VA’S ABILITY TO RESPOND TO DOD CONTINGENCIES AND NATIONAL EMERGENCIES HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION OCTOBER 15, 2001 Printed for the use of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Serial No. 107–14 ( U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 81–562 PS WASHINGTON : 2002 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 October 30, 2002 COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, Chairman BOB STUMP, Arizona LANE EVANS, Illinois MICHAEL BILIRAKIS, Florida BOB FILNER, California TERRY EVERETT, Alabama LUIS V. GUTIERREZ, Illinois STEPHEN E. BUYER, Indiana CORRINE BROWN, Florida JACK QUINN, New York JULIA CARSON, Indiana CLIFF STEARNS, Florida SILVESTRE REYES, Texas JERRY MORAN, Kansas VIC SNYDER, Arkansas HOWARD P. (BUCK) MCKEON, California CIRO D. RODRIGUEZ, Texas JIM GIBBONS, Nevada RONNIE SHOWS, Mississippi MICHAEL K. SIMPSON, Idaho STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts RICHARD H. BAKER, Louisiana SHELLEY BERKLEY, Nevada ROB SIMMONS, Connecticut BARON P. HILL, Indiana ANDER CRENSHAW, Florida TOM UDALL, New Mexico HENRY E. BROWN, JR., South Carolina SUSAN A. DAVIS, California JEFF MILLER, Florida JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas PATRICK E. RYAN, Chief Counsel and Staff Director (II) October 30, 2002 C O N T E N T S October 15, 2001 Page VA’S Ability to Respond to DOD Contingencies and National Emergencies ...... 1 OPENING STATEMENTS Chairman Smith ...................................................................................................... 1 Prepared statement of Chairman Smith ........................................................ 65 Hon. Lane Evans, ranking democratic member, Committee on Veterans’ Affairs .................................................................................................................... 3 Prepared statement of Congressman Evans .................................................. 72 Hon. Julia Carson .................................................................................................... 4 Hon. Stephen E. Buyer ............................................................................................ 10 Hon. Bob Filner ....................................................................................................... 14 Hon. Vic Snyder ....................................................................................................... 14 Hon. Tom Udall ....................................................................................................... 5, 16 Prepared statement of Congressman Udall, with attachment ..................... 75 Hon. Cliff Stearns .................................................................................................... 12 Prepared statement of Congressman Stearns ................................................ 79 Hon. Michael K. Simpson, prepared statement of ................................................ 80 WITNESSES Allen, Hon. Claude A., Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ................................................................................................... 22 Prepared statement of Mr. Allen ..................................................................... 113 Bailey, Sue, Former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs ............. 47 Prepared statement of Dr. Bailey ................................................................... 128 Bascetta, Cynthia, Director, Veterans’ Health and Benefits Issues, General Accounting Office, accompanied by Steven Caldwell, Assistant Director, Defense Capabilities and Management Issues, General Accounting Office .... 6 Prepared statement of Ms. Bascetta ............................................................... 82 Chu, David S.C., Under Secretary of Defense, Personnel and Readiness, De- partment of Defense ............................................................................................. 45 Prepared statement of Dr. Chu ....................................................................... 121 Everett, Annie, Acting Regional Administrator for the National Capital Re- gion, General Services Administration ............................................................... 52 Prepared statement of Ms. Everett ................................................................. 139 Kasprisin, Kenneth S., Associate Director, Readiness, Response and Recovery Division, Federal Emergency Management Agency .......................................... 48 Prepared statement of Federal Emergency Management Agency ................ 144 Krueger, James, Executive Vice President, Chapter Services Network, Amer- ican Red Cross ...................................................................................................... 49 Prepared statement of Mr. Krueger ................................................................ 133 Principi, Hon. Anthony J., Secretary, accompanied by Frances M. Murphy, M.D., Deputy Under Secretary for Health; James J. Farsetta, Director, VA New York/New Jersey Healthcare System, VISN 3; John J. Donnellan, Jr., Director, VA New York Harbor Health Care System, Veterans’ Health Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs ...................................... 19 Prepared statement of Secretary Principi ...................................................... 96 (III) October 30, 2002 IV Page MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD Chart: ‘‘U.S. Government Organizations to Combat Terrorism,’’ compiled from First Annual Report to the President and the Congress of the Advisory Panel to Assess Domestic Response Capabilities for Terrorism involving Weapons of Mass Destruction, Assessing the Threat, Appendix 1 (December 15, 1999) with additional information from the Office of Management and Budget, Annual Report to Congress on Combating Terrorism (August 2001) 179 Letter to Secretary Principi from Congressman Udall ......................................... 78 Statements: American Federation of Government Employees ........................................... 147 The American Legion ....................................................................................... 151 Non Commissioned Officers Association ......................................................... 155 Paralyzed Veterans of America ....................................................................... 164 Veterans of Foreign Wars ................................................................................ 167 Vietnam Veterans of America ......................................................................... 171 Written committee questions and their responses: Chairman Smith to Department of Defense ................................................... 180 October 30, 2002 VA’S ABILITY TO RESPOND TO DOD CONTIN- GENCIES AND NATIONAL EMERGENCIES MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2001 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS, Washington, DC. The committee met, pursuant to call, at 2 p.m., in room 334, Cannon House Office Building, Hon. Christopher H. Smith (chair- man of the committee) presiding. Present: Representatives Smith, Buyer, Stearns, Evans, Filner, Carson, Udall and Snyder. OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN SMITH The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order. And good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It has been just over a month since the September 11 attacks that have forever changed the world that we live in. As our horror has turned to grief and then mourning and now to action, it is appropriate for Congress to con- tinue examining how the government can best prevent and, if that fails, respond to future terrorist attacks. Today we will examine the role performed by the Department of Veterans Affairs in emergency preparedness and response in na- tional crises and whether that role is in need of serious updating and reform. In particular we will focus on the VA’s role during war- time national disaster or major terrorist attacks on U.S. Soil. As most of you are aware, the Veterans Health Administration’s fourth mission after the provision of health care to vets, medical training and medical research, its fourth mission is to serve as a backup health care provider to the Department of Defense in terms of war or national emergency. With more than 170 major health care facilities and hundreds of outpatient clinics, the VA currently has dedicated health care pro- fessionals, bricks and mortar, if you will, to care for thousands of service members in the event of massive casualties. Today we will examine whether the VA’s current structure as well as its ongoing transition to an outpatient-oriented medical sys- tem have implications or create new challenges in fulfilling the Veterans Health Administration’s fourth mission. Twenty years ago the VA had significant excess bed capacity. Today the infrastructure is badly in need of repair, and I might add that we have taken action in the House to begin addressing this problem. Earlier this year the House approved legislation that I authored, along with my good friend to my right Mr. Evans, H.R. 811, which would provide $550 million over 2 years to repair and (1) October 30, 2002 2 to rehabilitate VA medical facilities. First-year funding of $300 mil- lion dollars has already been included in the House-approved budg- et. We continue to work with our friends on the Senate side to pass this legislation so we can send to it the President for