Pub.L. 107-136 To name the national cemetery in Saratoga, New York, as the Gerald B.H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery, and for other purposes. <> ...

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[[Page 2445]]

 DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS HEALTH CARE PROGRAMS ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 
                                  2001

[[Page 115 STAT. 2446]]

Public Law 107-135
107th Congress

                                 An Act


 
 To amend title 38, United States Code, to enhance the authority of the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs to recruit and retain qualified nurses for 
 the Veterans Health Administration, to provide an additional basis for 
 establishing the inability of veterans to defray expenses of necessary 
medical care, to enhance certain health care programs of the Department 
     of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. <<NOTE: Jan. 23, 
                         2002 -  [H.R. 3447]>> 

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, <<NOTE: Department of 
Veterans Affairs Health Care Programs Enhancement Act of 2001.>> 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) <<NOTE: 38 USC 101 note.>> Short Title.--This Act may be cited 
as the ``Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Programs Enhancement 
Act of 2001''.

    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. References to title 38, United States Code.

   TITLE I--ENHANCEMENT OF NURSE RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION AUTHORITIES

                   Subtitle A--Recruitment Authorities

Sec. 101. Enhancement of employee incentive scholarship program.
Sec. 102. Enhancement of education debt reduction program.
Sec. 103. Report on requests for waivers of pay reductions for 
           reemployed annuitants to fill nurse positions.

                    Subtitle B--Retention Authorities

Sec. 121. Additional pay for Saturday tours of duty for additional 
           health care professionals in the Veterans Health 
           Administration.
Sec. 122. Unused sick leave included in annuity computation of 
           registered nurses within the Veterans Health Administration.
Sec. 123. Evaluation of Department of Veterans Affairs nurse managed 
           clinics.
Sec. 124. Staffing levels for operations of medical facilities.
Sec. 125. Annual report on use of authorities to enhance retention of 
           experienced nurses.
Sec. 126. Report on mandatory overtime for nurses and nursing assistants 
           in Department of Veterans Affairs facilities.

                      Subtitle C--Other Authorities

Sec. 131. Organizational responsibility of the Director of the Nursing 
           Service.
Sec. 132. Computation of annuity for part-time service performed by 
           certain health-care professionals before April 7, 1986.
Sec. 133. Modification of nurse locality pay authorities.

              Subtitle D--National Commission on VA Nursing

Sec. 141. Establishment of Commission.
Sec. 142. Duties of Commission.
Sec. 143. Reports.
Sec. 144. Powers.
Sec. 145. Personnel matters.

[[Page 115 STAT. 2447]]

Sec. 146. Termination of Commission.

                         TITLE II--OTHER MATTERS

Sec. 201. Authority for Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide service 
           dogs for veterans with certain disabilities.
Sec. 202. gement of health care for certain low-income veterans.
Sec. 203. Maintenance of capacity for specialized treatment and 
           rehabilitative needs of disabled veterans.
Sec. 204. Program for provision of chiropractic care and services to 
           veterans.
Sec. 205. nds for field offices of the Office of Research Compliance and 
           Assurance.
Sec. 206. Major medical facility construction.
Sec. 207. Sense of Congress on special telephone services for veterans.
Sec. 208. Recodification of bereavement counseling authority and certain 
           other health-related authorities.
Sec. 209. Extension of expiring collections authorities.
Sec. 210. Personal emergency response system for veterans with service-
           connected disabilities.
Sec. 211. One-year extension of eligibility for health care of veterans 
           who served in Southwest Asia during the Persian Gulf War.

SEC. 2. REFERENCES TO TITLE 38, UNITED STATES CODE.

    Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in this Act an 
amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal 
of, a section or other provision, the reference shall be considered to 
be made to a section or other provision of title 38, United States Code.

   TITLE I--ENHANCEMENT OF NURSE RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION AUTHORITIES

                   Subtitle A--Recruitment Authorities

SEC. 101. ENHANCEMENT OF EMPLOYEE INCENTIVE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM.

