
     Garamendi
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gerlach
     Giffords
     Gingrey (GA)
     Gohmert
     Gonzalez
     Goodlatte
     Gordon (TN)
     Granger
     Graves (GA)
     Graves (MO)
     Grayson
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Griffith
     Grijalva
     Guthrie
     Gutierrez
     Hall (NY)
     Hall (TX)
     Halvorson
     Hare
     Harman
     Harper
     Hastings (FL)
     Hastings (WA)
     Heinrich
     Heller
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Herseth Sandlin
     Higgins
     Hill
     Himes
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Hirono
     Hodes
     Holden
     Holt
     Honda
     Hoyer
     Hunter
     Inglis
     Inslee
     Israel
     Issa
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson Lee (TX)
     Jenkins
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones
     Jordan (OH)
     Kagen
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick (MI)
     Kilroy
     Kind
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Kirkpatrick (AZ)
     Kissell
     Klein (FL)
     Kline (MN)
     Kosmas
     Kratovil
     Kucinich
     Lamborn
     Lance
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Latta
     Lee (CA)
     Lee (NY)
     Levin
     Lewis (CA)
     Linder
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Loebsack
     Lofgren, Zoe
     Lowey
     Lucas
     Luetkemeyer
     Lujan
     Lummis
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     Lynch
     Mack
     Maffei
     Maloney
     Manzullo
     Marchant
     Markey (CO)
     Markey (MA)
     Marshall
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCaul
     McClintock
     McCollum
     McCotter
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McHenry
     McIntyre
     McKeon
     McMahon
     McMorris Rodgers
     McNerney
     Meek (FL)
     Meeks (NY)
     Melancon
     Mica
     Michaud
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, Gary
     Miller, George
     Minnick
     Mitchell
     Mollohan
     Moore (KS)
     Moore (WI)
     Moran (VA)
     Murphy (CT)
     Murphy (NY)
     Murphy, Patrick
     Murphy, Tim
     Myrick
     Nadler (NY)
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Neugebauer
     Nunes
     Nye
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olson
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Owens
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor (AZ)
     Paulsen
     Payne
     Pence
     Perlmutter
     Perriello
     Peters
     Peterson
     Petri
     Pingree (ME)
     Pitts
     Platts
     Poe (TX)
     Polis (CO)
     Pomeroy
     Posey
     Price (GA)
     Price (NC)
     Putnam
     Quigley
     Radanovich
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Rehberg
     Reichert
     Reyes
     Richardson
     Rodriguez
     Roe (TN)
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Rooney
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Roskam
     Ross
     Rothman (NJ)
     Roybal-Allard
     Royce
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Ryan (WI)
     Salazar
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sarbanes
     Scalise
     Schakowsky
     Schauer
     Schiff
     Schmidt
     Schock
     Schrader
     Schwartz
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Serrano
     Sessions
     Sestak
     Shadegg
     Shea-Porter
     Sherman
     Shimkus
     Shuler
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Sires
     Skelton
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Space
     Speier
     Spratt
     Stark
     Stearns
     Stupak
     Sullivan
     Sutton
     Tanner
     Taylor
     Teague
     Terry
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Thompson (PA)
     Thornberry
     Tiberi
     Tierney
     Titus
     Tonko
     Towns
     Tsongas
     Turner
     Upton
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Walden
     Walz
     Wasserman Schultz
     Watt
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Welch
     Westmoreland
     Whitfield
     Wilson (OH)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman
     Wolf
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Yarmuth
     Young (AK)

                                NAYS--6

     Campbell
     Duncan
     Flake
     Johnson (IL)
     Paul
     Sensenbrenner

                             NOT VOTING--15

     Akin
     Andrews
     Braley (IA)
     Crowley
     Ehlers
     Fallin
     Hoekstra
     Lewis (GA)
     Moran (KS)
     Slaughter
     Tiahrt
     Wamp
     Waters
     Watson
     Young (FL)


                Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (during the vote). Members have 2 minutes 
remaining in this vote.

                              {time}  1937

  So the bill was passed.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________