CRS Issue Statement on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations

CRS Issue Statement on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations

CRS Issue Statement on Military Construction
and Veterans Affairs Appropriations
Daniel H. Else, Coordinator
Specialist in National Defense
Sidath Viranga Panangala
Analyst in Veterans Policy
Christine Scott
Specialist in Social Policy
January 15, 2010
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
IS40464
CRS Report for Congress
P
repared for Members and Committees of Congress

CRS Issue Statement on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations

he closing, reduction in scope, or expansion of military installations on domestic soil and
overseas, the privatization of government-built military housing, the provision of benefits
T and medical care to eligible veterans, and the redeployment of military units to the United
States from overseas garrisons have drawn congressional attention in recent sessions. The funds
to support all of these activities are provided by the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and
Related Agencies Appropriations Act debated annually in both chambers.
For the Second Session of the 111th Congress, issues directly related to military construction
could include enhancement of infrastructure in communities absorbing an expanded military
presence due to the 2005 round of base closures and realignments and a reassessment of the
number and location of U.S. military installations overseas. While appropriations for
compensation, pensions, and housing for veterans are statutorily mandated, there is considerable
leeway for discretionary spending, and hence influence over policy, in areas such as medical
treatment, construction of veterans' medical facilities, and veterans' burials. Other issues
deliberated during past sessions have included the nature of the disparate medical care provided
to ageing veterans of World War II and injured youthful veterans of current military operations,
whether to delay or modify the execution of the current round of military base closures, and
where and when to redeploy forces to new bases overseas or return them to installations on U.S.
soil.
In deliberating the appropriation bill for FY2011, the 111th Congress will also likely face a wide
array of concerns ranging from the transition of armed service personnel from military to veteran
care, the cleanup of former military property, the lease of defense property for private
development, and providing relief for military families forced to sell their homes in a depressed
market, to providing incremental funding for major construction projects. Possible Obama
Administration proposals for the expansion of veterans benefits, differences in the provision of
medical care by the Departments of the Defense and Veterans Affairs, and the rapidly rising
estimates of the cost to implement BRAC may prove particularly contentious. Also, during the 1st
Session, the 111th Congress enacted advance appropriations for certain Department of Veterans
Affairs medical care accounts: medical services, medical support and compliance, and medical
facilities. As a result, the FY2010 bill appropriated funding for the previously mentioned accounts
for FY2011 as well as for FY2010. During the 2nd Session, Congress may examine the adequacy
of budget projections for FY2011 as well as for FY2012.

Congressional Research Service
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