    (a) Permanent Authority.--(1) Section 7676 <<NOTE: 38 USC 7676.>>  
is repealed.

    (2) The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 76 is amended 
by striking the item relating to section 7676.
    (b) Minimum Period of Department Employment for Eligibility.--
Section 7672(b) is amended by striking ``2 years'' and inserting ``one 
year''.
    (c) Scholarship Amount.--Subsection (b) of section 7673 is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``for any 1 year'' and 
        inserting ``for the equivalent of one year of full-time 
        coursework''; and
            (2) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the following 
        new paragraph (2):
            ``(2) in the case of a participant in the Program who is a 
        part-time student, shall bear the same ratio to the amount that 
        would be paid under paragraph (1) if the participant were a 
        full-time student in the course of education or training being 
        pursued by the participant as the coursework carried by the 
        participant to full-time coursework in that course of education 
        or training.''.

    (d) Limitation on Payment.--Subsection (c) of section 7673 is 
amended to read as follows:
    ``(c) Limitations on Period of Payment.--(1) The maximum number of 
school years for which a scholarship may be paid under

[[Page 115 STAT. 2448]]

subsection (a) to a participant in the Program shall be six school 
years.
    ``(2) A participant in the Program may not receive a scholarship 
under subsection (a) for more than the equivalent of three years of 
full-time coursework.''.
    (e) Full-Time Coursework.--Section 7673 <<NOTE: 38 USC 7673.>> is 
further amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

    ``(e) Full-Time Coursework.--For purposes of this section, full-time 
coursework shall consist of the following:
            ``(1) In the case of undergraduate coursework, 30 semester 
        hours per undergraduate school year.
            ``(2) In the case of graduate coursework, 18 semester hours 
        per graduate school year.''.

    (f) Annual Adjustment of Maximum Scholarship Amount.--Section 7631 
is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ``and the maximum 
        Selected Reserve member stipend amount'' and inserting ``the 
        maximum Selected Reserve member stipend amount, the maximum 
        employee incentive scholarship amount,''; and
            (2) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (6); 
                and
                    (B) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following 
                new paragraph (4):
            ``(4) The term `maximum employee incentive scholarship 
        amount' means the maximum amount of the scholarship payable to a 
        participant in the Department of Veterans Affairs Employee 
        Incentive Scholarship Program under subchapter VI of this 
        chapter, as specified in section 7673(b)(1) of this title and as 
        previously adjusted (if at all) in accordance with this 
        section.''.

    (g) Technical Amendments.--Section 7631(b) is further amended by 
striking ``this subsection'' each place it appears and inserting ``this 
section''.

SEC. 102. ENHANCEMENT OF EDUCATION DEBT REDUCTION PROGRAM.

    (a) Permanent Authority.--(1) Section 7684 is repealed.
    (2) The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 76 is amended 
by striking the item relating to section 7684.
    (b) Eligible Individuals.--Subsection (a)(1) of section 7682 is 
amended--
            (1) by striking ``under an appointment under section 7402(b) 
        of this title in a position'' and inserting ``in a position (as 
        determined by the Secretary) providing direct-patient care 
        services or services incident to direct-patient care services''; 
        and
            (2) by striking ``(as determined by the Secretary)'' and 
        inserting ``(as so determined)''.

    (c) Maximum Debt Reduction Amount.--Section 7683(d)(1) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``for a year''; and
            (2) by striking ``exceed--'' and all that follows through 
        the end of the paragraph and inserting ``exceed $44,000 over a 
        total of five years of participation in the Program, of which 
        not more than $10,000 of such payments may be made in each of 
        the fourth and fifth years of participation in the Program.''.

