Cornyn makes another push to secure a Valley veterans hospital
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas The Veterans Alliance of the Rio Grande Vallley has been told by Senator John Cornyns office that SB 699 will be attached to the Defense Bill which is scheduled to be voted on this week. Senator Cornyn has tried this route before in the last Session.
Veterans hope that the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid allows the Veterans Hospital rider bill and become part of the Defense Bill. We feel that it would be more appropriate that if any riders are going to be added that SB 699 which will address health needs for the thousands of veterans in deep south Texas is more in line with Defense Bill and its appropriations.
Veterans are asking for veterans and their supporters to call Senator Harry Reid to add SB 699 and tell him to add our bill to the defense bill.
In the meantime we are strategizing to see who we need to contact besides Sen. Reid. This is the last opportunity that veterans will have to have their bill before Congress. Veterans have been pushing for a VA hospital for the valley for a long time and it is definitely overdue. Lets hope that this initiative by Senator Cornyn meets with success.
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Cornyn makes another push to secure a Valley veterans hospital
By Steve Taylor
HARLINGEN Sept. 20 - U.S. Sen. John Cornyn is making another determined push to secure a VA Hospital for the Rio Grande Valley.
Cornyn announced Monday he will offer an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2011 Defense Authorization bill that would require the U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out the construction of a VA hospital in Far South Texas."
Cornyn pointed out that as things stand many of the 100000 veterans in South Texas are forced to drive for hours and travel up to hundreds of miles to access inpatient health care. The nearest VA hospital to the Valley is Audie Murphy in north San Antonio.
For several years I have sought to make a VA Hospital in South Texas a reality for the thousands of veterans who reside there yet Democrat leaders in Congress have refused time and again to give this issue the attention it merits" Cornyn said in a prepared statement.
These veterans have made enormous sacrifices for our nation and it is unacceptable that they are forced to drive long distances to access high-quality health care. I am committed to securing adequate local health care for these men and women to whom we owe our gratitude and full support."
Here is the text of Cornyns amendment:
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall carry out the construction of a major medical facility project in Far South Texas consisting of a full service Department of Veterans Affairs hospital…Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives a report identifying and outlining the determination of the Secretary…and a detailed estimate of the cost of and time necessary for completion of the project required by paragraph."
For the past several years Cornyn has offered legislation to get the VA to build a hospital in the Rio Grande Valley. Every congressional session however the bills gather dust in the Veterans Affairs Committee no matter who is in the majority Republicans or Democrats. The same thing happens with companion bills authored in the U.S. House by Rep. Solomon Ortiz D-Corpus Christi. They gather dust and never make it out of committee.
Cornyn pointed out that in 2008 then-U.S. Sen. Barack Obama cosponsored a previous version of Cornyns VA Hospital measure. Democrat leaders in Congress have thus far failed to act to deliver this much-needed hospital to Rio Grande Valley veterans" a news release from Cornyn stated.
Veterans groups in the Valley have made the VA Hospital issue their top agenda item for many years. The Americas Last Patrol group organized a high-profile march from Edinburg to San Antonio in October 2005. A similar march was held by the Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America group in March 2009.
In the 2008 presidential primary campaign Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Obama both said they backed the Valleys push for a VA Hospital. U.S. Sen. John Kerry D-Mass. who was backing Obama for the presidency at the time also came to the Valley to offer his support.
The Veterans Alliance of the Rio Grande Valley is the umbrella group for all the veterans organizations in the region. It is currently securing endorsements from cities up and down the Valley in support of a VA Hospital for the region. The group is also trying to get VA Secretary Eric Shinseki to meet with its leaders in the Valley.
Treto Garza co-chair of the Veterans Alliance praised Cornyn and U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in his weekly column for the Guardian on Sunday.
As much as I hate to involve politics in our efforts it appears to me that the only ones that are listening to us are our two Republican Senators Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison. Our local congressmen all Democrats just promise and deliver speeches in support but that is as far they go" Garza said.
Garza said the local congressmen should work as diligently as the local state legislators.
They talk the talk and walk the walk. Heck they are now including our state government in the fray and looking for ways for Texas to build this hospital by partnering with the VA. They want to act move or do something with the recently passed Proposition 8 legislation" Garza said.
Proposition 8 authored by state Rep. Ismael Kino" Flores D-Palmview allows the State of Texas to provide funds for the construction and maintenance of hospitals for veterans in the state. To me thats action; one step closer" Garza said.
The Texas Land Commissioner chairs the Veterans Land Board. Hector Uribe the Democratic candidate for land commissioner has said that if elected he would work with the Valley legislative delegation on the VA Hospital issue. He met recently with veterans in Mercedes.
I told them the Veterans Land Board already issues bonds to build nursing homes. I said why dont we just extend the authority of the Veterans Land Board to issue bonds so that we can either build or purchase an existing hospital right here in the Rio Grande Valley so that we can finally have our veterans hospital that has been so long in the making" Uribe told the Guardian.
The VA is currently building a new ambulatory center in Harlingen. It will have six operating rooms and expanded suites for specialty clinics. It is due to open in January 2010. The VA believes that once operational the new center will eliminate the need for 98 percent of the visits Valley veterans make to Audie Murphy.
