To require a study on the capacity of the Department of Veterans Affairs to address combat stress in women veterans.

MILITARY CONSTRUCTION, VETERANS AFFAIRS AND RELATED AGENCIES
APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2010

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will
resume consideration of H.R. 3082, which the clerk will report.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

A bill (H.R. 3082) making appropriations for military
construction, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and related
agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, and
for other purposes.

Pending:

Johnson/Hutchison amendment No. 2730, in the nature of a
substitute.
Johnson amendment No. 2733 (to amendment No. 2730), to
increase by $50,000,000 the amount available for the
Department of Veterans Affairs for minor construction
projects for the purpose of converting unused Department of
Veterans Affairs structures into housing with supportive
services for homeless veterans, and to provide an offset.
Inouye amendment No. 2754 (to amendment No. 2730), to
permit $68,500,000, as requested by the Missile Defense
Agency of the Department of Defense, to be used for the
construction of a test facility to support the Phased
Adaptive Approach for missile defense in Europe, with an
offset.
DeMint (for Inhofe) amendment No. 2774 (to amendment No.
2730), to prohibit the use of funds appropriated or otherwise
made available by this Act to construct or modify a facility
in the United States or its territories to permanently or
temporarily hold any individual held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Feingold/Sanders amendment No. 2748 (to amendment 2730), to
make available $5,000,000 for grants to community-based
organizations and State and local government entities to
conduct outreach to veterans in underserved areas.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, I am pleased to report that we are
getting into the home stretch for the MILCON-VA appropriations bill. We
have been on this bill 6 days now--I believe a record for the MILCON/VA
bill. I thank my ranking member, Senator Hutchison, for her help in
clearing amendments last evening which has put us within striking
distance of completing this bill today.
The first amendment we are scheduled to vote on today is an amendment
I have offered that will provide $50 million for the VA to renovate and
use empty buildings sitting on VA medical campuses to provide housing
with supportive services for our homeless vets.
The VA Secretary and the President have made eliminating homelessness
among vets a top priority. The amendment is fully offset by redirecting
$50 million over the President's budget request provided in this bill
for DOD's Homeowners Assistance Program which the Pentagon has
determined is not currently required.
This amendment is supported by 16 vets and homeless service
organizations, including the VFW, the Vietnam Veterans of America, and
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
I ask unanimous consent to have letters in support of my amendment
printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:

November 13, 2009.
Senator Tim Johnson,
Chairman, Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military
Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies,
Washington, DC.
Senator Johnson: As organizations working to end
homelessness among veterans in America, we are writing to
express our strong support and gratitude for your Amendment
(SA 2733) to the Fiscal Year 2010 Military Construction,
Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. The
amendment would shift $50 million to renovate and convert
Department of Veterans

[[Page S11404]]

Affairs' buildings into housing with supportive services for
homeless veterans. We believe this proposed allocation is
greatly needed, will be well spent, and ultimately will help
save the lives of many brave veterans who have fallen upon
hard times.
Far too many veterans are homeless in America:
approximately 131,000 on any given night, which represents
between one-fourth and one-fifth of all homeless people.
Convergent sources estimate that between 23 and 40 percent of
homeless adults are veterans. The U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs estimates that over the course of the year, 336,627
veterans experience homelessness.
Community organizations around the country are eager to
assist homeless veterans achieve stability, but a shortage of
capital, operating and supportive services funding restricts
the amount of good work they can do. The allocation provided
in your amendment will help provide critical capital funding
for housing homeless veterans on VA campuses. We also commend
the Committee's proposed funding for the HUD-VASH program,
the Grant and Per Diem program and for homeless prevention.
Combined, these investments will allow the Department to
increase its efforts to ensure every veteran has a safe place
to sleep and call home.
We are heartened by the Administration's stated commitment
to zero tolerance for veterans' homelessness and strong
Congressional support for programs that will help accomplish
this goal. While the funding allocated by your amendment is
an important contribution to fight against homelessness, we
encourage your leadership in doing even more to provide safe
and affordable housing for all the men and women who wore the
uniform.
Sincerely,
Corporation for Supportive Housing.
AMVETS.
Common Ground.
Disabled American Veterans.
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
Jewish War Veterans of the USA.
National Alliance to End Homelessness.
National Association of Black Veterans.
National Coalition for Homeless Veterans.
National Health Care for the Homeless Council.
National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty.
National Leased Housing Association.
National Policy and Advocacy Council on Homelessness.
Paralyzed Veterans of America.
Vietnam Veterans of America.
____

