II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2827

To provide for the conveyance of the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical

Center at Ft. Lyon, Colorado, to the State of Colorado, and for other

purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 29, 2000

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

to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs

A BILL

To provide for the conveyance of the Department of Veterans

Affairs Medical Center at Ft. Lyon, Colorado, to the

State of Colorado, 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. CONVEYANCE OF FT. LYON DEPARTMENT OF

4 VETERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL CENTER, COLO5 RADO, TO THE STATE OF COLORADO.

6 (a) CONVEYANCE AUTHORIZED.—Notwithstanding

7 any other provision of law and subject to the provisions

8 of this section, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs may con9 vey, without consideration, to the State of Colorado all
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1 right, title, and interest of the United States in and to

2 a parcel of real property, including improvements thereon

3 other than Kit Carson Chapel, consisting of approximately

4 512 acres and comprising the location of the Ft. Lyon De5 partment of Veterans Affairs Medical Center. The purpose

6 of the conveyance is to permit the State of Colorado to

7 utilize the property for purposes of a correctional facility.

8 (b) PUBLIC ACCESS.—(1) The Secretary may not

9 make the conveyance of real property authorized by sub10 section (a) unless the State of Colorado agrees to provide

11 appropriate public access to Kit Carson Chapel and the

12 cemetery located on the real property.

13 (2) The State of Colorado may satisfy the condition

14 specified in paragraph (1) with respect to Kit Carson

15 Chapel by relocating the chapel to Fort Lyon National

16 Cemetery, Colorado, or another appropriate location joint17 ly selected by the Secretary and the State of Colorado.

18 (c) REPLACEMENT FACILITIES.—The Secretary may

19 not make the conveyance authorized by subsection (a)

20 until the date on which the Secretary opens not less than

21 three health care facilities, and a nursing home care facil22 ity, in Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 19,

23 which shall serve as replacement facilities for the Ft. Lyon

24 Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
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1 (d) ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION.—The Secretary

2 may not make the conveyance authorized by subsection (a)

3 until the Secretary completes the evaluation and perform4 ance of any environmental restoration activities required

5 by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Com6 pensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et

7 seq.), and by any other provision of law.

8 (e) PERSONAL PROPERTY.—As part of the convey9 ance authorized by subsection (a), the Secretary may con10 vey, without consideration, to the State of Colorado any

11 furniture, fixtures, equipment, and other personal prop12 erty associated with the property conveyed under that sub13 section that the Secretary determines is not required for

14 purposes of the Department of Veterans Affairs health

15 care facilities to be established by the Secretary in south16 ern Colorado or for purposes of Ft. Lyon National Ceme17 tery.

18 (f) LEGAL DESCRIPTION.—The exact acreage and

19 legal description of the real property to be conveyed under

20 subsection (a), and of any fixtures and other personal

21 property conveyed under subsection (e), shall be deter22 mined by a survey, and by such other methods, as are

23 satisfactory to the Secretary. Any costs associated with

24 activities under this subsection shall be borne by the State

25 of Colorado.
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1 (g) ADDITIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The

2 Secretary may require such other terms and conditions in

3 connection with the conveyances authorized by subsections

4 (a) and (e) as the Secretary considers appropriate to pro5 tect the interests of the United States.

6 SEC. 2. EFFECT OF CLOSURE OF FT. LYON DEPARTMENT

7 OF VETERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL CENTER ON

8 ADMINISTRATION OF HEALTH CARE FOR

9 VETERANS.

10 (a) PAYMENT FOR NURSING HOME CARE.—Notwith11 standing any limitation under section 1720 or 1741 of title

12 38, United States Code, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs

13 may pay the State of Colorado, or any private nursing

14 home care facility, for costs incurred in providing nursing

15 home care to any veteran who is relocated from the Ft.

16 Lyon Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center,

17 Colorado, to the State of Colorado or such private facility,

18 as the case may be, as a result of the closure of the Ft.

19 Lyon Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

20 (b) OBLIGATION TO PROVIDE EXTENDED CARE

21 SERVICES.—Nothing in this Act may be construed to alter

22 or otherwise effect the obligation of the Secretary to meet

23 the requirements of section 1710B(b) of title 38, United

24 States Code, relating to staffing and levels of extended

25 care services in fiscal years after fiscal year 1998.
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1 (c) EXTENSION OF VOLUNTARY EARLY RETIREMENT

2 AUTHORITY.—Notwithstanding section 1109(a) of the De3 partment of Veterans Affairs Employment Reduction As4 sistance Act of 1999 (title XI of Public Law 106–117;

5 113 Stat. 1599; 5 U.S.C. 5597 note), the authority to pay

6 voluntary separation incentive payments under that Act

7 to employees of the Ft. Lyon Department of Veterans Af8 fairs Medical Center shall apply to eligible employees (as

9 defined by section 1110 of that Act) at the Ft. Lyon De10 partment of Veterans Affairs Medical Center whose sepa11 ration occurs before June 30, 2001.

12 (d) REPORT ON VETERANS HEALTH CARE IN

13 SOUTHERN COLORADO.—Not later than one year after the

14 conveyance, if any, authorized by section 1, the Under

15 Secretary for Health of the Department of Veterans Af16 fairs, acting through the Director of Veterans Integrated

17 Service Network (VISN) 19, shall submit to the Commit18 tees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the House of

19 Representatives a report on the status of the health care

20 system for veterans under the Network in the Southern

21 Colorado. The report shall describe any improvements to

22 the system in Southern Colorado that have been put into

23 effect in the period beginning on the date of the convey24 ance and ending on the date of the report.

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