Veterans Health Programs Improvement Act of 2003

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of S. 1156, as amended, the Veterans Health Care, Capital Assets and Business Improvement Act of 2003.

This legislation draws the best from provisions offered in this body and the Senate. I have worked closely on the bill with the chairman of the Subcommittee on Health, the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Simmons). I want to thank him for his graciousness and the hard work. I would also like to thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) and also the ranking member, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Evans), for their assistance in finalizing this bill.

I am very pleased that the bill includes important provisions from H.R. 2433, as amended, a bill I introduced with the support of the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Simmons). I also appreciate the persistence of the gentleman from California (Mr. Thompson), who will be speaking, in ensuring that these tests were brought to light in the items that we would be bringing before in this piece of legislation.

This bill will take important steps to remedy the serious wrong done to some of our veterans during the Cold War era. The military conducted a series of about 50 tests over almost a decade to determine the effects of the number of biological and chemical exposures to military operations and whether such exposures could be adequately protected. Many of these veterans participated without their knowledge, and too often veterans who participated in these tests were not properly protected from exposure to the number of stimulants as well as, occasionally, live agents. These agents included sarin and VX nerve gas, as well as biological war agents including Q fever and rabbit fever.

The military has now completed a number of investigations into the operations of the Deseret Test Center and concluded that as many as 6,000 veterans may have been involved. Veteran participation is unacceptable, and we recognize this, and we are concerned; and we want to assure them that if they are suffering lasting health consequence that we will do something about this.

I am very pleased that this legislation does something about that. This bill provides high-priority eligibility for the next 2 years to allow them to seek and receive VA treatment for the health problems including those that may be related to the problems, especially to the exposure of these hazardous agents.

This authority will allow them, and it will not adequately compensate them for what they have gone through, but we are at least beginning to try to correct the situation that we find ourselves in. Allowing them to have their health care concerns addressed may begin to give them the peace of mind this Nation owes them.

I am also pleased the final bill includes many provisions on the bill H.R. 1720, as amended. Madam Speaker, this bill authorizes many worthy construction projects to which the VA has given high priority. Unfortunately, the VA major medical construction has suffered for years as Congress has waited for the results of the CARES program, which is Capital Assets Realignment for Enhanced Services. I hope now that VA is about to approve a final plan, Congress will see fit to provide the appropriations VA requires to invest in its outdated infrastructure that we know is lacking. So we are hoping that we can do more as the report comes out.

A provision in our bill is designed to assure Congress that we are also adequately informed of some less positive developments that may result from this process, facility closures, staff realignments, as well as consolidations that may affect many veterans.

I am also pleased that this bill would give us both the assurance of this notification and the time to respond to these developments. Regardless of its outcome, CARES gave us at least one thing of value and that is the information that it has provided us. Last fall, the VA came forward with data that confirmed the ongoing concerns. I, along with my good friend, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Ortiz), have talked about the veterans of south

Texas. I know the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Ortiz) will be speaking today. They suffered long, miserable journeys, up to 6 hours one way, to receive hospital care and some specialized services. And I do not think that anyone knew many of our veterans had the worst access to acute hospital care in the Nation like in south Texas.

I am pleased this bill will require the VA to report to us on the steps it intends to take to resolve this long-lasting problem in south Texas.

This bill will also provide new benefits to former prisoners of war. Under the current law, neither Jessica Lynch nor her comrades who suffered internment in Iraq would be eligible to receive outpatient dental care from the VA. Why? Because they were in captivity for fewer than 90 days. Veterans who have experienced the trauma associated with being prisoners of war deserve dental care regardless of the time of the captivity.

This bill will also do away with these veterans medication co- payments. Surely we can all agree that these veterans have paid enough. This bill will extend and enhance long-term care and mental health programs. The VA continues to study how it will provide care in the future. Congress must remain vigilant about the programs that are needed by some of the most vulnerable veterans in the system.

I am pleased we have continued to support two internal watchdogs to monitor and report to Congress on the methods of improving mental health programs within the VA for the seriously mentally ill and for victims of post-traumatic stress disorder.

With troops who have seen the consequences of combat still in the field, we need the VA permanent programs to be available to both men and women who have trouble readjusting to civilian life.