Veterans of Foreign Wars

of the United States,

Washington, DC, November 13, 2009.
Hon. Tim Johnson,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Congressman Johnson: On behalf of the 2.2 million
members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States
and our Auxiliaries, I would like to offer our support for SA
2733, the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related
Appropriations Act.
Your important amendment would provide $50,000,000 to VA
for the construction of housing with supportive services for
homeless veterans. This construction would take unused VA
buildings and convert them into housing for our homeless
veterans.
Your important amendment provides housing and supportive
services, two crucial things that our homeless veterans
desperately need. A man or woman who has selflessly served in
the armed forces should never have to sleep on the streets of
the country they fought for. Your legislation looks to
address this tragedy in our country and we applaud your
efforts.
We thank you for introducing this valuable legislation that
would greatly assist our nation's heroes. We look forward to
working with you to help pass this legislation into law.
Sincerely,
Eric A. Hilleman,
Director, National Legislative Service.

Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, according to the VA, there are 131,000
homeless vets on any given night. This is shameful. This amendment will
allow the VA to put to good use buildings on VHA campuses currently
sitting empty. It would allow private and nonprivate groups to operate
homeless vet shelters in close proximity to the medical and mental
health services these vets need in order to rebuild their lives.
I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.
Mr. President, I yield to Senator Hutchison for any remarks she has.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.
Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I thank Senator Johnson.
We have worked very well to accommodate the requests of our
colleagues to the extent we could. We will have the first vote on his
amendment. I am going to support Senator Johnson's amendment on
homeless veterans. Secretary Gates and Secretary Shinseki are at this
very moment practically working on a way to better accommodate veterans
who are homeless. It is not right for there ever to be a homeless
veteran in our country because every one of them has done so much to
protect our freedom.
We do have $500 million in the bill. This would take $50 million that
the Department says they do not need for other housing assistance for
veterans and put it into the homeless sector so there can be a
concerted effort to build facilities that would give care, as well as
shelter, to these veterans. I support that.
I hope in conference we will be able to consolidate all of this into
a program that will meet the needs of our veterans.
It has been great working on this bill. I am very pleased we could do
it today rather than last week when so many of us in the Senate were at
Fort Hood trying to show the great respect and sympathy for the
community at Fort Hood and for all of our armed services, which meant
we had to delay the bill from last Tuesday to this Tuesday. I think
that was the right thing to do. I thank my colleague.
I thank our great staffs who worked all this week to clear
amendments. To the extent we could, I think we have certainly
accommodated our other colleagues in the Senate for their priorities.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from South Dakota.
Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the vote
sequence prior to the caucus recess period, with respect to amendments
remaining in order to H.R. 3082, be as follows: Johnson amendment No.
2733; Feingold amendment No. 2748; Cochran amendment No. 2763; that the
Inouye amendment No. 2754 be modified with changes at the desk, and
once modified, the McCain amendment No. 2776 be withdrawn, the Inouye
amendment, as modified, be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be
laid upon the table; further, that an Inouye-Levin colloquy be inserted
in the Record upon the adoption of the amendment; that after the first
vote in any sequence of votes today, the remaining votes be 10 minutes
in duration; and that prior to the vote on passage of H.R. 3082, each
manager control 2 minutes; provided further, that the other provisions
of the November 16 order remain in effect.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
The Senator from Texas.
Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I wish to ask the Senator if we could
voice vote Senator Cochran before we take up the record vote we will
take on Senator Johnson's amendment.
Mr. JOHNSON. That would be very good.
Mrs. HUTCHISON. I have no objection.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. With that qualification, without objection, it
is so ordered.
The amendment (No. 2754), as modified, is as follows:

Amendment No. 2754, As Modified

On page 27, between lines 3 and 4, insert the following:
Sec. 128. (a)(1) The amount appropriated or otherwise made
available by this title under the heading ``Military
Construction, Defense-Wide'' is hereby increased by
$68,500,000, with the amount of such increase to remain
available until September 30, 2014.
(2) Of the amount appropriated or otherwise made available
by this title under the heading ``Military Construction,
Defense-Wide'', as increased by paragraph (1), $68,500,000
shall be available for the construction of an Aegis Ashore
Test Facility at the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Hawaii.
(b) Of the amount appropriated or otherwise made available
by title I of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs
Appropriations Act, 2009 (division E of Public Law 110-329;
122 Stat. 3692) under the heading ``Military Construction,
Defense-Wide'' and available for the purpose of European
Ballistic Missile Defense program construction, $69,500,000
is hereby rescinded.

The amendment (No. 2754), as modified, was agreed to.

