II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2328 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide the Secretary of Defense 

and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs authority to enter into agreements 

for the planning, design, and construction, or leasing, of facilities to 

be operated as shared medical facilities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 30, 2019 

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

to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

authority to enter into agreements for the planning, design, and construction, or leasing, of facilities to be operated as shared medical facilities, 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 ‘‘VA-DoD Shared Med5 ical Facilities Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AUTHORITY TO PLAN, DESIGN, AND CONSTRUCT, OR 

2 LEASE, SHARED MEDICAL FACILITIES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 55 of title 10, United 

4 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1104 

5 the following new section: 

6 ‘‘§ 1104a. Shared medical facilities with the Depart7 ment of Veterans Affairs 

8 ‘‘(a) AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary of Defense and 

9 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs may enter into agree10 ments with each other for the planning, design, and con11 struction, or leasing, of facilities to be operated as shared 

12 medical facilities. 

13 ‘‘(b) TRANSFER OF AMOUNTS BY SECRETARY OF DE14 FENSE.—(1) The Secretary of Defense may transfer to 

15 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs amounts as follows: 

16 ‘‘(A) Amounts, not in excess of the amount au17 thorized by law for an unspecified minor military 

18 construction project, for the construction of a shared 

19 medical facility if— 

20 ‘‘(i) the amount of the share of the De21 partment of Defense for the estimated cost of 

22 the project does not exceed the amount speci23 fied in subsection (a)(2) of section 2805 of this 

24 title; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the other requirements of such section 

2 have been met with respect to amounts identi3 fied for transfer. 

4 ‘‘(B) Amounts appropriated for the Defense 

5 Health Program for the purpose of the planning, de6 sign, and construction, or the leasing of space, for 

7 a shared medical facility. 

8 ‘‘(2) The authority to transfer amounts under this 

9 section is in addition to any other authority to transfer 

10 amounts available to the Secretary of Defense. 

11 ‘‘(3) Section 2215 of this title does not apply to a 

12 transfer of funds under this subsection. 

13 ‘‘(c) TRANSFER OF AMOUNTS BY SECRETARY OF

14 VETERANS AFFAIRS.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

15 may transfer to the Secretary of Defense amounts as fol16 lows: 

17 ‘‘(1) Amounts appropriated to the Secretary of 

18 Veterans Affairs for ‘Construction, minor projects’ 

19 for use for the planning, design, or construction of 

20 a shared medical facility if the amount of the share 

21 of the Department of Veterans Affairs for the esti22 mated cost of the project does not exceed the 

23 amount specified in section 8104(a)(3)(A) of title 

24 38. 


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1 ‘‘(2) Amounts appropriated to the Secretary of 

2 Veterans Affairs for ‘Construction, major projects’ 

3 for use for the planning, design, or construction of 

4 a shared medical facility if— 

5 ‘‘(A) the amount of the share of the De6 partment of Veterans Affairs for the estimated 

7 cost of the project exceeds the amount specified 

8 in subsection (a)(3) of section 8104 of title 38; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(B) the other requirements of such sec11 tion have been met with respect to amounts 

12 identified for transfer. 

13 ‘‘(3) Amounts appropriated to the applicable 

14 appropriation account of the Department of Vet15 erans Affairs for the purpose of leasing space for a 

16 shared medical facility if the amount of the share of 

17 the Department of Veterans Affairs for the esti18 mated cost of the project does not exceed the 

19 amount specified in section 8104(a)(3)(B) of title 

20 38. 

21 ‘‘(d) RECEIPT OF AMOUNTS BY SECRETARY OF DE22 FENSE.—(1) Any amount transferred to the Secretary of 

23 Defense by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for necessary 

24 expenses for the planning, design, and construction of a 

25 shared medical facility, if the amount of the share of the 


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1 Department of Defense for the cost of such project does 

2 not exceed the amount specified in section 2805(a)(2) of 

3 this title, may be credited to accounts of the Department 

4 of Defense available for the construction of a shared med5 ical facility. 