Madam Speaker, there are numerous additional provisions in the bill that will allow the VA to provide better care to our veterans. I would like to thank the committee leadership and the staff for their hard work on this bill.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of S. 1156, as amended, the Veterans Health Care, Capital Asset And Business Improvement Act of 2003. The bill draws the best from provisions offered in this body and in the Senate. I have worked closely on this bill with the Chairman of the Health Subcommittee, Mr. Simmons. I would also like to thank Chairman Smith and Ranking Member Evans for their assistance in finalizing this bill.

I am most pleased that the bill includes important provisions from H.R. 2433, as amended, a bill I introduced with the support of my Chairman, Mr. Simmons. I also appreciate the persistence of the gentleman from California, Mike Thompson in ensuring that these tests were brought to light. This bill will take important steps to remedy a serious wrong done to some veterans during the Cold War era. The military conducted a series of about 50 tests over almost a decade to determine the effect of a number of biological and chemical exposures on military operations and whether such exposures could be adequately detected. Too often veterans who participated, sometimes unwittingly, in these tests were not properly protected from exposures to a number of stimulants and, occasionally, live agents. These agents included Sarin and VX nerve gas as well as biological war agents including Q fever and rabbit fever.

The military has now completed a number of investigations into the operations of the Deseret Test Center and concluded that as many as 6000 veterans may have been involved. Veteran participants are understandably concerned and want assurances that they are not suffering lasting health consequences related to these tests. This bill provides high-priority health care eligibility to these veterans for the next two years to allow them to seek and receive VA treatment for any health problems, including those they believe may be related to exposures to these hazardous agents. This authority will never adequately compensate veterans for their participation in dangerous tests, but allowing them to have their health care concerns addressed may begin to give them the peace-of-mind the nation owes them.

I am also pleased that the final bill includes many of the provisions from H.R. 1720, as amended. Madam Speaker, this bill authorizes many worthy construction projects to which VA has given high priority. Unfortunately, VA's major medical construction has languished for years as Congress has waited for the results of the Capital Assets Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES) study. I hope now that VA is about to approve a final plan, Congress will see fit to provide the appropriations VA requires to invest in its outdated infrastructure. If so, this will be a positive outcome of CARES. A provision of our bill is designed to ensure Congress that we are also adequately informed of some less positive developments that may result from this process-- facility closures, staff reassignments and consolidations that may affect many veterans. I am pleased that this bill will give us both the assurance of this notification and the time to respond to these developments.

Regardless of its outcomes, CARES gave us at least one thing of value--information. Last fall, VA came forward with data that confirm ongoing concerns I, along with my good friend Solomon Ortiz, have had about the veterans of South Texas. We knew they often suffered long, miserable journeys--up to 6 hours one way--to receive hospital care and some specialized services, but I don't think anyone knew many of our veterans had the worst access to acute hospital care in the nation! I am pleased this bill will require VA to report to us on steps it intends to take to resolve this longstanding problem.

This bill will provide new benefits to former prisoners-of-war. Under current law, neither Jessica Lynch nor her comrades who suffered internment in Iraq would be eligible to receive outpatient dental care from the VA. Why? Because they were in captivity for fewer than 90 days. While this limitation on eligibility was based on a rationale, it now seems capricious. Veterans who have experienced the trauma associated with being a prisoner of war deserve dental care regardless of their time in captivity. This bill will also do away with these veterans' medication copayments. Surely we can all agree that these veterans have paid enough.

This bill will extend and enhance long-term care and mental health problems. As VA continues to study how it will provide health care in the future Congress must remain vigilant about these programs that consume many resources but are needed by some of the most vulnerable veterans in the system. I am pleased we will also require two internal watchdogs that have made solid recommendations for improving mental health programs to continue to report to Congress on the VA's services for the seriously mentally ill and for veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. With troops who have seen the consequences of combat still in the field we will need VA's pre-eminent programs to be available to the men and women who have trouble readjusting to civilian life.

Madam Speaker, there are a number of additional provisions in this bill that will allow VA to provide better care to our veterans. I thank the Committee leadership and the staff for their hard work on the bill and want to commend it to all of my colleagues.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Evans), the ranking Democrat.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Filner).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Berkley), a member of the committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Millender-McDonald).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Thompson), who has been in the forefront of the issue of Project SHAD and Project 112.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Ortiz), whom we consider our dean, who is also responsible for some of this legislation.

(Mr. ORTIZ asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, let me take this opportunity, first of all, to thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Chairman Smith) and the gentleman from Illinois (Chairman Simmons) for their hard work on this particular bill.

