U.S. Senator Ken Salazar

Member: Agriculture, Energy, Veterans' Affairs, Ethics and Aging Committees

 

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

 

 

For Immediate Release

September 5, 2006

CONTACT:    Cody Wertz – Comm. Director

                        303-455-7600

Andrew Nannis  – Press Secretary

                        202-224-5852


  Sen. Salazar Continues Push for Pikes Peak Regional Cemetery/VA to Initiate Programmatic Review of Siting of New Cemeteries

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Salazar received a letter from Department of Veterans Affairs Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs, William Tuerk, regarding Senator Salazar’s June, 2006 letter concerning the establishment of a national veterans cemetery in the Pikes Peak region of Colorado. In the past, the VA has expressed a willingness to reevaluate their site selection process for new cemeteries.

In response to Senator Salazar’s letter requesting a review of their cemetery siting guidelines, the VA and Under Secretary Tuerk announced their plan to conduct a major programmatic review -- including a reevaluation of the department's policy regarding the siting of potential new cemeteries -- and stated that they will take into account a number of specific factors, including travel time to existing cemeteries and unusual concentrations of veteran population because of the presence of active military installations.

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