European Missile Defense

Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, I rise to engage in a colloquy with
Senator Levin, chairman of the Armed Services Committee to discuss
amendment No. 2754, which has been cosponsored by Senators Johnson and
Cochran, to reallocate unobligated fiscal year 2009 military
construction funding to support President Obama's new European missile
defense plan.
Mr. LEVIN. I would be pleased to enter into a colloquy with the
distinguished chairman of the Appropriations Committee.

[[Page S11405]]

Mr. INOUYE. I thank the chairman. Funding was appropriated in last
year's MILCON/VA appropriations bill for the European missile defense
sites but now can no longer be spent. This amendment will enable the
Missile Defense Agency to meet the President's timelines for defending
Europe and the United States sooner against Iranian missiles. In order
to meet the timelines set out by the President to deploy a capability
in Europe in the 2015 timeframe, General O'Reilly, Director of the
Missile Defense Agency, MDA, has requested the Congress support the use
of $68.5 million to construct an AEGIS Ashore Test Facility at the
Pacific Missile Range Facility in Hawaii. The funding would come from
the now unneeded funds for the two sites in Europe.
Mr. LEVIN. I want the chairman to know that I am also fully
supportive of the administration's new approach to defending Europe
from the threat of shorter range Iranian missiles based on the standard
missile-3 both on ships and ashore, as well as the use of fiscal year
2009 funding that is no longer required for this purpose.
Mr. INOUYE. This amendment responds to that request from MDA, but was
originally offered with some reservation because it would circumvent
the normal order of business in the Senate. Under ordinary
circumstances this project should have been authorized in the fiscal
year 2010 National Defense Authorization Act and then appropriated in
the Military Construction bill. But, President Obama only publicly
announced his European missile defense strategy on September 17 of this
year. This announcement came well after the House and Senate Armed
Services Committees began the conference negotiation process. In order
to implement the President's new plan, General O'Reilly made the
request to Congress for an AEGIS Ashore Test Facility on October 7, the
same day that the House and Senate completed the conference agreement
on the Defense authorization bill. The conferees were not able to
consider this late request from the administration. Thus, an amendment
on the fiscal year 2010 Military Construction appropriations bill was
the best path to get the facility started in order to meet the
administration's timelines.
Mr. LEVIN. While I agree that the funding previously authorized and
appropriated for the European sites in fiscal year 2009 should be the
source of funding for this project, I also feel that the project should
be vetted in a manner similar to any other MILCON request. I believe we
also have the time to authorize the project. As I understand the
current timeline the Missile Defense Agency has sufficient planning and
design funding to initiate design of the project and also has
sufficient funding to begin the required environmental work. It is also
my understanding that construction won't actually begin until late
summer of 2010. I would expect that the preliminary nature of the
current funding request would mature in time to support a timely
authorization.
Mr. INOUYE. I understand that the chairman intends to introduce a
separate authorization bill for this project that will precede the
normal fiscal year 2011 national Defense authorization bill process.
Mr. LEVIN. That is correct. I will introduce a separate bill today
along with Senator McCain. The committee will expedite consideration of
this bill provided that we can get the normal assurances that the
project is supported by the Secretary of Defense and that the proposed
construction costs and timelines are accurate and up to the standards
we would normally expect in a similar MILCON project request.

Amendment No. 2763 to Amendment No. 2730

Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, I understand there is no objection to the
Cochran amendment No. 2763. Therefore, on behalf of Senator Cochran, I
call up his amendment and ask that the amendment be considered and
agreed to and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

The Senator from South Dakota [Mr. Johnson], for Mr.
Cochran, proposes an amendment numbered 2763 to amendment No.
2730.

The amendment is as follows:

amendment no. 2763

(Purpose: To provide for the modification of a restriction of
alienation of certain real property in Gulfport, Mississippi)

At the end of title II, add the following:
Sec. 229. (a) Modification on Restriction of Alienation of
Certain Real Property in Gulfport, Mississippi.--Section
2703(b) of the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for
Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Hurricane Recovery,
2006 (Public Law 109-234; 120 Stat. 469), as amended by
section 231 of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs
and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2009 (division E of
Public Law 110-329; 122 Stat. 3713), is further amended by
inserting after ``the City of Gulfport'' the following: ``,
or its urban renewal agency,''.
(b) Memorialization of Modification.--The Secretary of
Veterans Affairs shall take appropriate actions to modify the
quitclaim deeds executed to effectuate the conveyance
authorized by section 2703 of the Emergency Supplemental
Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and
Hurricane Recovery, 2006 in order to accurately reflect and
memorialize the amendment made by subsection (a).