I also want to take time to also recognize our leading Democrat, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Evans), for his hard work on this specific bill. I also want to take this opportunity to thank all the Members who participated to make this happen, such as the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Ortiz) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Thompson), as well as those on the Republican side.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I rise to support the Veterans Health Care, Capital Asset and Business Improvement Act of 2003. I want to start out by thanking the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) again for his willingness to work closely with me and the Democratic members of the committee to develop this as a final package. Credit goes to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Simmons) and the ranking member, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Rodriguez), for moving these measures to the floor today.

The bill anticipates the final approval of the CARES plan, identifying Congress's priorities requiring notification of major initiatives that come before the plan. I will continue to work behind the curtain and in front of the public to get this legislation passed.

The bill memorializes two great friends of mine: Bob Stump, who was an advocate for veterans throughout his career. We truly miss him not being on the committee anymore. He was a great American, and we salute his courage in standing up for what he believed in. Also, Jesse Brown, a veterans advocate as well, the former Secretary of Veterans Affairs for veterans. And we recognize these contributions of these two veterans with the passage of this bill.

This is a laudable effort for improving services for elderly and mentally-ill veterans. It strives to make VA the first choice. I am proud of the committee's work.

Madam Speaker, I rise to support the Veterans Health Care, Capital Asset and Business Improvement Act of 2003. I want to thank Chairman Smith for his ongoing commitment to veterans and his willingness to work closely with us on the development of this final package.

There are many important provisions in this bill. I appreciate the good bipartisan work of Chairman Simmons and Ranking Member Rodriguez in shepherding these measures from the Health Subcommittee to our consideration of a final conference package on the floor today.

This bill anticipates the final approval of the National Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES) Plan. This Plan may set the framework for the first significant investment in the VA medical care system's infrastructure in several years. We are now way behind in making the needed investments--some estimate that the deficit is as high as $6 billion in delayed VA projects. VA's Phase I Study in VISN 12 has offered interested parties a view to the future under a CARES- like process. I had to look no further than upstate Illinois to see how the administration might handle the hundreds of new proposals it has on tap if most of the recommendations in the Draft CARES Plan are adopted.

The answers I received about the plan for VISN 12 were unsettling. This is particularly true since this Phase I study is the prototype for the larger National plan. VA planned to close one of the divisions of VA Chicago without sure funding for a modern new bed tower at the other division. This replacement facility was, in my view and many others, the linchpin to a successful integration. There are still no plans to develop the on-site multispecialty outpatient clinic veterans were promised.

This spring I introduced H.R. 2349 which authorized funds to construct the new bed tower at the West Side division of VA in Chicago. It also attempted to hold VA's feet to the fire to fund and build the new bed tower by prohibiting VA from disposing of the closed facility until it began construction on its replacement. Instead of the restrictions I put on VA in my bill, I have agreed to establish priorities for spending appropriations designated for CARES projects. This conference package gives the highest priority to facilities, such as West Side, that are needed to replace capacity at facilities that CARES will recommend closing, consolidating or converting in some fashion. It also gives high priorities to projects that remedy life safety and seismic deficiencies.

My bill contained additional projects that are worthy of our appropriators' consideration. It authorizes $48,600,000 for the correction of seismic deficiencies in San Diego, California, and $50,000,000 for medical care and research renovations in West Haven, Connecticut. My bill included lease authority for Las Vegas. We have since learned that VA's needs there may be evolving and settled on appropriating advance planning funds in the amount of $25,000,000 for a major medical facility project there.

The bill also adopts language inspired by a provision introduced by my friend from Kansas, Dennis Moore. His bill has tremendous and broad- based support in this body. The provision requires VA to notify Congress in writing of actions proposed under the CARES initiative that would result in medical facility closures, significant staff realignments or medical facility consolidations and prohibits VA from taking these actions before 45 days following the notification or 30 days of continuous session of Congress.

I plan to continue to look behind the CARES process to ensure that VA is making its decisions in the best interest of veterans--not the bottom line.

In addition to honoring my friend, the late Jesse Brown, the former Secretary ``for'' Veterans Affairs by naming the VA Medical Center (West Side Division) in Chicago for him, this final package will name the Prescott VA Medical Center for our Committee's former Chairman, and my personal friend, the late Bob Stump. We honor two true veterans' advocates with the passage of this bill, and I am pleased to be associated with it.

