House Appropriations Issues Report on Military Construction, VA & Related Agencies (Part 1 of 9)

WASHINGTON, Aug. 3 -- The House Appropriations Committee issued a report (H.Rpt. 117-81) in explanation of the accompanying bill (H.R. 4355) making appropriations for military construction, veterans affairs and related agencies for the fiscal year ending Sep. 30, 2022. The report was advanced by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Florida, on July 2, 2021.

Purpose of the Bill

The purpose of the bill is to support our military and their families and provide the benefits and medical care that our Veterans have earned because of their service to our Nation. This is accomplished through the programs funded in the bill, which provide the facilities and infrastructure needed to house, treat, train, and equip our military personnel to defend this Nation, both in the United States and abroad; provide the housing and military community infrastructure that supports a good quality of life for them and their families; and allow the military to maintain an efficient and effective base structure. The quality of life for our servicemembers and their families is a key component of readiness. The bill also funds a wide variety of assistance programs for Veterans, including disability and pension benefits, healthcare in many different settings, educational assistance, and home loan and insurance programs. Finally, the bill funds four related agencies that provide support to our Nation's heroes: the American Battle Monuments Commission, Cemeterial Expenses, Army (including Arlington National Cemetery), the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, and the Armed Forces Retirement Home.

Summary of Committee Recommendation

The Committee recommends $279,940,055,000 in total budget authority, for the fiscal year 2022 programs and activities funded in the bill. The fiscal year 2022 recommendation represents an increase of $28,085,503,000 above the comparable fiscal year 2021 enacted level and $1,252,791,000 above the President's request. Of the increase over the fiscal year 2021 enacted level, $16,709,491,000 is in mandatory programs. Included in the total budget authority is $155,440,055,000 in mandatory budget authority and $124,500,000,000 in discretionary budget authority.

The Committee recommendation highlights the continued commitment to our servicemembers and their families and to our Veterans. In overall discretionary budget authority, the bill is 10.1 percent above the fiscal year 2021 enacted level. While the Committee recommendation continues essential support for servicemembers and Veterans, it does not provide funds for projects or activities that lacked sufficient justification or urgency.

The programs funded in the bill for the Department of Defense (DOD) address the priorities of the Department's Agencies and the Services for the numerous facility challenges that they face. The funds provided support readiness improvements with new construction, family housing, and continued cleanup of military bases closed during previous Base Realignment and Closure rounds, support Combatant Commanders' requirements where appropriate, and ensure that our military personnel and their families' quality of life is preserved.

The total recommended funding level for military construction and family housing, is $10,918,400,000 which is $2,854,400,000 more than the fiscal year 2021 enacted level and $1,071,369,000 above the budget request. The recommendation provides critical investments in Family Housing and construction on our bases, including additional resources above the budget request for child care development centers, barracks, the Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Plan, installation resiliency, natural disaster recovery expenses, and support for critical overseas investments. Finally, the total provides $149,800,000 for the Services' cost to complete projects, which are previously appropriated projects that have experienced an increase in cost from the original contract award.

The total recommended funding level for fiscal year 2022 for the Department of Veterans Affairs is $268,586,855,000, an increase of $25,424,618,000 over the fiscal year 2021 enacted level. Of the total, $155,440,055,000 is provided for mandatory benefit programs and $113,146,800,000 is allocated to discretionary programs such as medical care, claims processing, and construction. In this bill, discretionary funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs is recommended at 8.3 percent over the fiscal year 2021 enacted level. Of the total for fiscal year 2022, $94,183,260,000 for medical care has been appropriated in advance.

In addition, the Committee recommendation includes $111,287,000,000 in advance appropriations for fiscal year 2023 for the four health care accounts of the Department and $156,586,190,000 in advance appropriations for mandatory benefits programs in fiscal year 2023.

The Committee recommendation provides a total of $434,800,000 for the four Related Agencies: The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC), the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, Arlington National Cemetery, and the Armed Forces Retirement Home. The recommendation represents an increase of $5,000,000 above the budget request. These funds are provided to ensure that these agencies are able to continue their missions of honoring the service and sacrifice of our servicemembers and Veterans.

Management and Oversight Initiatives The Committee believes the effective stewardship of taxpayer dollars is of the highest priority. In the interest of eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in Federal programs, the Committee has and will continue to use public hearings, briefings, information requests, and reviews by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Inspectors General to promote strong financial and program management, oversight and leadership at the Department of Defense (DOD), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and Related Agencies under the jurisdiction of this bill.

The fiscal year 2022 appropriations bill and the accompanying report address management challenges of the Federal agencies it funds, including directives to strengthen financial and program management, eliminate redundancy, and improve implementation and oversight of initiatives that support the mission of this bill. The Committee will use every means at its disposal to reduce mismanagement that results in waste, fraud, and abuse.

The Committee notes that the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2022 directs the Attorney General to continue efforts to implement training programs to cover the use of force and de-escalation, racial profiling, implicit bias, and procedural justice, to include training on the duty of Federal law enforcement officers to intervene in cases where another law enforcement officer is using excessive force, and make such training a requirement for Federal law enforcement officers. The Committee further notes that several Departments and agencies funded by this Act employ Federal law enforcement officers and are Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers partner organizations. The Committee directs such Departments and agencies to adopt and follow the training programs implemented by the Attorney General, and to make such training a requirement for its Federal law enforcement officers. The Committee further directs such Departments and agencies to brief the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations on their efforts relating to training no later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act.

In addition, the Committee directs such Departments and agencies, to the extent that such Departments and agencies have not already done so, to submit their use of force data to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)'s National Use of Force Data Collection database. The Committee further directs such Departments and agencies to brief the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations no later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act on their current efforts to tabulate and submit their use of force data to the FBI.

