II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3713 

To provide for the integration of the Captain James A. Lovell Federal 

Health Care Center and the Great Lakes Naval Health Clinic, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 20, 2008 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself and Mr. AKAKA) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To provide for the integration of the Captain James A. 

Lovell Federal Health Care Center and the Great Lakes 

Naval Health Clinic, 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 ‘‘Captain James A. 

5 Lovell Federal Health Care Center Act of 2008’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TRANSFER OF PROPERTY. 

7 (a) TRANSFER.— 

8 (1) TRANSFER AUTHORIZED.—Upon the con9 clusion of a resource-sharing agreement between the 


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1 Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans 

2 Affairs providing for the joint use by the Depart3 ment of Defense and the Department of Veterans 

4 Affairs of a facility and supporting facilities in 

5 North Chicago, Illinois, and Great Lakes, Illinois, 

6 and for joint use of related medical personal prop7 erty and equipment, the Secretary of Defense may 

8 transfer, without reimbursement, to the Department 

9 of Veterans Affairs the Navy ambulatory care center 

10 (on which construction commenced in July 2008), 

11 parking structure, and supporting facilities, and re12 lated medical personal property and equipment, lo13 cated in Great Lakes, Illinois. 

14 (2) DESIGNATION OF JOINT USE FACILITY.— 

15 The facility and supporting facilities subject to joint 

16 use under the agreement and transfer under this 

17 subsection shall be designated as known as the 

18 ‘‘Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Cen19 ter’’. 

20 (b) REVERSION.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—If any of the real and re22 lated personal property transferred pursuant to sub23 section (a) is subsequently used for purposes other 

24 than the purposes specified in the joint use specified 

25 in the resource-sharing agreement described in that 


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1 subsection or otherwise determined by the Secretary 

2 of Veterans Affairs to be excess to the needs of the 

3 Department of Veterans Affairs, the Secretary of 

4 Veterans Affairs shall offer to transfer such prop5 erty, without reimbursement, to the Secretary of De6 fense. Any such transfer shall be completed not later 

7 than one year after the acceptance of the offer of 

8 transfer. 

9 (2) REVERSION IN EVENT OF LACK OF FACILI10 TIES INTEGRATION.— 

11 (A) WITHIN INITIAL PERIOD.—During the 

12 5-year period beginning on the date of the 

13 transfer of the real and related personal prop14 erty described in subsection (a), if the Secretary 

15 of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of De16 fense jointly determine that the integration of 

17 the facilities described in that subsection should 

18 not continue, the real and related personal 

19 property of the Navy ambulatory care center, 

20 parking structure, and support facilities de21 scribed in that subsection shall be transferred, 

22 without reimbursement, to the Secretary of De23 fense. Such transfer shall occur not later than 

24 180 days after the date of such determination 

25 by the Secretaries. 


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1 (B) AFTER INITIAL PERIOD.—After the 

2 end of the 5-year period described in subpara3 graph (A), if either the Secretary of Veterans 

4 Affairs or the Secretary of Defense determines 

5 that the integration of the facilities described in 

6 subsection (a) should not continue, the Sec7 retary of Veterans Affairs shall transfer, with8 out reimbursement, to the Secretary of Defense 

9 the real and related personal property described 

10 in paragraph (1). Such transfer shall occur not 

11 later than one year after the date of the deter12 mination by the Secretary concerned. 

13 SEC. 3. TRANSFER OF CIVILIAN PERSONNEL OF THE DE14 PARTMENT OF DEFENSE. 

15 (a) AUTHORIZATION FOR TRANSFER OF FUNC16 TIONS.— 

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

18 may transfer to the Department of Veterans Affairs, 

19 and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs may accept 

20 from the Department of Defense, functions nec21 essary for the effective operation of the Captain 

22 James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center. 

23 (2) TREATMENT OF TRANSFERS.—Any transfer 

24 of functions under this subsection is a transfer of 


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1 functions within the meaning of section 3503 of title 

2 5, United States Code. 

3 (b) TERMS OF AGREEMENT.— 

4 (1) RESOURCE-SHARING AGREEMENT.—Any 

5 transfer of functions under subsection (a) shall be 

6 effectuated in a resource-sharing agreement between 

7 the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Vet8 erans Affairs. 

