I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1543 
To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out certain major 
medical facility projects for which appropriations were made for fiscal 
year 2015, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 23, 2015 
Mr. TED LIEU of California (for himself, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. 
LOWENTHAL, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. HAHN, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. 
TAKANO, and Mr. ISSA) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out 
certain major medical facility projects for which appro-
priations were made for fiscal year 2015, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Vet-
erans Affairs Medical Facility Earthquake Protection and 
Improvement Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF CERTAIN MAJOR MEDICAL FA-
CILITY PROJECTS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF 
VETERANS AFFAIRS FOR WHICH AMOUNTS 
HAVE BEEN APPROPRIATED. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) The Consolidated and Further Continuing 
Appropriations Act, 2015 (Public Law 113–235), 
appropriated to the Department of Veterans Af-
fairs— 
(A) $35,000,000 to make seismic correc-
tions to Building 205 in the West Los Angeles 
Medical Center of the Department in Los Ange-
les, California, which, according to the Depart-
ment, is a building that is designated as having 
an exceptionally high risk of sustaining sub-
stantial damage or collapsing during an earth-
quake; 
(B) $101,900,000 to replace the commu-
nity living center and mental health facilities of 
the Department in Long Beach, California, 
which, according to the Department, are des-
ignated as having an exceptionally high risk of 
sustaining substantial damage or collapsing 
during an earthquake; 
(C) $187,500,000 to replace the existing 
spinal cord injury clinic of the Department in 
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San Diego, California, which, according to the 
Department, is designated as having an ex-
tremely high risk of sustaining major damage 
during an earthquake; and 
(D) $122,400,000 to make renovations to 
address substantial safety and compliance 
issues at the medical center of the Department 
in Canandaigua, New York, and for the con-
struction of a new clinic and community living 
center at such medical center. 
(2) The Department is unable to obligate or ex-
pend the amounts described in paragraph (1) be-
cause it lacks an explicit authorization by an Act of 
Congress pursuant to section 8104(a)(2) of title 38, 
United States Code, to carry out the major medical 
facility projects described in such paragraph. 
(3) Among the major medical facility projects 
described in paragraph (1), three are critical seismic 
safety projects in California. 
(4) Every day that the critical seismic safety 
projects described in paragraph (3) are delayed puts 
the lives of veterans and employees of the Depart-
ment at risk. 
(5) According to the United States Geological 
Survey— 
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(A) California has a 99 percent chance or 
greater of experiencing an earthquake of mag-
nitude 6.7 or greater in the next 30 years; 
(B) even earthquakes of less severity than 
magnitude 6.7 can cause life threatening dam-
age to seismically unsafe buildings; and 
(C) in California, earthquakes of mag-
nitude 6.0 or greater occur on average once 
every 1.2 years. 
(b) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary of Veterans Af-
fairs may carry out the major medical facility projects of 
the Department of Veterans Affairs specified in the ex-
planatory statement accompanying the Consolidated and 
Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (Public 
Law 113–235) at the locations and in the amounts speci-
fied in such explanatory statement, including by obligating 
and expending such amounts. 
Æ 
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