Department of Defense Military Family Housing.--Privatized housing has come under scrutiny in recent years. Complaints of inadequate housing across the DOD enterprise include lack of repairs, rodents, mold, cracks in walls and peeling paint. The military housing privatization initiative (MHPI) was established by Congress in 1996 as a tool to help DOD improve the quality of life for its servicemembers by improving the condition of their housing. MHPI is a public/private venture (PPV) where private sector developers may own, operate, maintain, improve and assume responsibility for military family housing. The private entity is responsible for managing the construction, renovation, and day-to-day maintenance and services for the community. The PPV housing may be located on or off government property and may be former military family housing. Congress has mandated that all military family housing in the United States be eventually privatized. The Committee also includes report language directing DOD to submit various reports and maintain a maintenance database to track any issues that may be prevalent in the future. The Committee notes that the general welfare of a servicemember's family contributes to the overall state of readiness for DOD.

VA Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM).--After at least a decade of Congressional encouragement to DOD and VA to develop a single electronic health record (EHR), VA finalized a contract in 2018 to acquire the same EHR system that DOD is adopting. The bill includes $2,637,000,000 for EHRM and continues strict quarterly reporting of timelines, performance milestones, costs, implementation, and change management. The bill also continues the requirement for GAO to review EHRM implementation so that Congress can be informed of any problems at a point where they can be promptly and economically addressed.

Disability Claims and Appeals.--Due to the significant investments Congress has provided in recent years, VA has been able to hire the staff, acquire the technology, and change work processes necessary to significantly reduce the disability claims backlog. But as the number of claims continues to increase and the number of appeals skyrockets once claims are decided, VA again runs the risk of falling into serious claims and appeals backlogs. The Committee recognizes this threat and provides resources within the Veterans Benefits Administration to support staffing, scanning of records, and other efforts to respond to claims. The Committee additionally provides increases to the Board of Veterans Appeals and the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims to help ensure the prompt resolution of cases. The Committee hopes that with these additional investments and the recently passed legislation to reform the appeals process, Congress will have taken the necessary management action to prevent Veterans from enduring excessive wait times to receive the disability benefits they deserve.

Information Technology (IT).--The Committee continues to include bill language indicating that funds for information technology systems development are available only for the projects and in the amounts specified in the report. The bill limits the amount of funds that can be transferred into the IT account to ten percent of the total of either the source or destination account. The bill contains language that permits the reprogramming of funds among development projects upon prior notification to, and approval by, the Committees.

Stricter Control of Construction Funding.--The Committee continues to request that VA provide quarterly briefings on the progress and cost of each facility managed by an outside entity. Several additional bill language provisions are included to enhance the Committee's capacity to conduct oversight of VA's facility construction efforts including: (1) no funding greater than $7,000,000 may be reprogrammed between construction projects unless approved by the Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of Congress; (2) any change to the scope of a construction project is prohibited without the approval of the Committees; and (3) VA must report any bid savings of $5,000,000 or more on projects as soon as they are identified.

Armed Forces Retirement Home (AFRH).--The Committee continues to provide funding for AFRH to work on deferred maintenance projects and directs AFRH to provide an expenditure plan for these projects. Additionally, the bill continues to make operations and maintenance funds available for two years to allow AFRH to make more effective use of its funds. These efforts will ensure that AFRH is well-positioned to continue to improve its standing and increase revenue for the long term. The Committee notes that efforts are underway to stabilize the AFRH Trust Fund and reduce reliance on transfers from the General Fund, and directs AFRH to continue making progress toward improving AFRH's sustainability.

Army Corps of Engineers Updates on VA projects.--The Committee is concerned that VA projects under management of the Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) might be delayed due to administrative delays during the initial transitional phase between projects being authorized and appropriated by Congress, and an interagency agreement being signed. Accordingly, the Committee directs VA to continue to provide monthly updates on all current and subsequent VA construction projects worth more than $100,000,000 and jointly managed by VA and USACE. Regular reports for certain projects may be submitted on a quarterly basis if the Department and Committee come to an agreement that more frequent reports are not necessary.

Advertising Contracts for Small Business.--The Committee understands that, as the largest advertiser in the United States, the Federal government should work to ensure fair access to its advertising contracts for small disadvantaged businesses and businesses owned by minorities and women. The Committee directs each department and agency to include the following information in its fiscal year 2023 budget justification: Expenditures for fiscal year 2021 and expected expenditures for fiscal year 2023, respectively, for (1) all contracts for advertising services; and (2) contracts for the advertising services of (I) socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses concerns (as defined in section 8(a)(4) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637 (a)(4)); and (II) women- and minority-owned businesses.

VA-DOD Joint Venture Facilities.--The Committee recognizes the significant potential to improve access, quality and cost- effectiveness of healthcare delivery to veterans, servicemembers and their families across the Indo-Pacific through greater integration of the Spark M. Matsunaga VA Medical Center and Tripler Army Medical Center VA-DOD Joint Venture. The Committee encourages the DOD and VA to seek further opportunities to cooperate and integrate medical personnel and services. Therefore the Committee directs the DOD and VA to each submit a report no later than 180 days after the enactment of this Act on (1) lessons learned from existing VA- DOD joint ventures facilities; (2) performance measures used for each joint venture to assess and manage shared healthcare resource-sharing goals; and (3) the benefits of further integration of staff and services between VA-DOD joint venture facilities to include communication channels, facility planning, primary healthcare, specialty healthcare, mental healthcare, and training.

Continues with Part 2 of 9

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