H. R. 2034

One Hundred Third Congress

of the

United States of America

AT THE FIRST SESSION

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,

the fifth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-three

An Act

To authorize major medical facility construction projects for the Department of

Veterans Affairs for fiscal year 1994, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. AUTHORIZATION OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS

AFFAIRS CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS.

(a) AUTHORIZED PROJECTS.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs

may carry out the major medical facility leases for the Department

of Veterans Affairs for which funds are requested in the budget

of the President for fiscal year 1994 and may carry out (or, in

the case of the project specified in paragraph (1), participate in)

the following major medical facility projects in the amounts specified:

(1) Construction in accordance with an agreement between

the Secretary of the Air Force and the Secretary of Veterans

Affairs of a medical facility at Elmendorf Air Force Base,

Anchorage, Alaska, to be shared by the Air Force and the

Department of Veterans Affairs, $11,500,000.

(2) Construction of a psychiatric building at the Department

of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Lyons, New Jersey,

$41,700,000.

(3) Modernization and seismic corrections at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Memphis, Tennessee, $10,700,000.

(4) Construction of a replacement bed building at the

Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Muskogee,

Oklahoma, $33,200,000.

(5) Construction of an outpatient care addition and parking

garage at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center

in San Juan, Puerto Rico, $46,000,000.

(6) Construction, or expansion and modernization, of a

120-bed nursing home facility in the area (referred to as the

‘‘Chesapeake network’’) served by the Department of Veterans

Affairs medical centers in Baltimore, Maryland; Fort Howard,

Maryland; Martinsburg, West Virginia; Perry Point, Maryland;

and Washington, District of Columbia, the site for which shall

be selected in accordance with subsection (b).

(b) SITE SELECTION.—(1) The Secretary, in selecting a site

for the project referred to in subsection (a)(6), shall conduct a

study to determine the most appropriate location for that facility.

In conducting the study, the Secretary shall determine—

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(A) what the specific mission of each medical center operated by the Secretary in the Chesapeake network should be

to achieve within that network—

(i) effective planning;

(ii) reduction in duplication of services and programs

in the same geographic area;

(iii) realignment of services among facilities within

each network;

(iv) improved means of resource distribution; and

(v) more efficient delivery of needed services;

(B) whether there is a need for expansion and modernization of the nursing home care unit at the medical center at

Fort Howard, Maryland; and

(C) what effect the construction of nursing home beds in

Baltimore, Maryland, as proposed in the President’s budget

for the Department of Veterans Affairs for fiscal year 1994,

would have for the missions of each of the other medical centers

operated by the Secretary in the Chesapeake network.

(2) Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment

of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans Affairs of the Senate and House a report on the study under

paragraph (1). The Secretary shall include in the report a statement

of each determination made by the Secretary under that paragraph.

SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

(a) IN GENERAL.—There is hereby authorized to be appropriated

to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for fiscal year 1994—

(1) $143,100,000 for the major medical facility projects

authorized in paragraphs (1) through (5) of section 101(a) and

such sums as may be necessary for the project described in

section 101(a)(6), but not to exceed $14,500,000 in the case

of construction of nursing home beds in Baltimore, Maryland,

as proposed in the President’s budget for the Department of

Veterans Affairs for fiscal year 1994; and

(2) $50,123,105 for the major medical facility leases authorized in section 101(a).

(b) LIMITATION.—The projects authorized in section 101 may

only be carried out using—

(1) funds appropriated for fiscal year 1994 pursuant to

the authorization of appropriations in subsection (a);

(2) funds appropriated for Construction, Major Projects for

a fiscal year before fiscal year 1994 that remain available

for obligation; and

(3) funds appropriated for Construction, Major Projects for

fiscal year 1994 for a category of activity not specific to a

project.

SEC. 3. INCREASE IN AMOUNT OF FACILITY PROJECT THRESHOLD.

(a) Section 8104(a)(3)(A) of title 38, United States Code, is

amended by striking out ‘‘$2,000,000’’ and inserting in lieu thereof

‘‘$3,000,000’’.

(b) Section 8109(i)(2) of such title is amended by striking out

‘‘$2,000,000’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘$3,000,000’’.

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SEC. 4. INCREASED TERM OF LEASE AUTHORITY RELATING TO PERSHING HALL, FRANCE.

Section 403(c)(1) of the Veterans’ Benefits Programs Improve- ment Act of 1991 (36 U.S.C. 493) is amended by striking out

‘‘35 years’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘99 years’’.

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.

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