II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 800 

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to ensure that the South Texas 

Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Center at Harlingen, located 

in Harlingen, Texas, includes a full-service inpatient health care facility 

of the Department of Veterans Affairs, to redesignate such center, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 24, 2013 

Mr. CORNYN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to ensure that 

the South Texas Department of Veterans Affairs Health 

Care Center at Harlingen, located in Harlingen, Texas, 

includes a full-service inpatient health care facility of 

the Department of Veterans Affairs, to redesignate such 

center, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Treto Garza Far South 

5 Texas Veterans Inpatient Care Act of 2013’’. 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 800 IS

1 SEC. 2. INPATIENT HEALTH CARE FACILITY AT DEPART2 MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL FA3 CILITY IN HARLINGEN, TEXAS. 

4 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find5 ings: 

6 (1) The current and future health care needs of 

7 veterans residing in Far South Texas are not being 

8 fully met by the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

9 (2) According to recent census data, more than 

10 108,000 veterans reside in Far South Texas. 

11 (3) Travel times for veterans from the Valley 

12 Coastal Bend area from their homes to the nearest 

13 Department of Veterans Affairs hospital for acute 

14 inpatient health care can exceed six hours. 

15 (4) Even with the significant travel times, vet16 erans from Far South Texas demonstrate a high de17 mand for health care services from the Department 

18 of Veterans Affairs. 

19 (5) Ongoing overseas deployments of members 

20 of the Armed Forces from Texas, including members 

21 of the Armed Forces on active duty, members of the 

22 Texas National Guard, and members of the other re23 serve components of the Armed Forces, will continue 

24 to increase demand for medical services provided by 

25 the Department of Veterans Affairs. 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 800 IS

1 (6) The Department of Veterans Affairs em2 ploys an annual Strategic Capital Investment Plan3 ning process to ‘‘enable the VA to continually adapt 

4 to changes in demographics, medical and informa5 tion technology, and health care delivery’’, which re6 sults in the development of a multi-year investment 

7 plan that determines where gaps in services exist or 

8 are projected and develops an appropriate solution 

9 to meet those gaps. 

10 (7) According to the Department of Veterans 

11 Affairs, final approval of the Strategic Capital In12 vestment Planning priority list serves as the ‘‘build13 ing block’’ of the annual budget request for the De14 partment. 

15 (8) Arturo ‘‘Treto’’ Garza, a veteran who 

16 served in the Marine Corps, rose to the rank of Ser17 geant, and served two tours in the Vietnam War, 

18 passed away on October 3, 2012. 

19 (9) Treto Garza, who was also a former co20 chairman of the Veterans Alliance of the Rio Grande 

21 Valley, tirelessly fought to improve health care serv22 ices for veterans in the Rio Grande Valley, with his 

23 efforts successfully leading to the creation of the 

24 South Texas VA Health Care Center at Harlingen, 

25 located in Harlingen, Texas. 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 800 IS

1 (b) REDESIGNATION OF SOUTH TEXAS DEPARTMENT

2 OF VETERANS AFFAIRS HEALTH CARE CENTER.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The South Texas Depart4 ment of Veterans Affairs Health Care Center at 

5 Harlingen, located in Harlingen, Texas, is redesig6 nated as the ‘‘Treto Garza South Texas Department 

7 of Veterans Affairs Health Care Center’’. 

8 (2) REFERENCES.—Any reference in a law, 

9 map, regulation, document, paper, or other record of 

10 the United States to the medical facility of the De11 partment of Veterans Affairs referred to in para12 graph (1) shall be deemed to be a reference to the 

13 ‘‘Treto Garza South Texas Department of Veterans 

14 Affairs Health Care Center’’. 

15 (c) REQUIREMENT OF FULL-SERVICE INPATIENT

16 FACILITY.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans 

18 Affairs shall ensure that the Treto Garza South 

19 Texas Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care 

20 Center includes a full-service inpatient health care 

21 facility of the Department and shall modify the ex22 isting facility as necessary to meet that requirement. 

23 (2) PLAN TO EXPAND FACILITY CAPABILI24 TIES.—The Secretary shall include in the annual 

25 Strategic Capital Investment Plan of the DepartVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:34 Apr 29, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S800.IS S800

tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 800 IS

1 ment a project to expand the capabilities of the 

2 Treto Garza South Texas Department of Veterans 

3 Affairs Health Care Center by adding the following: 

4 (A) Inpatient capability for 50 beds with 

5 appropriate administrative, clinical, diagnostic, 

6 and ancillary services needed for support. 

7 (B) An urgent care center. 

8 (C) The capability to provide a full range 

9 of services to meet the needs of women vet10 erans. 

11 (d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 180 days 

12 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

13 shall submit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the 

14 Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the 

15 House of Representatives a report detailing a plan to im16 plement the requirements in subsection (c), including an 

17 estimate of the cost of required actions and the time nec18 essary for the completion of those actions. 

19 (e) FAR SOUTH TEXAS DEFINED.—In this section, 

20 the term ‘‘Far South Texas’’ means the following counties 

21 in Texas: Aransas, Bee, Brooks, Calhoun, Cameron, 

22 DeWitt, Dimmit, Duval, Goliad, Hidalgo, Jackson, Jim 

23 Hogg, Jim Wells, Kenedy, Kleberg, Nueces, Refugio, San 

24 Patricio, Starr, Victoria, Webb, Willacy, Zapata. 

Æ 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS