I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 691

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for a portion of any

funds recovered by the United States in any future lawsuit brought

by the United States against the tobacco industry to be made available

for health care for veterans.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 10, 1999

Mr. STEARNS (for himself, Mr. STUMP, Mr. EVANS, Mr. SHOWS, Mr. RAHALL,

and Mrs. KELLY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs

A BILL

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for a

portion of any funds recovered by the United States

in any future lawsuit brought by the United States

against the tobacco industry to be made available for

health care for veterans.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans Tobacco

5 Trust Fund Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds the following:
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1 (1) Smoking related illnesses, including cancer,

2 heart disease, and emphysema, are highly prevalent

3 among the more than 3,000,000 veterans who use

4 the Department of Veterans Affairs health care sys5 tem annually.

6 (2) The Department of Veterans Affairs esti7 mates that it spent $3,600,000,000 in 1997 to treat

8 smoking-related illnesses and that over the next five

9 years it will spend $20,000,000,000 on such care.

10 (3) Congress established the Department of

11 Veterans Affairs in furtherance of its constitutional

12 power to provide for the national defense in order to

13 provide benefits and services to veterans of the uni14 formed services.

15 (4) There is in the Department of Veterans Af16 fairs a health care system which has as its primary

17 function to provide a complete medical and hospital

18 service for the medical care and treatment of such

19 veterans as can be served through available appro20 priations.

21 (5) The Federal Government, including the De22 partment of Veterans Affairs, has lacked the means

23 to prevent the onset of smoking-related illnesses

24 among veterans and has had no authority to deny
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1 needed treatment to any veteran on the basis that

2 an illness is or might be smoking-related.

3 (6) With some 20 percent of its health care

4 budget absorbed in treating smoking-related ill5 nesses, the Department of Veterans Affairs health

6 care system has lacked resources to provide needed

7 nursing home care, home care, community-based

8 ambulatory care, and other services to tens of thou9 sands of other veterans.

10 (7) The network of academically affiliated medi11 cal centers of the Department of Veterans Affairs

12 provides a unique system within which outstanding

13 medical research is conducted and which has the po14 tential to expand significantly ongoing research on

15 tobacco-related illnesses.

16 (8) It is in the public interest for Congress to

17 enact legislation requiring that a portion of any

18 amounts received from manufacturers of tobacco

19 products be used to meet the costs of (A) treatment

20 for diseases and adverse health effects associated

21 with the use of tobacco products by those who served

22 their country in uniform, and (B) medical and

23 health services research relating to prevention and

24 treatment of, and rehabilitation from, tobacco addic25 tion and diseases associated with tobacco use.
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1 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF TRUST FUND.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 17 of title 38, United

3 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1729A

4 the following new section:

5 ‘‘§ 1729B. Veterans Tobacco Trust Fund

6 ‘‘(a) There is established in the Treasury of the

7 United States a trust fund to be known as the ‘Veterans

8 Tobacco Trust Fund’, consisting of such amounts as may

9 be appropriated, credited, or donated to the trust fund.

10 ‘‘(b) If a lawsuit is brought by the United States

11 against the tobacco manufacturers seeking recovery of

12 costs incurred or to be incurred by the United States that

13 are attributable to tobacco-related illnesses, there shall be

14 credited to the trust fund from any amount recovered by

15 the United States pursuant to that lawsuit, without fur16 ther appropriation, the amount that bears the same ratio

17 to the amount recovered as the amount of the Depart18 ment’s costs for health care attributable to tobacco-related

19 illnesses for which recovery is sought in the suit bears to

20 the total amount sought by the United States in the suit.

21 ‘‘(c) Amounts in the trust fund shall be available,

22 without fiscal year limitation, to the Secretary of Veterans

23 Affairs for the following purposes:

24 ‘‘(1) Furnishing medical care and services

25 under this chapter, to be available during any fiscal

26 year for the same purposes and subject to the same
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1 limitations (other than with respect to the period of

2 availability for obligation) as apply to amounts ap3 propriated from the general fund of the Treasury for

4 that fiscal year for medical care.

5 ‘‘(2) Conducting medical research, rehabilita6 tion research, and health systems research, with par7 ticular emphasis on research relating to prevention

8 and treatment of, and rehabilitation from, tobacco

9 addiction and diseases associated with tobacco use.’’.

10 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.— The table of sections

11 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting

12 after the item relating to section 1729A the following new

13 item:

‘‘Sec. 1729B. Veterans Tobacco Trust Fund.’’.

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