By Hilderbran                                        H.C.R. No. 102
         76R6184 CCK-D                           
                             HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
 1-1           WHEREAS, The Kerrville Veterans Administration Medical
 1-2     Center, which consistently ranks high among Texas-based veterans'
 1-3     hospitals, is a "veteran-friendly" facility offering the very best
 1-4     of medical care and an outstanding corps of affiliated physicians,
 1-5     nurses, and support personnel; and
 1-6           WHEREAS, It is a valuable regional resource and a comfort to
 1-7     the many thousands of military retirees who have settled in the
 1-8     Texas Hill Country both for the allure of those environs and the
 1-9     close proximity in their older age to the expertise of highly
1-10     qualified health practitioners; and
1-11           WHEREAS, The Kerrville institution has a long and successful
1-12     history; begun in 1919, it opened its doors two years later after
1-13     fund-raising by the American Legion and appropriations from the
1-14     37th Legislature; the federal government bought the facility from
1-15     the state in 1926, eventually to incorporate it within the Veterans
1-16     Affairs Medical Center System; and
1-17           WHEREAS, Over the last 10 years, the U.S. Department of
1-18     Veterans Affairs has spent almost $20 million upgrading the center,
1-19     installing the most modern equipment and enhancing its ability to
1-20     treat and attend our veterans in a manner reciprocating their
1-21     service in behalf of this nation; and
1-22           WHEREAS, Absent a policy reversal, the center will be phased
1-23     out for extended hospital care by May 1999, and will keep intensive
1-24     care patients for only 24 hours before transferring them to another
 2-1     Department of Veterans Affairs medical center in San Antonio or, if
 2-2     that is full, to private hospitals in the Bexar County area; and
 2-3           WHEREAS, Given the investment in and improvements to the
 2-4     center in the past decade, these diminutions of service seem both a
 2-5     waste of money and federal resources and a creation of geographic
 2-6     inconvenience for veterans in Kerr County and surrounding
 2-7     communities; and
 2-8           WHEREAS, The continued vitality of the Kerrville Veterans
 2-9     Administration Medical Center as a first-class hospital is an issue
2-10     of importance not only to the people of Kerrville and the Hill
2-11     Country region but also to Texas generally because of its strategic
2-12     role in meeting the health needs of the citizens of this state;
2-13     now, therefore, be it
2-14           RESOLVED, That the 76th Legislature of the State of Texas
2-15     hereby respectfully request the Congress of the United States to
2-16     ensure the future of the Kerrville Veterans Administration Medical
2-17     Center by providing that it be fully funded, staffed, and utilized,
2-18     and by restoring and promoting the health rights and benefits of
2-19     the Texas veterans who are its prospective patrons; and, be it
2-20     further
2-21           RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
2-22     copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
2-23     the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of
2-24     the senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of
2-25     the Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this
2-26     resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a
2-27     memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.