Madam Speaker, I am pleased that we are finally able to authorize VA to provide health care to certain Filipino World War II veterans of the Philippines Commonwealth Army and former Philippines ``New Scouts'' who permanently reside in the United States, in the same manner as provided to U.S. veterans. I commend my colleague, Mr. Filner, for his persistence in seeing this to fruition.

Several years ago, my friend from California, Mike Thompson, discovered that many veterans had participated in a series of dangerous tests to identify the military's ability to detect and protect itself from biological and chemical attacks. His doggedness led the military to admit responsibility for conducting these tests which involved spraying American troops with agents that were, in some cases, extremely potent. The ranking member of the Health Subcommittee, Ciro Rodriguez, saw an opportunity to do some justice for these veterans by giving them access to VA health care for any condition for two years. This will allow these veterans to seek care for conditions they believe may be related to their exposures. I am pleased to support this provision.

This bill is laudable for improving services for elderly and mentally ill veterans. One provision allows VA authority to provide work skills training and development services, employment support services and job development and placement services as part of a more comprehensive rehabilitation package. This is likely to improve the therapeutic outcomes for seriously mentally ill veterans, homeless veterans and veterans with substance use disorders--those who can truly benefit from hands-on job coaching services. It extends authority for VA to provide properties foreclosed under its home loan program to nonprofit homeless service providers. VA has made extensive use of this authority and nonprofits have provided many nights of care to homeless veterans as a result.

The bill extend VA's authority to provide a range of non- institutional extended care services and a mandate to provide medically necessary, institutional nursing care services to severely service- connected disabled veterans through December 31, 2008. It allows VA to extend and add a site to its important pilot program on assisted living for veterans. It provides earmarked funding for specialized mental health services for veterans in each of the next three fiscal years. It also continues the reports of two important VA advisory groups who have made a series of solid recommendations to the Under Secretary for Health and the Congress about programs for seriously mentally ill veterans and veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Finally, this bill strives to make VA an employer of choice. We have reached one of those rare compromises that seem to offer something to everyone by creating a new appointment and promotion authority for certain clinical personnel, such as clinical psychologists, social workers, audiologists, kinesiologists, and others in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). This authority will allow these employees to enjoy some of the same protections other Federal workers have, but will also provide VA with greater hiring and promotion flexibility. Some health care workers, mostly nursing assistants, will enjoy Saturday premium pay under this bill. It will allow VA to appoint employees of the Veterans' Canteen Service taking into consideration their time in service in that capacity. We have offered VHA the authority to hire chiropractors to enhance the types of health care services it routinely offers veterans.

Madam Speaker, I am proud of the Committee's work on this bill and encourage all of my colleagues to approve it.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce H.R. 3387, the Veterans Health Programs Improvement Act of 2003. Mr. Speaker,

many of the provisions in the bill I am introducing with my colleague, the ranking member of the Health Subcommittee of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Mr. Rodriguez, are supported by the administration and have been offered to us previously in its request for draft legislation. Specifically, sections 2 through 6 of this bill are found in the draft bill, Omnibus Veterans Health Care and Benefits Act of 2003 requested by Secretary Principi on August 15, 2003.

Other provisions of this bill extend authorities or reports which already exist in law, but which are expiring. I believe it is critical that some of these activities continue to be mandated and carefully overseen by Congress.

VA has asked for the authority to provide up to 14 days of care to the newborn infants of women veterans. This allows VA to provide a more complete spectrum of care to women--particularly the younger women who are now serving in the military in record numbers. VA may, under current law, offer all maternity care, including labor, delivery and recovery, but once the infant is born, VA is forced to find other payers--often Medicaid if the mother has no other health care benefits--to finance the care of the child. The cost of providing this benefit to the newborn infants of women veterans is negligible.

VA has also asked for authority to provide certain rehabilitative services under its medical care authority. A vital part of therapy for many of VA's homeless, psychiatric, and substance use disorder recovery programs is the vocational activity. Successfully engaging in productive activity is viewed as a critical part of therapy and integral to complete rehabilitation. Although VA does offer a range of training programs, often VA must shuttle veterans between programs to meet all the veterans' needs. This makes case management difficult. Instead of allowing one person to work through job training, placement and support, veterans could be forced to work through several agencies and multiple points-of-contact adding complexity and confusion when veterans are already at a vulnerable turning point in their rehabilitation. This provision allows VA medical personnel to provide continuous care throughout vocational training.

