1-1     By:  Hilderbran (Senate Sponsor - Wentworth)         H.C.R. No. 102
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House April 23, 1999;
 1-3     April 26, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on
 1-4     Veteran Affairs and Military Installations; May 5, 1999, reported
 1-5     favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 4, Nays 0; May 5, 1999, sent
 1-6     to printer.)
 1-7                         HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
 1-8           WHEREAS, The Kerrville Veterans Administration Medical
 1-9     Center, which consistently ranks high among Texas-based veterans'
1-10     hospitals, is a "veteran-friendly" facility offering the very best
1-11     of medical care and an outstanding corps of affiliated physicians,
1-12     nurses, and support personnel; and
1-13           WHEREAS, It is a valuable regional resource and a comfort to
1-14     the many thousands of military retirees who have settled in the
1-15     Texas Hill Country both for the allure of those environs and the
1-16     close proximity in their older age to the expertise of highly
1-17     qualified health practitioners; and
1-18           WHEREAS, The Kerrville institution has a long and successful
1-19     history; begun in 1919, it opened its doors two years later after
1-20     fund-raising by the American Legion and appropriations from the
1-21     37th Legislature; the federal government bought the facility from
1-22     the state in 1926, eventually to incorporate it within the Veterans
1-23     Affairs Medical Center System; and
1-24           WHEREAS, Over the last 10 years, the U.S. Department of
1-25     Veterans Affairs has spent almost $20 million upgrading the center,
1-26     installing the most modern equipment and enhancing its ability to
1-27     treat and attend our veterans in a manner reciprocating their
1-28     service in behalf of this nation; and
1-29           WHEREAS, Absent a policy reversal, the center will be phased
1-30     out for extended hospital care by May 1999, and will keep intensive
1-31     care patients for only 24 hours before transferring them to another
1-32     Department of Veterans Affairs medical center in San Antonio or, if
1-33     that is full, to private hospitals in the Bexar County area; and
1-34           WHEREAS, Given the investment in and improvements to the
1-35     center in the past decade, these diminutions of service seem both a
1-36     waste of money and federal resources and a creation of geographic
1-37     inconvenience for veterans in Kerr County and surrounding
1-38     communities; and
1-39           WHEREAS, The continued vitality of the Kerrville Veterans
1-40     Administration Medical Center as a first-class hospital is an issue
1-41     of importance not only to the people of Kerrville and the Hill
1-42     Country region but also to Texas generally because of its strategic
1-43     role in meeting the health needs of the citizens of this state;
1-44     now, therefore, be it
1-45           RESOLVED, That the 76th Legislature of the State of Texas
1-46     hereby respectfully request the Congress of the United States to
1-47     ensure the future of the Kerrville Veterans Administration Medical
1-48     Center by providing that it be fully funded, staffed, and utilized,
1-49     and by restoring and promoting the health rights and benefits of
1-50     the Texas veterans who are its prospective patrons; and, be it
1-51     further
1-52           RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
1-53     copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
1-54     the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of
1-55     the senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of
1-56     the Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this
1-57     resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a
1-58     memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.
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