9 (2) ELEMENTS.—Notwithstanding any other 

10 provision of law, including but not limited to any 

11 provisions of title 5, United States Code, relating to 

12 transfers of function or reductions-in-force, the 

13 agreement described in paragraph (1) shall be con14 trolling and may make provision for— 

15 (A) the transfer of civilian employee posi16 tions of the Department of Defense identified in 

17 the agreement to the Department of Veterans 

18 Affairs and of the incumbent civilian employees 

19 in such positions; 

20 (B) the transition of transferred employees 

21 to pay, benefits, and personnel systems of the 

22 Department of Veterans Affairs in a manner 

23 which will not result in any reduction of pay, 

24 grade, or employment progression of any em25 ployee or any change in employment status for 


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1 employees who have already successfully com2 pleted or are in the process of completing a 

3 one-year probationary period under title 5, 

4 United States Code; 

5 (C) the establishment of integrated senior6 ity lists and other personnel management provi7 sions that recognize an employee’s experience 

8 and training so as to provide comparable rec9 ognition of employees previously with the De10 partment of Veterans Affairs and employees 

11 newly transferred to such Department; and 

12 (D) such other matters relating to civilian 

13 personnel management as the Secretary of De14 fense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

15 consider appropriate. 

16 (c) PRESERVATION OF AUTHORITY.—Notwith17 standing subsections (a) and (b), nothing in this section 

18 shall be construed as limiting the authority of the Sec19 retary of Defense to establish civilian employee positions 

20 in the Department of Defense and utilize all civilian per21 sonnel authorities otherwise available to the Secretary if 

22 the Secretary determines that such actions are necessary 

23 and appropriate to meet mission requirements of the De24 partment of Defense. 


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1 SEC. 4. EXTENSION AND EXPANSION OF JOINT INCENTIVE 

2 FUND. 

3 (a) TEN-YEAR EXTENSION OF AUTHORITY FOR

4 JOINT INCENTIVES PROGRAM.—Paragraph (3) of section 

5 8111(d) of title 38, United States Code, is amended by 

6 striking ‘‘2010’’ and inserting ‘‘2020’’. 

7 (b) FUNDING OF MAINTENANCE AND MINOR CON8 STRUCTION FROM THE JOINT INCENTIVE FUND.—Para9 graph (2) of such section is amended by adding at the 

10 end the following new sentence: ‘‘Such purposes shall in11 clude real property maintenance and minor construction 

12 projects that are not required to be specifically authorized 

13 by law under section 8104 of this title and section 2805 

14 of title 10.’’. 

15 SEC. 5. HEALTH CARE ELIGIBILITY FOR SERVICES AT THE 

16 CAPTAIN JAMES A. LOVELL FEDERAL 

17 HEALTH CARE CENTER. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of eligibility for 

19 health care under chapter 55 of title 10, United States 

20 Code, the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care 

21 Center authorized by this Act may be deemed to be a facil22 ity of the uniformed services to the extent provided in an 

23 agreement between the Secretary of Defense and the Sec24 retary of Veterans Affairs under subsection (b). 

25 (b) ELEMENTS OF AGREEMENT.—Subsection (a) 

26 may be implemented through an agreement between the 


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1 Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of De2 fense. The agreement may— 

3 (1) establish an integrated priority list for ac4 cess to available care at the facility described in sub5 section (a), integrating the respective priority lists of 

6 the Secretaries, taking into account categories of 

7 beneficiaries, enrollment program status, and such 

8 other factors as the Secretaries determine appro9 priate; 

10 (2) incorporate any resource-related limitations 

11 for access to care at that facility established by the 

12 Secretary of Defense for purposes of administering 

13 space-available eligibility for care in facilities of the 

14 uniformed services under chapter 55 of title 10, 

15 United States Code; 

16 (3) allocate financial responsibility for care pro17 vided at that facility for individuals who are eligible 

18 for care under both title 38, United States Code, 

19 and chapter 55 of title 10, United States Code; and 

20 (4) waive the applicability to that facility of any 

21 provision of section 8111(e) of title 38, United 

22 States Code, as specified by the Secretaries. 

Æ 


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