Last year the clock ran out on special health care eligibility for herbicide-exposed veterans of the Vietnam-era and also for our Persian Gulf veterans. I spent much of my early tenure here fighting for compensation for veterans who believed their illnesses were associated with exposure to Agent Orange and other herbicides. Learning from that experience, Congress gave veterans who served in the first Gulf war more of the benefit of the doubt by allowing them to be compensated for vaguely defined conditions and illnesses that are not generally related to military service, but for which they seem to be at high risk. There seems to be a pretty serious schism between what we are doing to compensate veterans and the provision of care for conditions which they believe may be associated to their service. Without this special priority, some veterans who have not previously sought VA health care, may never be able to receive it. VA wants to continue to offer priority specialized treatment to veterans in these special priorities, and I fully support them in this effort.

VA would also like to require veterans to provide information from their health insurers. Too often these private-sector payers are raking in the cost-sharing from veterans or their spouses without paying toward their VA treatment. Veterans should be willing to share this information if they are receiving care at VA facilities and their health plans should be willing to reimburse VA as the veterans' provider-of-choice. It is only fair to ask veterans to offer this information as VA continues to mull tough choices of limiting services and those it will serve.

Finally, VA also requested permission to extend its authority to provide acquired properties to homeless service providers. These partners can purchase VA-acquired properties at discounts ranging from 20 to 50 percent. Through fiscal year 2002, 188 properties have been sold to homeless providers under the program, including two that were sold to a VA medical center for the compensated work therapy program. The shelters established in these properties have provided approximately 372,000 nights of shelter to homeless veterans. The VA has also entered into 52 leases with homeless providers. Most of these were subsequently converted into sales to homeless providers. I hope that we can support VA's efforts to continue to offer these properties to homeless providers.

In addition to the VA-requested provisions, I am proposing several extensions of reports and additional authorities that I strongly believe we must continue. Congress created two advisory committees--one that advises the Under Secretary on Health exclusively about Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder and one that makes recommendations for a variety of programs serving Severely Mentally Ill veterans. We have relied on the reports of these Committees to ensure Congress that these mental health programs are receiving adequate attention as VA continues to reform its health care delivery. It has become clear that since 1996, and likely before, VA has continued to pare back the resources it commits to its mental health programs. Congress is still awaiting the report due last Spring that demonstrates VA's maintenance of these programs' capacity in fiscal year 2002. These Committees serve as much needed internal spokespeople and advocates for their programs and are particularly vital in more fiscally constrained times. I am hopeful that my colleagues will agree that we continue to require the oversight of these internal watchdogs.

In addition to extending these reporting requirements, I would like to see Congress committed to allowing Vietnam-era veterans to continue to seek readjustment counseling at Vet Centers. As a Vietnam-era veteran myself, I have seen too many of my peers have significantly delayed reactions to the traumatic events of long ago. Many World War II veterans continue to struggle with the past we might have suspected they left long ago--look at how many veterans from that war had strong emotional reactions to Saving Private Ryan. As we all recall, there were unique challenges to returning home from service during the Vietnam War--a war that did not enjoy public support. While we've learned from this experience to ``love the warrior, if not the war'' I would like to ensure that Vet Centers remain accessible to Vietnam-era veterans who had unique adjustment challenges upon their return to service.

Finally, my bill would eliminate the sunset of authority for VA's sexual trauma counseling program currently set to expire December 31, 2004. Surveys from a few years ago continued to demonstrate that women in the Armed Services are at a high risk for sexual harassment and, even sexual assault. Sadly, it is apparent that sexual trauma will continue occurring in military service and elsewhere. VA has served as a valuable outlet to women who have believed the military and the government had otherwise abandoned them. We must ensure that VA's programs continue to exist to serve for the indefinite future.

Mr. Speaker, this bill supports proven programs that are already offering invaluable assistance to the veterans that are able to avail themselves of them. I want veterans to continue to be able to rely upon them.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill (S. 1156) to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve and enhance provision of health care for veterans, to authorize major construction projects and other facilities matters for the Department of Veterans Affairs, to enhance and improve authorities relating to the administration of personnel of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.

Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Simmons), the chairman of our Subcommittee on Health, who is the prime author of this legislation.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Buyer), the distinguished chairman of our Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

(Mr. BUYER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Renzi), a member of the committee, and a very active one at that.

