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Congressman Ric Keller's Statement Regarding the New VA Hospital in Orlando


Washington, Jul 19 -  

"Today is a great day for Central Florida's 400,000 veterans. Congress' decision to invest $402 million is a major step forward to starting construction on Orlando's new VA hospital next to our new UCF medical school."

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The House Veterans' Affairs Committee today approved legislation authorizing an additional $377 million for a new VA hospital to be located in Orlando at the Lake Nona site, next to the new UCF medical school.

Since $25 million was already provided by Congress for the design of this new hospital, this brings the total funding for the new Orlando VA hospital to $402 million. It will be one of only 3 new VA hospitals to be built in the United States over the next decade.

I'd like to begin by putting today's decision in a historical context.

September 10, 2003, was a critical day. It was the day the VA CARES Commission held an important hearing in Orlando. There were two critical issues facing the VA CARES Commission that day. First, would Central Florida get a new VA hospital? Second, would this hospital be located in Brevard County or Orange County?

Those two issues had been hotly debated for nearly two decades.

I testified before the VA CARES Commission that September 10, 2003, regarding my views. First, I argued that Central Florida should absolutely get a new VA hospital because there were nearly 400,000 veterans in the Central Florida area, and Orlando was the largest metropolitan area in the United States without a VA hospital.

Second, I testified that the VA hospital must be located in Orange County because it is centrally located and no county has more veterans than Orange County.

In February 2004, the VA CARES Commission issued their final report, and agreed with my position. Central Florida would get a new VA hospital, and it would be located in Orange County. There was still one hurdle, the approval of the VA Secretary.

Three months later, in May 2004, VA Secretary Principi issued the good news. He announced that Orange County would get a new VA hospital, one of only three new VA hospitals in the United States (Orlando, Las Vegas, and Denver).

I then worked with my colleagues to secure $25 million for the design of our new VA hospital in Orange County.

On May 1, 2006, I joined with Congressman Tom Feeney in speaking to the VA Hospital Site Selection Committee, which was meeting in Orlando to determine which particular site the new VA hospital would end up in within Orange County.

At that time, there were 6 potential sites under consideration, with the two leading contenders being the Lake Nona / UCF medical school site, and the International Corporate Park site.

I advised the Site Selection Committee that they need to pick a site by the end of the summer, so that we can be in a position to seek additional Congressional funding as a part of the next budget.

The VA Hospital Site Selection Committee has still not picked a particular site.

Accordingly, the House Veterans' Affairs Committee today decided that the new Orlando VA hospital will be located at the Lake Nona / UCF medical school site, and it authorized $377 million in construction funds to complete the project, thereby bringing the total funding to $402 million.

This legislation will now move to the House floor, where it will likely be voted upon in September 2006. It will then be reconciled with an eventual Senate bill, and sent to the President for his signature.

Today is a great day for Central Florida's 400,000 veterans. Congress' decision to invest $402 million is a major step forward to starting construction on Orlando's new VA hospital next to our new UCF medical school.

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