WASHINGTON — The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States is
calling on Congress and the Department of Veterans Affairs to work through a
funding impasse for a new VA medical center in Aurora, Colo. If an agreement is
not reached by the end of this week, VA will hit a mandatory spending cap that
will force the project to shut down for the second time in six months, and with
the very real possibility of never restarting.
“There is a lot of justified anger
about this construction project,” said VFW National Commander John W. Stroud,
“but the focus must be on completing it so that more wounded, ill and injured
veterans in the Denver metropolitan area can be better served.”
The new medical center was
originally budgeted at $604 million under current design plans. The completion
estimate now exceeds $1.7 billion due to a number of factors, such as the VA’s
failure to provide completed blueprints, which caused excessive change orders.
In a memorandum sent Monday to House and Senate VA Committee leadership, VA
Secretary Bob McDonald requested a $200 million increase to the current
authorization level, and offered to reallocate $150 million in unobligated funding
to the project. To further reduce costs, McDonald also said he would delay
building a community living center and a post-traumatic stress rehabilitation
facility that were not part of the medical center’s original design.
“The VA has failed to deliver this
project at every turn, but the VFW applauds the committee chairmen and ranking
members for acknowledging that Colorado veterans should not be penalized for
the VA’s failures, and for not allowing their frustrations with the department
to stand in the way of completing this much needed project,” said Stroud.
“The VFW urges committee
leadership to continue to work together — and to include the VA in those
conversations — to allow construction to continue while a long-term funding
solution is found,” he said. “Finish it first, then go after the VA for what
has to be the worst managed construction project in the department’s history.”