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the amendment is agreed to
and the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table.
The amendment (No. 2763) was agreed to.
Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Amendment No. 2733

Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays on the
Johnson amendment.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There is a sufficient second.
If all time is yielded back, the question is on agreeing to the
amendment. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Byrd)
is necessarily absent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber
desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 98, nays 1, as follows:

[Rollcall Vote No. 346 Leg.]

YEAS--98

Akaka
Alexander
Barrasso
Baucus
Bayh
Begich
Bennet
Bennett
Bingaman
Bond
Boxer
Brown
Brownback
Bunning
Burr
Burris
Cantwell
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Chambliss
Cochran
Collins
Conrad
Corker
Cornyn
Crapo
DeMint
Dodd
Dorgan
Durbin
Ensign
Enzi
Feingold
Feinstein
Franken
Gillibrand
Graham
Grassley
Gregg
Hagan
Harkin
Hatch
Hutchison
Inhofe
Inouye
Isakson
Johanns
Johnson
Kaufman
Kerry
Kirk
Klobuchar
Kohl
Kyl
Landrieu
Lautenberg
Leahy
LeMieux
Levin
Lieberman
Lincoln
Lugar
McCain
McCaskill
McConnell
Menendez
Merkley
Mikulski
Murkowski
Murray
Nelson (NE)
Nelson (FL)
Pryor
Reed
Reid
Risch
Roberts
Rockefeller
Sanders
Schumer
Sessions
Shaheen
Shelby
Snowe
Specter
Stabenow
Tester
Thune
Udall (CO)
Udall (NM)
Vitter
Voinovich
Warner
Webb
Whitehouse
Wicker
Wyden

NAYS--1

Coburn

NOT VOTING--1

Byrd

The amendment (No. 2733) was agreed to.
Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.
Mr. CARDIN. I move to lay that motion on the table.
The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Amendment No. 2748, as Modified

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wisconsin.
Mr. FEINGOLD. I ask unanimous consent that my amendment be modified
with the modifications I send to the desk.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the amendment is so
modified.
The amendment, as modified, is as follows:

[[Page S11406]]

On page 52, after line 21, add the following:
Sec. 229.  Of the amounts appropriated or otherwise made
available by this title, the Secretary shall award $5,000,000
in competitively-awarded grants to State and local government
entities or their designees with a demonstrated record of
serving veterans to conduct outreach to ensure that veterans
in under-served areas receive the care and benefits for which
they are eligible.

Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I understand the amendment will now be
accepted.
Mr. JOHNSON. It is accepted.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the amendment.
The amendment (No. 2748), as modified, was agreed to.
Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.
Mr. LEAHY. I move to lay that motion on the table.
The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.

Amendment No. 2763

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, to comply with rule XLIV, I ask
unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a letter from Senator
Cochran in relation to his amendment.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:

U.S. Senate,

Washington, DC, November 5, 2009.
Hon. Daniel Inouye,
Chairman, Committee on Appropriations, U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Dan: In my letter to Senators Johnson and Hutchison
dated May 21, 2009, regarding the Fiscal Year 2010 Military
Construction, Veterans Administration, and Related Agencies
Appropriations Bill, it was my intent that the item titled
``Aircraft Maintenance Administration Facility'' read as
follows:
Name: Aircraft Fuel Systems Maintenance Facility
Location: Columbus Air Force Base, MS
Purpose: To provide adequate facilities for aircraft fuel
systems maintenance, conforming with applicable safety and
environmental standards. ($10,000,000)
I certify that neither I nor my immediate family has
pecuniary interest in the congressionally directed spending
item that I have requested, consistent with the requirements
of paragraph 9 of Rule XLIV of the Standing Rules of the
Senate. I also certify that I have posted this request on my
website.
Please feel free to call on me if you have any questions
about this request. Adam Telle, a member of my staff, is also
available as the committee staff considers this issue.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Thad Cochran,
U.S. Senator.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. I thank the Chair and suggest the absence of a
quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, I note that the second vote has been
voiced, and so Members are free to leave.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.
Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, we are working on the managers'
package, and probably in the next 15 minutes we will clear what has
been cleared for the managers' package. There are a couple of people
working with objections. But by 12:15, we will clear the managers'
package so that following that, in accordance with the previous
unanimous consent agreement, at 2:15 we will vote on the Inhofe
amendment, after which we will then vote on final passage. So we will
have two votes starting at 2:15, and the second vote will be the final
vote on Veterans Affairs-Military Construction.

