Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 114 Part 3.djvu/747

 PUBLIC LAW 106-419—NOV. 1, 2000 114 STAT. 1845 "(2) establishing standards and criteria under which charges are estabhshed for such lodging under subsection (d); "(3) establishing criteria for persons considered to be acompanying a veteran under subsection (b)(2); "(4) establishing criteria for the use of the premises of temporary lodging facilities under this section; and "(5) establishing any other limitations, conditions, and priorities that the Secretary considers appropriate with respect to lodging under this section.". (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT. — ^The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating 38 USC prec. to section 1707 the following new item: I'^Ol- "1708. Temporary lodging.". SEC. 222. EXCEPTION TO RECAPTURE RULE. Section 8136 is amended— (1) by inserting "(a)" at the beginning of the text of the section; and (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection: "(b) The establishment and operation by the Secretary of an outpatient clinic in facilities described in subsection (a) shall not constitute grounds entitling the United States to any recovery under that subsection.". SEC. 223. SENSE OF CONGRESS CONCERNING COOPERATION BETWEEN THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS AND THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE IN THE PROCUREMENT OF MEDICAL ITEMS. (a) FINDINGS.— Congress makes the following findings: (1) The procurement and distribution of medical items, including prescription drugs, is a multibillion-dollar annual business for both the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs. (2) Those departments prescribe common high-use drugs to many of their 12,000,000 patients who have similar medical profiles. (3) The health care systems of those departments should have management systems that can share and communicate clinical and management information useful for both systems. (4) The institutional barriers separating the two departments have begun to be overcome in the area of medical supplies, in part as a response to recommendations by the General Accounting Office and the Commission on Servicemembers and Veterans Transition Assistance. (5) There is significant potential for improved savings and services by improving cooperation between the two departments in the procurement and management of prescription drugs, while remaining mindful that the two departments have dif- ferent missions. (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.— I t is the sense of Congress that the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs should increase, to the maximum extent consistent with their respective missions, their level of cooperation in the procurement and management of prescription drugs.

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