Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 4623 - Veterans Health Care Amendments of 1986

(REVISION)
(House)
(Edgar (D) PA and 6 others)

Unless the following two highly objectionable provisions of H.R. 4623 are deleted, the Administration will oppose this bill. The two provisions would:

— preclude the Administrator of Veterans Affairs from declaring as excess certain parcels of land in California that are not needed for current or future VA use, thus resulting in a loss of up to $200 million in revenues; and

— direct the Administrator to establish and operate an outpatient VA clinic in central or southern New Jersey, at a cost of $16.7 million over the next five years, ignoring the results of VA's detailed studies of the need for new facilities and their priority order.

H.R. 4623 contains a number of other provisions which the Administration opposes as well as some the Administration would support if they were not in a bill with the two provisions described above.