This book focuses on the legislative process through a case study of the
Veterans Millennium Health Care Act of 1999 signed by President Clinton
on November 30, 1999. This research examines the roles and interactions
of various actors in the legislative process (i.e., congressional party
leaders, executive branch, veterans interest groups, state health care
providers and Congress) during the first session of the 106th Congress
in overcoming what traditionally is an extremely lethargic, slow and
relatively resistant structural environment. The principle finding of
this study include the structural role orientations of legislators
towards utilizing already formed interpersonal relationships to
'fast-track' the 1999 veteran's legislation in record time.