Topic: Defense — Installations & Land
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2013-05-28 00:00:00

Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2014 - Title I: Department of Defense - Appropriates funds for FY2014 for the Department of Defense (DOD) for: (1) military construction for the Army, Navy and Marine Corps, and Air Force (military departments), DOD, the Army and Air National Guard, and the Army, Navy, and Air Force reserves; (2) the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Security Investment Program; (3) family housing construction and related operation and maintenance for the military departments and DOD; (4) the Department of Defense Family Housing Improvement Fund; (5) chemical demilitarization construction; and (6) the Department of Defense Base Closure Account.

(Sec. 101) Specifies restrictions and authorizations regarding the use of funds appropriated in this title and in other military construction appropriations Acts.

(Sec. 110) Prohibits appropriated funds (funds) from being used to initiate a new installation overseas without prior notification to the congressional appropriations committees.

(Sec. 113) Directs the Secretary of Defense (Secretary) to notify the appropriate congressional committees 30 days in advance of the plans and scope of any proposed military exercise involving U.S. personnel if construction costs are anticipated to exceed $100,000.

(Sec. 120) Authorizes the transfer of DOD funds for expenses associated with the Homeowners Assistance Program under the Metropolitan Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan Development Act of 1966.

(Sec. 123) Places specified restrictions and limitations on the obligation or expenditure of funds made available in this title or in any other military construction appropriations Act to carry out a military construction, land acquisition, or family housing project at or for a military installation approved for closure, or for supporting a function that has been approved for realignment to another installation, in 2005 under the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990.

(Sec. 124) Provides for the transfer of lapsed unobligated military construction and family housing funds into the Foreign Currency Fluctuations, Defense account.

(Sec. 126) Prohibits funds from being used for planning and design and construction of projects at Arlington National Cemetery.

(Sec. 127) Prohibits funds from being used to decommission the Combined Heat and Power Plant at Clear Air Force Station, Alaska, until the Comptroller General conducts a review of whether such action is the most cost-effective and beneficial option for the day-to-day operations and missions at such installation.

Title II: Department of Veterans Affairs - Authorizes appropriations for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for: (1) the Veterans Benefits Administration, (2) readjustment benefits, (3) veterans insurance and indemnities, (4) the Veterans Housing Benefit Program Fund, (5) the Vocational Rehabilitation Loans Program, (6) the Native American Veteran Housing Loan Program, (7) the Veterans Health Administration (including for medical and prosthetic research and information technology systems), (8) the National Cemetery Administration, (9) the Office of the Inspector General, (10) construction for major and minor projects, and (11) grants for the construction of state extended care facilities and veterans cemeteries.

(Sec. 201) Specifies restrictions and authorizations regarding the use of funds appropriated in this title.

(Sec. 210) Makes funds from this title available to reimburse expenses of the Office of Resolution Management and the Office of Employment Discrimination Complaint Adjudication, within specified limits.

(Sec. 216) Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (Secretary, for purposes of this title) to enter into agreements with certain Indian tribes and tribal organizations in rural Alaska to provide health care, including behavioral health and dental care.

(Sec. 219) Directs the Secretary to report quarterly to the appropriations committees on the financial status of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).

(Sec. 224) Allows certain VA funds to be used to fund operations of the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center. Requires written notification from the Secretary to the appropriations committees of any fund transfers for such purpose.

(Sec. 227) Directs the Secretary to notify the appropriations committees on all bid savings in major construction projects that total at least $5 million or 5% of the programmed amount, whichever is less.

(Sec. 229) Prohibits funds from being used to enter into contracts using procedures that do not give small businesses owned and controlled by veterans any available preference.

(Sec. 230) Directs the Secretary to submit quarterly to the appropriations committees specified information concerning veterans' disability compensation claims, including the number pending, the timeliness of their completion, and error rates.

Title III: Related Agencies - Appropriates funds for: (1) the American Battle Monuments Commission, (2) the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, (3) cemeterial expenses, and (4) the Armed Forces Retirement Home.

Title IV: General Provisions - (Sec. 401) Specifies restrictions and authorities regarding the use of funds appropriated in this Act.

(Sec. 409) Prohibits this Act's funds from being used for: (1) maintaining or establishing a computer network unless such network blocks the viewing, downloading, and exchanging of pornography; (2) renovating, expanding, or constructing any facility in the United States in order to house any non-U.S. citizen detained at U.S. Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; (3) sending or paying for the attendance of more than 50 employees from a federal department or agency at any conference outside the United States, unless the relevant Secretary notifies the appropriations committees in advance that such attendance is important to the national interest; or (4) paying for travel and conference activities not in compliance with federal employee travel requirements.

(Sec. 412) Requires the head of any executive branch entity funded by this Act to submit annual reports to the Inspector General or senior ethics official regarding the costs and contracting procedures related to each conference held by such entity during FY2014 for which the cost was more than $100,000. Sets forth restrictions on the use of grants or contracts for conference costs.

(Sec. 413) Expresses the sense of the Senate that the Senate should immediately request a conference with the House of Representatives on the FY2014 budget, appoint conferees, and convene such conference in order to complete work on a final FY2014 budget conference report.