,i  #aadth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #caac  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,july #af1 #bjae ,mr4
 ,weber of ,texas 7for himself1 ,mr4    
,ribble1 ,mr4 ,olson1 ,mr4 ,burgess1    
,mr4 ,babin1 ,mr4 ,jenkins of ,west     
,virginia1 ,mr4 ,farenthold1 and ,mr4   
,cramer7 introduced the following bill2 
which was referred to the ,committee on 
,veterans' ,affairs1 and in addition to 
the ,committee on ,appropriations1 for a
 period to be subsequently determined by
 the ,speaker1 in each case for         
consideration of such provisions as fall
 within the jurisdiction of the         
committee concerned  ,a ,,bill  ,to     
prohibit the ,secretary of ,veterans    
,affairs from obligating or expending   
funds for alternative energy generation 
projects unless specifically authorized 
by law1 and for other purposes4  #a4    
,short title2 findings  7a7 ,short title
 ,this ,act may be cited as the         
,empowering ,our ,veterans ,act of      
#bjae4  7b7 ,findings ,congress finds   

the following3  7#a7 ,the primary       
responsibility of the ,department of    
,veterans ,affairs is to provide the    
best possible medical care to wounded   
veterans4  7#b7 ,since #bjji1 the       
,department has expended at least       
#dbj1jjj1jjj on solar and wind renewable
 energy projects at facilities of the   
,department4  7#c7 ,the wind power      
generation projects at facilities of the
 ,department have been full of costly   
delays and expensive overages1 thereby  
wasting millions of taxpayers' dollars  
and distracting the ,department from    
accomplishing its primary               
responsibility4  7#d7 ,the current      
disability claims backlog and           
appointment wait times are an           
unacceptable national disgrace4  7#e7   
,the ,department should use all required
 resources to ensure that all qualified 
veterans receive the best medical care  
available4  #b4 ,congressional approval 
of alternative energy generation        
projects of ,department of ,veterans    

,affairs  7a7 ,approval required ,no    
funds may be appropriated for any fiscal
 year1 and the ,secretary of ,veterans  
,affairs may not obligate or expend     
funds1 for any alternative energy       
generation project unless funds for that
 project have been specifically         
authorized by law4  7b7 ,transfer ,the  
,secretary shall transfer all           
unobligated funds appropriated to the   
,secretary before the date of the       
enactment of this ,act for an           
alternative energy generation project to
 the ,medical ,services account of the  
,department to provide medical care to  
veterans in the health care system      
established under section #agje7;a7 of  
title #ch1 ,united ,states ,code4  7c7  
,alternative energy generation project  
defined ,in this section1 the term      
alternative energy generation project   
means a project carried out under the   
administration of the ,secretary of     
,veterans ,affairs to produce electrical
 or thermal energy if the primary energy

 source for the project is not oil1     
natural gas1 coal1 or nuclear power4