[[Page 115 STAT. 2449]]

    (d) Annual Adjustment of Maximum Debt Reduction Payments Amount.--
(1) Section 7631, as amended by section 101(f) of this Act, is further 
amended--
            (A) in subsection (a)(1), by inserting before the period at 
        the end of the first sentence the following: ``and the maximum 
        education debt reduction payments amount''; and
            (B) in subsection (b), by inserting after paragraph (4) the 
        following new paragraph (5):
            ``(5) The term `maximum education debt reduction payments 
        amount' means the maximum amount of education debt reduction 
        payments payable to a participant in the Department of Veterans 
        Affairs Education Debt Reduction Program under subchapter VII of 
        this chapter, as specified in section 7683(d)(1) of this title 
        and as previously adjusted (if at all) in accordance with this 
        section.''.

    (2) <<NOTE: 38 USC 7631 note.>> Notwithstanding section 7631(a)(1) 
of title 38, United States Code, as amended by paragraph (1), the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall not increase the maximum education 
debt reduction payments amount under that section in calendar year 2002.

    (e) <<NOTE: 38 USC 7682 note.>> Temporary Expansion of Individuals 
Eligible for Participation in Program.--(1) Notwithstanding section 
7682(c) of title 38, United States Code, the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs may treat a covered individual as being a recently appointed 
employee in the Veterans Health Administration under section 7682(a) of 
that title for purposes of eligibility in the Education Debt Reduction 
Program if the Secretary determines that the participation of the 
individual in the Program under this subsection would further the 
purposes of the Program.

    (2) For purposes of this subsection, a covered individual is any 
individual otherwise described by section 7682(a) of title 38, United 
States Code, as in effect on the day before the date of the enactment of 
this Act, who--
            (A) was appointed as an employee in a position described in 
        paragraph (1) of that section, as so in effect, between January 
        1, 1999, and December 31, 2001; and
            (B) is an employee in such position, or in another position 
        described in paragraph (1) of that section, as so in effect, at 
        the time of application for treatment as a covered individual 
        under this subsection.

    (3) The Secretary shall make determinations regarding the exercise 
of the authority in this subsection on a case-by-case basis.
    (4) <<NOTE: Expiration date.>> The Secretary may not exercise the 
authority in this subsection after June 30, 2002. The expiration of the 
authority in this subsection shall not affect the treatment of an 
individual under this subsection before that date as a covered 
individual for purposes of eligibility in the Education Debt Reduction 
Program.

    (5) In this subsection, the term ``Education Debt Reduction 
Program'' means the Department of Veterans Affairs Education Debt 
Reduction Program under subchapter VII of chapter 76 of title 38, United 
States Code.

[[Page 115 STAT. 2450]]

SEC. 103. <<NOTE: 38 USC 7451 note.>> REPORT ON REQUESTS FOR WAIVERS OF 
            PAY REDUCTIONS FOR REEMPLOYED ANNUITANTS TO FILL NURSE 
            POSITIONS.

    (a) <<NOTE: Deadline.>> Report.--Not later than March 28 of each of 
2002 and 2003, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the 
Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the House of 
Representatives and to the National Commission on VA Nursing established 
under subtitle D a report describing each request of the Secretary, 
during the fiscal year preceding such report, to the Director of the 
Office of Personnel Management for the following:
            (1) A waiver under subsection (i)(1)(A) of section 8344 of 
        title 5, United States Code, of the provisions of such section 
        in order to meet requirements of the Department of Veterans 
        Affairs for appointments to nurse positions in the Veterans 
        Health Administration.
            (2) A waiver under subsection (f)(1)(A) of section 8468 of 
        title 5, United States Code, of the provisions of such section 
        in order to meet requirements of the Department for appointments 
        to such positions.
            (3) A grant of authority under subsection (i)(1)(B) of 
        section 8344 of title 5, United States Code, for the waiver of 
        the provisions of such section in order to meet requirements of 
        the Department for appointments to such positions.
            (4) A grant of authority under subsection (f)(1)(B) of 
        section 8468 of title 5, United States Code, for the waiver of 
        the provisions of such section in order to meet requirements of 
        the Department for appointments to such positions.

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