6 ‘‘(2) Any amount transferred to the Secretary of De7 fense by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for the purpose 

8 of the planning and design, or the leasing of space, for 

9 a shared medical facility may be credited to accounts of 

10 the Department of Defense available for such purposes, 

11 and may be used for such purposes. 

12 ‘‘(3) Using accounts credited with transfers from the 

13 Secretary of Veterans Affairs under paragraph (1), the 

14 Secretary of Defense may carry out unspecified minor 

15 military construction projects, if the share of the Depart16 ment of Defense for the cost of such project does not ex17 ceed the amount specified in section 2805(a)(2) of this 

18 title. 

19 ‘‘(e) RECEIPT OF AMOUNTS BY SECRETARY OF VET20 ERANS AFFAIRS.—(1) Any amount transferred to the Sec21 retary of Veterans Affairs by the Secretary of Defense for 

22 necessary expenses for the planning, design, and construc23 tion of a shared medical facility, if the amount of the share 

24 of the Department of Veterans Affairs for the cost of such 

25 project does not exceed the amount specified in section 


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1 8104(a)(3)(A) of title 38, may be credited to the ‘Con2 struction, minor projects’ account of the Department of 

3 Veterans Affairs and used for the necessary expenses of 

4 constructing such shared medical facility. 

5 ‘‘(2) Any amount transferred to the Secretary of Vet6 erans Affairs by the Secretary of Defense for necessary 

7 expenses for the planning, design, and construction of a 

8 shared medical facility, if the amount of the share of the 

9 Department of Veterans Affairs for the cost of such 

10 project exceeds the amount specified in subsection 

11 (a)(3)(A) of section 8104 of title 38, may be credited to 

12 the ‘Construction, major projects’ account of the Depart13 ment of Veterans Affairs and used for the necessary ex14 penses of constructing such shared medical facility if the 

15 other requirements of such section have been met with re16 spect to amounts identified for transfer. 

17 ‘‘(3) Any amount transferred to the Secretary of Vet18 erans Affairs by the Secretary of Defense for the purpose 

19 of leasing space for a shared medical facility may be cred20 ited to accounts of the Department of Veterans Affairs 

21 available for such purposes, and may be used for such pur22 poses. 

23 ‘‘(f) MERGER OF AMOUNTS TRANSFERRED.—Any 

24 amount transferred under this section shall be merged 

25 with, and be available for the same purposes and the same 


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1 time period as, the appropriation or fund to which trans2 ferred. 

3 ‘‘(g) SHARED MEDICAL FACILITY DEFINED.—(1) In 

4 this section, the term ‘shared medical facility’ means a 

5 building or buildings, or a campus, intended to be used 

6 by both the Department of Defense and the Department 

7 of Veterans Affairs for the provision of health care serv8 ices, whether under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of De9 fense or the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and whether 

10 or not located on a military installation or on real property 

11 under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 

12 ‘‘(2) Such term includes any necessary building and 

13 auxiliary structure, garage, parking facility, mechanical 

14 equipment, abutting sidewalks, and accommodations for 

15 attending personnel.’’. 

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

17 at the beginning of chapter 55 of such title is amended 

18 by inserting after the item relating to section 1104 the 

19 following new item: 

‘‘1104a. Shared medical facilities with the Department of Veterans Affairs.’’. 

20 (c) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.—Paragraph (3) of sec21 tion 8104(a) of title 38, United States Code, is amended 

22 to read as follows: 

23 ‘‘(3) For purposes of this subsection: 

24 ‘‘(A) The term ‘major medical facility project’ 

25 means a project for the construction, alteration, or 


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1 acquisition of a medical facility involving a total ex2 penditure of more than $20,000,000, but such term 

3 does not include an acquisition by exchange, non4 recurring maintenance projects of the Department, 

5 or the construction, alteration, or acquisition of a 

6 shared Federal medical facility for which the De7 partment’s estimated share of the project costs does 

8 not exceed $20,000,000. 

9 ‘‘(B) The term ‘major medical facility lease’ 

10 means a lease for space for use as a new medical fa11 cility at an average annual rent of more than 

12 $1,000,000.’’. 

Æ 


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