S.Amdt. 1959

SA 1959. Mr. CORNYN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to

[[Page S3967]]

amendment SA 1463 proposed by Mr. McCain to the bill H.R. 1735, to
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2016 for military activities
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for
defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which
was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of subtitle G of title X, add the following:

SEC. 1085. DESIGNATION OF MEDICAL CENTER OF DEPARTMENT OF
VETERANS AFFAIRS IN HARLINGEN, TEXAS, AND
INCLUSION OF INPATIENT HEALTH CARE FACILITY AT
SUCH MEDICAL CENTER.

(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The current and future health care needs of veterans
residing in South Texas are not being fully met by the
Department of Veterans Affairs.
(2) According to recent census data, more than 108,000
veterans reside in South Texas.
(3) Travel times for veterans from the Valley Coastal Bend
area from their homes to the nearest hospital of the
Department for acute inpatient health care can exceed six
hours.
(4) Even with the significant travel times, veterans from
South Texas demonstrate a high demand for health care
services from the Department.
(5) Ongoing overseas deployments of members of the Armed
Forces from Texas, including members of the Armed Forces on
active duty, members of the Texas National Guard, and members
of the other reserve components of the Armed Forces, will
continue to increase demand for medical services provided by
the Department in South Texas.
(6) The Department employs an annual Strategic Capital
Investment Planning process to ``enable the VA to continually
adapt to changes in demographics, medical and information
technology, and health care delivery'', which results in the
development of a multi-year investment plan that determines
where gaps in services exist or are projected and develops an
appropriate solution to meet those gaps.
(7) According to the Department, final approval of the
Strategic Capital Investment Planning priority list serves as
the ``building block'' of the annual budget request for the
Department.
(8) Arturo ``Treto'' Garza, a veteran who served in the
Marine Corps, rose to the rank of Sergeant, and served two
tours in the Vietnam War, passed away on October 3, 2012.
(9) Treto Garza, who was also a former co-chairman of the
Veterans Alliance of the Rio Grande Valley, tirelessly fought
to improve health care services for veterans in the Rio
Grande Valley, with his efforts successfully leading to the
creation of the medical center of the Department located in
Harlingen, Texas.
(b) Redesignation of Medical Center in Harlingen, Texas.--
(1) In general.--The medical center of the Department of
Veterans Affairs located in Harlingen, Texas, shall after the
date of the enactment of this Act be known and designated as
the ``Treto Garza South Texas Department of Veterans Affairs
Health Care Center''.
(2) References.--Any reference in any law, regulation, map,
document, paper, or other record of the United States to the
medical center of the Department referred to in paragraph (1)
shall be deemed to be a reference to the Treto Garza South
Texas Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Center.
(c) Requirement of Full-service Inpatient Facility.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall
ensure that the Treto Garza South Texas Department of
Veterans Affairs Health Care Center, as designated under
subsection (b), includes a full-service inpatient health care
facility of the Department and shall modify the existing
facility as necessary to meet that requirement.
(2) Plan to expand facility capabilities.--The Secretary
shall include in the annual Strategic Capital Investment Plan
of the Department for fiscal year 2016 a project to expand
the capabilities of the Treto Garza South Texas Department of
Veterans Affairs Health Care Center, as so designated, by
adding the following:
(A) Inpatient capability for 50 beds with appropriate
administrative, clinical, diagnostic, and ancillary services
needed for support.
(B) An urgent care center.
(C) The capability to provide a full range of services to
meet the health care needs of women veterans.
(d) Report to Congress.--Not later than 180 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit
to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the
Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of
Representatives a report detailing a plan to implement the
requirements in subsection (c), including an estimate of the
cost of required actions and the time necessary for the
completion of those actions.
(e) South Texas Defined.--In this section, the term ``South
Texas'' means the following counties in Texas: Aransas, Bee,
Brooks, Calhoun, Cameron, DeWitt, Dimmit, Duval, Goliad,
Hidalgo, Jackson, Jim Hogg, Jim Wells, Kenedy, Kleberg,
Nueces, Refugio, San Patricio, Starr, Victoria, Webb,
Willacy, Zapata.
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