Media contacts: Jeff Schrade for Sen. Craig (202)224-9093
Donalyn Dela Cruz for Sen. Akaka (202)224-6361

(Washington, DC) In a joint letter issued today by leaders of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Sens. Larry Craig and Daniel Akaka expressed their disappointment that a package of legislation, which includes a wide array of veterans' benefits and health care provisions, as well as provisions approving construction projects for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, has been held up because House Committee leaders insisted on the inclusion of a controversial provision ? authorization for a new facility in South Carolina ? exactly as passed by the House.

The House-passed legislation includes $70 million to study the possibility of building a new "co-located, joint-use medical facility" in Charleston, South Carolina. The ultimate cost of that project is estimated at around $600 million.

The Senators are concerned that committing to the South Carolina project as passed by the House ? without any discussion or compromise ? could set a precedent of the federal government spending its limited construction funds for projects other than those directly serving veterans.

"[T]he unwillingness on the part of the House Committee leadership to discuss any compromise with respect to that provision, brought negotiations on the overall construction bills to a halt.  Even more disappointing is the fact that this one provision appears to be the linchpin in nearly two years of legislative work in other areas of policy affecting veterans' health care and benefits, so that there will be no other substantive veterans legislation enacted before the Congress adjourns," Craig and Akaka wrote.

The letter from the two Senators was sent to a number of members of the Florida delegation who, in a November 14, 2006, letter expressed concerns about construction projects in the Sunshine State.  In their letter, Craig and Akaka pointed out that the Senate legislation included the projects for Florida in legislation passed by the Senate in September.

The text of the letter follows:

November 30, 2006

The Honorable Cliff Steams
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Congressman Stearns and co-signers:

We appreciate your writing regarding H .R. 5815, the Department of Veterans Medical Facility Authorization Act of 2006, as passed by the House.

First, we wish to make it clear to you and all of the members of the Florida delegation that we have no objection to any of the construction projects for the State of Florida put forward by the House. We demonstrated our support for most of those projects when we included them in S. 3421, a bill which our Committee reported on September 6^th and the Senate passed on September 26^th. Further, as we entered into discussions with House Committee on Veterans' Affairs leadership, we were prepared to accept nearly all of the other provisions affecting Florida which differed in our two bills.

As Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, we agree with your view that an aging population has placed a large burden on Florida's VA Health Care System. Further, we recognize that expansion of the current facilities in the State -- along with the construction of new facilities in other areas -- are vital to continuing the quality health cares services veterans in your State have come to expect and certainly deserve.

Given our shared goals in the area of infrastructure expansion, you can imagine how disappointed we were that our concerns about one project included in H.R. 5815, relating to a new facility in Charleston, S.C., and the unwillingness on the part of the House Committee leadership to discuss any compromise with respect to that provision, brought negotiations on the overall construction bills to a halt. Even more disappointing is the fact that this one provision appears to be the linchpin in nearly two years of legislative work in other areas of policy affecting veterans' health care and benefits, so that there will be no other substantive veterans legislation enacted before the Congress adjourns sine die.

We are confident that the 110th Congress will bring fresh opportunities for legislative action. In the meantime, we do not believe that the majority of VA construction projects in Florida will be impeded or delayed to any significant degree. As we go forward, we will keep the needs of the veterans of Florida in mind as we work toward our common goal of meeting the needs of our Nation's veterans.

We look forward to working with members of the Florida delegation in the 110^th Congress.

Sincerely,

Larry E. Craig, Chairman                 Daniel Akaka, Ranking Member

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