IB 
Union Calendar No. 116
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1720
[Report No. 108–210] 
To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out construction 
projects for the purpose of improving, renovating, establishing, and up-
dating patient care facilities at Department of Veterans Affairs medical 
centers. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 10, 2003
Mr. SIMMONS (for himself and Mr. SMITH of New Jersey) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
JULY 15, 2003
Additional sponsors: Mr. PORTER, Mr. LOBIONDO, and Mr. BROWN of South 
Carolina 
JULY 15, 2003 
Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House 
on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 10, 2003] 
A BILL 
To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out 
construction projects for the purpose of improving, ren-
ovating, establishing, and updating patient care facilities 
at Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers.
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 ‘‘Veterans Health Care 
Facilities Capital Improvement Act’’. 
SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF MAJOR MEDICAL FACILITY 
PROJECTS FOR PATIENT CARE IMPROVE-
MENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—(1) Subject to paragraph (3), the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs is authorized to carry out 
major medical facility projects in accordance with this sec-
tion, using funds appropriated for fiscal year 2004 or 2005 
pursuant to subsection (e). The cost of any such project may 
not exceed—
(A) $100,000,000 in fiscal year 2004; and 
(B) $125,000,000 in fiscal year 2005. 
(2) Projects carried out under this section are not sub-
ject to section 8104(a)(2) of title 38, United States Code. 
(3) The Secretary may not award a contract by reason 
of the authorization provided by paragraph (1) until after 
the Secretary has awarded a contract for each construction 
project authorized by section 3(a) and a contract for each 
lease authorized by section 3(d). 
(b) TYPE OF PROJECTS.—A project carried out under 
subsection (a) may be carried out only at a Department
of Veterans Affairs medical center and only for the purpose 
of one or more of the following: 
(1) Improving a patient care facility. 
(2) Replacing a patient care facility. 
(3) Renovating a patient care facility. 
(4) Updating a patient care facility to contem-
porary standards. 
(5) Establishing a new patient care facility at a 
location where no Department patient care facility 
exists. 
(6) Improving, replacing, or renovating a re-
search facility or updating such a facility to contem-
porary standards. 
(c) PURPOSE OF PROJECTS.—In selecting medical cen-
ters for projects under subsection (a), the Secretary shall 
select projects to improve, replace, renovate, update, or es-
tablish facilities to achieve one or more of the following: 
(1) Seismic protection improvements related to 
patient safety (or, in the case of a research facility, 
patient or employee safety). 
(2) Fire safety improvements. 
(3) Improvements to utility systems and ancil-
lary patient care facilities (including such systems 
and facilities that may be exclusively associated with 
research facilities).
(4) Improved accommodation for persons with 
disabilities, including barrier-free access. 
(5) Improvements at patient care facilities to 
specialized programs of the Department, including the 
following: 
(A) Blind rehabilitation centers. 
(B) Inpatient and residential programs for 
seriously mentally ill veterans, including mental 
illness research, education, and clinical centers. 
(C) Residential and rehabilitation programs 
for veterans with substance-use disorders. 
(D) Physical medicine and rehabilitation 
activities. 
(E) Long-term care, including geriatric re-
search, education, and clinical centers, adult day 
care centers, and nursing home care facilities. 
(F) Amputation care, including facilities 
for prosthetics, orthotics programs, and sensory 
aids. 
(G) Spinal cord injury centers. 
(H) Traumatic brain injury programs. 
(I) Women veterans’ health programs (in-
cluding particularly programs involving privacy 
and accommodation for female patients).
(J) Facilities for hospice and palliative care 
programs. 
(d) REVIEW PROCESS.—(1) The Secretary shall pro-
vide that, before a project is submitted to the Secretary with 
a recommendation that it be approved as a project to be 
carried out under the authority of this section, the project 
shall be reviewed by a board within the Department of Vet-
erans Affairs that is independent of the Veterans Health 
Administration and that is constituted by the Secretary to 
evaluate capital investment projects. The board shall review 
such project to determine the project’s relevance to the med-
ical care mission of the Department and whether the project 
improves, renovates, repairs, establishes, or updates facili-
ties of the Department in accordance with this section. 
(2) In selecting projects to be carried out under the 
authority provided by this section, the Secretary shall con-
sider the recommendations of the board under paragraph 
(1). In any case in which the Secretary approves a project 
to be carried out under this section that was not rec-
ommended for such approval by the board under paragraph 
(1), the Secretary shall include in the report of the Sec-
retary under subsection (g)(2) notice of such approval and 
the Secretary’s reasons for not following the recommenda-
tion of the board with respect to that project.
(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are 
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs for the Construction, Major Projects, account for 
projects under this section—
(1) $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2004; and 
(2) $600,000,000 for fiscal year 2005. 
(f) LIMITATION.—Projects may be carried out under 
this section only using funds appropriated pursuant to the 
authorization of appropriations in subsection (e), except 
that funds appropriated for advance planning may be used 
for the purposes for which appropriated in connection with 
such projects. 
(g) REPORTS.—(1) Not later than April 1, 2005, the 
Comptroller General shall submit to the Committees on Vet-
erans’ Affairs and on Appropriations of the Senate and 
House of Representatives a report evaluating the advan-
tages and disadvantages of congressional authorization for 
projects of the type described in subsection (b) through gen-
eral authorization as provided by subsection (a), rather 
than through specific authorization as would otherwise be 
applicable under section 8104(a)(2) of title 38, United 
States Code. Such report shall include a description of the 
actions of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs during fiscal 
year 2004 to select and carry out projects under this section.