U.S. Senator Ken Salazar

Member of the Agriculture, Energy and Veterans Affairs Committees

 

2300 15th Street, Suite 450 Denver, CO 80202 | 702 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510

 

 

For Immediate Release

September 22, 2005

CONTACT:    Cody Wertz – Press Secretary

                        202-228-3630

Jen Clanahan – Deputy Press Secretary

                        303-455-7600

 

Sen. Salazar Helps Focus V.A. on Budget Discipline and Rural Veterans’ Healthcare

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Taxpayers will no longer risk being surprised by a wave of red ink at the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (V.A.) while rural veterans in Colorado and across the Nation may soon have improved access to V.A. outpatient care. The two milestones come as a result of amendments added by United States Senator Ken Salazar to the Military Construction Appropriations Act (H.R. 2528) which was passed by the Senate earlier today.

“Rural veterans in Colorado and across the Nation have been left behind by the V.A. while taxpayers are being asked to foot the bill for huge budget overruns. This kind of mismanagement stops here,” said Senator Salazar.

Under Senator Salazar’s Budget Watchdog amendment (SA 1867), the V.A. will no longer be able to hide its internal fiscal problems from Congressional oversight – V.A. will be required to immediately notify Congress if Department officials become aware the Department may face a budget shortfall totaling 2 percent.

  • This year, the V.A. faced a $1.27 billion budget shortfall, which Congressional overseers uncovered by accident. During a routine business meeting to discuss the V.A.’s budget projections for FY06, V.A. officials let slip to Senate and House staffers that while Congress had budgeted V.A. to carry over $482 million in a reserve account to FY06, the figure would only be $50-$75 million. Upon further questioning, V.A. admitted that the budget situation was much worse and that the V.A. was freezing capital spending to meet demand for healthcare services.

“Returning fiscal sanity to Washington means making sure that the federal government can’t simply hide their financial problems and then leave the bill for the taxpayers. They should play by the same rules as families across Colorado and America,” said Sen. Salazar.

Under Senator Salazar’s Rural Clinic Access amendment (SA 1868), the V.A. will be required to develop an action plan to provide improved health care access at outpatient clinics for veterans in rural communities.

  • Over a year ago, the Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES) Commission found that the V.A.’s system for siting new health clinics was unfair to veterans living in rural areas. While the V.A. revised its Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) planning criteria to address these concerns, the criteria for clinic prioritization codified in Veterans Health Administration Handbook 1006.1 still is tilted towards urban and suburban veterans over veterans in already underserved rural areas.

“It is beyond me why the V.A. continues to overlook veterans in rural communities. Our rural cities and towns have sacrificed too much for our Nation and asked nothing in return. Now the V.A. will make veterans in these communities a priority, too,” said Sen. Salazar.

Having been passed by the full Senate, the FY06 Military Construction/ Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill (HR 2528) will now proceed to conference committee to iron out differences between House and Senate versions. The compromise conference report will then be voted upon a second time by both the House and Senate. If the House and Senate both approve the conference report, it will go on to the President’s desk for signature or veto.

 

# # #