(Mr. RENZI asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, because there have been so many requests for time on our side, as well as on the Democratic side, I ask unanimous consent that we extend this debate by 10 minutes equally divided between the minority and majority.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Hefley), the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Beauprez), who along with the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Hefley) worked very, very hard for the Fitzsimons Hospital, and I am very grateful for their help.

(Mr. BEAUPREZ asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to my good friend, the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Gibbons).

(Mr. GIBBONS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Florida (Mr. Miller), and thank him for the great work he did on the Pensacola Outpatient Clinic, the $45 million that he was instrumental in putting in there.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Tiberi), and thank the gentleman for his work on the Columbus, Ohio project which has advance planning funds to the tune of $9 million in this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Simmons).

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, first of all, I thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Evans). Again, we have collaborated on a bill working with the subcommittee chairman, the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Simmons), and the ranking member, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Rodriguez), and we have produced an extraordinarily good piece of legislation.

We worked with the other body, and I want to thank Senator Arlen Specter, the chairman, and the ranking member, Senator Graham. There was give and take, obviously. We began working on this very comprehensive product last spring. Again, this is a combination of a number of bills rolled and packaged into one bill. Project Shad was mentioned earlier by my colleague from California, and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Rodriguez) mentioned it as well. This bill is not everything we would like. The next time I find a bill on this floor that is will be the first time.

We did pass over to the other body the full money for the Columbus project, and we got back advance planning funding from the other body. While it is not everything we wanted, it certainly will ensure that that project goes forward. The $9 million is not chump change and will be sufficient to get the job done. I want to assure my colleagues we have done our due diligence. This is a very good piece of veterans legislation.

I want to thank our staff, Pat Ryan; John Bradley, who is the staff director for the subcommittee; Kingston Smith, our deputy chief counsel; Jeannie McNally; Mary McDermott; Peter Dickinson; Steve Kirkland; Bernie Dotson; Summer Larson; Kathleen Greve; Delores Dunn; Paige McManus; Devon Seibert; and Veronica Crowe. As my colleague mentioned, we have had great cooperation with our friends on the other side of the aisle.

Again, this is a quintessential bipartisan piece of legislation, something that this entire body can be proud of, and it will advance the ball significantly when it comes to veterans health care as well as the construction project.

Let me also remind my colleagues that we have passed over to the other body H.R. 11 and another bill that I sponsored and a bill that the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Moran) sponsored in the last Congress, and they never came back. They listed a number of projects that should have but did not get funded and were not authorized. Now, finally in this Congress, under the great leadership of the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Simmons), we have gotten that product back from the Senate, and it will go to President Bush for his signature. This is a great day for veterans. Again, I thank all of my colleagues for their cooperation and leadership.

Mr. Speaker, I include for the Record a joint explanatory statement.

Explanatory Statement on S. 1156, as Amended, Veterans Health Care,

Capital Asset, and Business Improvement Act of 2003

S. 1156, as amended, the Veterans Health Care, Capital

Asset, and Business Improvement Act of 2003 (``Compromise

Agreement'') reflects a negotiated agreement reached by the

Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Veterans'

Affairs concerning provisions in a number of bills considered

by the House and Senate during the 1st session of the 108th

Congress. The measures considered in this compromise are: S.

1156, as amended, as reported by the Senate Committee on

Veterans' Affairs on November 10, 2003; S. 1815 introduced on

November 4, 2003 (``Senate Bill''); H.R. 2357, as amended,

passed the House on July 21, 2003; H.R. 2433,

as amended, passed the House on September 10, 2003; H.R.

1720, as amended, passed the House on October 29, 2003; H.R.

3260, as introduced in the House on October 8, 2003; and H.R.

3387, as introduced in the House on October 29, 2003 (``House

Bill'').

The House and Senate Committees on Veterans' Affairs have

prepared the following explanation of the Compromise

Agreement. Differences between the provisions contained in

the Compromise Agreement and the related provisions of the

Senate bill and the House bills are noted, except for

clerical corrections, conforming changes made necessary by

the Compromise Agreement, and minor drafting, technical, and

clarifying changes.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, for all the hard work that he has done over the course of this year, and in previous years, in an effort to bring this legislation to final passage today. He is truly a friend of America's veterans.

Madam Speaker, the bill before us combines substantial portions of seven House and Senate bills dealing with veterans health care matters. As the Subcommittee on Health chairman, I am pleased that we are proposing to rebuild substantial portions of the Department of Veterans Affairs aging capital infrastructure, which is a fancy way of saying their hospital and health care facilities.

