I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3113 

To prohibit the Secretary of Veterans Affairs from obligating or expending 

funds for alternative energy generation projects unless specifically authorized by law, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 16, 2015 

Mr. WEBER of Texas (for himself, Mr. RIBBLE, Mr. OLSON, Mr. BURGESS, 

Mr. BABIN, Mr. JENKINS of West Virginia, Mr. FARENTHOLD, and Mr. 

CRAMER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Appropriations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To prohibit the Secretary of Veterans Affairs from obligating 

or expending funds for alternative energy generation 

projects unless specifically authorized by law, 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; FINDINGS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Empowering Our Veterans Act of 2015’’. 

6 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

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1 (1) The primary responsibility of the Depart2 ment of Veterans Affairs is to provide the best pos3 sible medical care to wounded veterans. 

4 (2) Since 2009, the Department has expended 

5 at least $420,000,000 on solar and wind renewable 

6 energy projects at facilities of the Department. 

7 (3) The wind power generation projects at fa8 cilities of the Department have been full of costly 

9 delays and expensive overages, thereby wasting mil10 lions of taxpayers’ dollars and distracting the De11 partment from accomplishing its primary responsi12 bility. 

13 (4) The current disability claims backlog and 

14 appointment wait times are an unacceptable national 

15 disgrace. 

16 (5) The Department should use all required re17 sources to ensure that all qualified veterans receive 

18 the best medical care available. 

19 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL OF ALTERNATIVE EN20 ERGY GENERATION PROJECTS OF DEPART21 MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

22 (a) APPROVAL REQUIRED.—No funds may be appro23 priated for any fiscal year, and the Secretary of Veterans 

24 Affairs may not obligate or expend funds, for any altermstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 native energy generation project unless funds for that 

2 project have been specifically authorized by law. 

3 (b) TRANSFER.—The Secretary shall transfer all un4 obligated funds appropriated to the Secretary before the 

5 date of the enactment of this Act for an alternative energy 

6 generation project to the ‘‘Medical Services’’ account of 

7 the Department to provide medical care to veterans in the 

8 health care system established under section 1705(a) of 

9 title 38, United States Code. 

10 (c) ALTERNATIVE ENERGY GENERATION PROJECT

11 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘alternative energy 

12 generation project’’ means a project carried out under the 

13 administration of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to 

14 produce electrical or thermal energy if the primary energy 

15 source for the project is not oil, natural gas, coal, or nu16 clear power. 

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