I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Gillibrand). The Senator from Maryland.
Ms. MIKULSKI. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in
morning business for the purposes of introducing a very poignant bill.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
(The remarks of Ms. Mikulski pertaining to the introduction of S.
2781 are printed in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced
Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')
Ms. MIKULSKI. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. JOHNSON. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Amendments Nos. 2775, as Modified; 2777; and 2783, as Modified

Mr. JOHNSON. Madam President, we have agreed to a final group of
amendments in a managers' package.
I ask unanimous consent that the following amendments be called up en
bloc and that the amendments be considered and agreed to and, if
modified, that the amendment as modified be agreed to and the motions
to reconsider be laid upon the table en bloc:
Amendment No. 2775, to be modified; amendment No. 2777; and amendment
No. 2783, to be modified.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mrs. HUTCHISON. Madam President, I have no objections to those
amendments. I want to clarify that for amendment No. 2775, the
modifications are at the desk. The same goes for amendment No. 2783; am
I correct?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is correct.
Mrs. HUTCHISON. Again, I have no objection.
The amendments (No. 2775, as modified; No. 2777; and No. 2783, as
modified) were agreed to, as follows:

Amendment No. 2775, As Modified

(Purpose: To require a study on the capacity of the Department of
Veterans Affairs to address combat stress in women veterans)

At the end of title II, add the following:
Sec. 229. (a) Study on Capacity of Department of Veterans
Affairs To Address Combat Stress in Women Veterans.--The
Inspector General of the Department of Veterans Affairs shall
carry out a study to assess the capacity of the Department of
Veterans Affairs to address combat stress in women veterans.
(b) Elements.--In carrying out the study required by
subsection (a), the Inspector General shall consider the
following:
(1) Whether women veterans are properly evaluated by the
Department for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD),
military-related sexual trauma, traumatic brain injury (TBI),
and other combat-related conditions.
(2) Whether women veterans with combat stress are being
properly adjudicated as service-connected disabled by the
Department for purposes of veterans disability benefits for
combat stress.
(3) Whether the Veterans Benefits Administration has
developed and disseminated to personnel who adjudicate
disability claims reference materials that thoroughly and
effectively address the management of claims of women
veterans involving military-related sexual trauma.
(4) The feasability and advisability of requiring training
and testing on military-related sexual trauma matters as part
of a certification of Veterans Benefits Administration
personnel who adjudicate disability claims involving post-
traumatic stress disorder.
(5) Such other matters as the Inspector General considers
appropriate.
(c) Reports.--
(1) Interim report.--Not later than 180 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Inspector General shall
submit to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and to the
appropriate committees of Congress, a report setting forth
the plan of the Inspector General for the study required by
subsection (a), together with such interim findings as the
Inspector General has made as of the date of the report as a
result of the study.
(2) Final report.--Not later than one year after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Inspector General shall
submit to the Secretary, and Congress, then the Secretary
shall make recommendations for legislative or administrative
action.
(3) Appropriate committees of congress defined.--In this
subsection, the term ``appropriate committees of Congress''
means--
(A) the Committees on Appropriations and Veterans' Affairs
of the Senate; and
(B) the Committees on Appropriations and Veterans' Affairs
of the House of Representatives.

AMENDMENT NO. 2777

(Purpose: To require a study to identify the improvements to the
information technology infrastructure of the Department of Veterans
Affairs that are required to furnish health care services to veterans
using telehealth platforms)

On page 52, after line 21, add the following:
Sec. 229. (a) Study on Improvements to Information
Technology Infrastructure Needed to Furnish Health Care
Services to Veterans Using Telehealth Platforms.--The
Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall carry out a study to
identify the improvements to the infrastructure of the
Department of Veterans Affairs that are required to furnish
health care services to veterans using telehealth platforms.
(b) Availability of Funds.--The amounts appropriated or
otherwise made available by

[[Page S11407]]

this title under the headings ``Departmental Administration''
and ``information technology systems'' shall be available to
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out the study
required by subsection (a).

Amendment No. 2783, As Modified

(Purpose: To make available from Medical Services, $1,000,000 for
education debt reduction for mental health care professionals who agree
to employment at the Department of Veterans Affairs)

On page 52, after line 21, add the following:
Sec. 229.  Of the amounts appropriated or otherwise made
available by this title under the headings ``Veterans Health
Administration'' and ``medical services'', $1,000,000 may be
available for education debt reduction under subchapter VII
of chapter 76 of title 38, United States Code, for mental
health care professionals who agree to employment at the
Department of Veterans Affairs.

____________________