Most Members know that America cares for her veterans more than any other country in the world and has provided health care facilities for her veterans for over 100 years. That is the good news. Regrettably, the bad news is that many of these facilities, which provide excellent health care services to our veterans, show signs of aging. They need upgrading or replacement, and that is one of the purposes of the bill before us today.

This legislation is the result of compromise between the House and the Senate. It is the product of many minds. And I am grateful to my ranking member, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Rodriguez) for all of his help in bringing us to this point here today.

In summary, the bill would authorize six new medical building probables at a total cost of $276.6 million in Chicago, San Diego, West Haven, Lebanon, Beckley, and Pensacola. It also authorizes advance planning of $86.5 million for the Veterans Administration to design five new projects in Denver, Colorado, Columbus, Ohio, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Las Vegas, Nevada, and East Central, Florida. I am confident these projects will be funded once they are fully designed with the authorization provided in this bill.

The Denver project, for example, is a joint venture involving the Veterans Administration and the Air Force to establish a new Fitzsimmons Hospital Center. We believe this project will move forward with $26 million from the VA added to $4 million from the Air Force. And I thank my colleagues, the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Beauprez) and the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Hefley) for all of their hard work on this project.

Another very important planning project in our bill is for Columbus, Ohio. It would relocate and expand an existing VA clinic to available Federal property. And while this committee wanted to provide the full authorization this year, and, in fact, this body did so, that was opposed by the other body. In the spirit of compromise the committees agreed to provide $9 million for advance planning for the new clinic in Columbus. I thank the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Hobson) for his leadership and help with this matter. I personally look forward to going out to Ohio, hopefully, in the company of Secretary Principi, to review the project.

In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the VA needs a new health facility to replace two aging hospitals, both of which are over 50 years old. The committee has agreed to provide planning funds of $9 million for this project as well.

In addition to these projects, the bill with also delegate to Secretary Principi the ability to prioritize construction projects coming out of VA's so-called ``CARES'' process, provided appropriations to support these projects would be available. And we are confident this approach is a responsible way to proceed. With this delegation of authority to the Secretary, however, we also impose some limits on the VA in this bill. If, for example, as a result of CARES, the Secretary is closing VA medical facilities, or significantly reducing health care staff or consolidating two or more hospitals, we request that VA report these plans to Congress and wait 60 days before proceeding.

In closing, Madam Speaker, I would like to mention two hospital or facility naming pieces of this legislation. First of all, I had the honor as a member of the Committee on Armed Services to serve under Chairman Bob Stump, who also was a distinguished chairman of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. There is no truer friend to America's veterans than Bob Stump. And we lost him earlier this year, unfortunately, to a long illness. But we wanted to memorialize his service to American veterans in an appropriate and respectful way, which is why our bill names the Prescott, Arizona, VA Medical Center the Bob Stump Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

As well, I want to honor a very distinguished veteran from my own district, John McGuirk, a native of Connecticut, who enlisted in the United States Navy during World War II, serving as a salvage diver. He hazarded death and injury every day of his service, serving in the South Pacific from Pearl Harbor to Manila in the Philippines, including service aboard the salvage ship U.S.S. Laysan Island.

John McGuirk was instrumental in establishing a community-based outreach clinic in New London, Connecticut, on the grounds of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. And this legislation will memorialize him by naming this clinic after him.

Madam Speaker, I urge all Members to vote in support of final passage of this legislation, the Veterans Health Care Capital Asset and Business Improvement Act of 2003.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to briefly respond to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Tiberi) to say that it is a start, it is a good start, and we are going to be with the gentleman all the way. I look forward to coming to Ohio with Secretary Principi to visit the facility.

I would also like to thank the subcommittee staff director, John Bradley, and the minority staff director, Susan Edgerton for their hard work, and I would like to make a comment. Over 100 years ago, the U.S. Marine Corps was dispatched to China to relieve the diplomatic legations in that country that were under great pressure from the Boxer Rebellion, and when they came back, they adopted the term ``gung-ho.'' To be gung-ho, to be enthusiastic, to be filled with vigor for something. But the term ``gung-ho'' comes from the Chinese. I see the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Evans) is smiling, he probably knows, which means work together.

Under the leadership of the chairman and the ranking member, we have worked together on this legislation, and we have accomplished something that we have not accomplished for 5 years, which is an authorization bill, hopefully, heading to the White House for the President's signature.