Sen. Cornyn Renews Effort To Deliver Veterans Hospital To South Texas

Press Release

Sen. Cornyn Renews Effort To Deliver Veterans Hospital To South Texas

New legislation includes stronger measures to expedite construction of full VA hospital

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, today re-introduced legislation to build a top-notch VA hospital for veterans in the Rio Grande Valley. Veterans there are currently forced to drive hours and travel up to hundreds of miles for access to inpatient health care, and Sen. Cornyn's Far South Texas Veterans Medical Center Act of 2009 helps close the gap by authorizing construction of a full VA hospital in Far South Texas to give these veterans more proximate access to inpatient medical care.

Sen. Cornyn's new legislation goes a step farther than his bill from the previous Congress by using stronger language to bring a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital to South Texas. It not only authorizes the VA to construct a hospital, it requires them to do so.

"South Texas Veterans have made enormous sacrifices for our nation, and it is unacceptable that any of these brave men and women have to drive long distances to access high-quality health care. I am committed to securing adequate health care for these men and women, to whom we owe our gratitude and full support. To that end, I'm proud to announce I'm re-introducing legislation to bring a top-notch medical facility to South Texas, and this time with more forceful legislative language. Time marches on, and too much time has lapsed already while South Texas veterans continue to meet obstacles in accessing the vital inpatient health care they need. My bill would mandate the construction of a full VA hospital in Far South Texas and authorize funding for this purpose, which would give these deserving veterans a state-of-the-art hospital facility that fully meets their inpatient health care needs.

"President Obama co-sponsored an earlier version of this bill last year when he was a member of the Senate. I'm hopeful he will continue to support the effort to get a new VA hospital for our South Texas veterans this year, using his new position as President to push Congress for action on this bill and then sign it into law in the coming months. I will continue my efforts in the Senate to help make this medical center a reality.

"During the ongoing military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, Far South Texas continues to send their finest to the front lines. As such, the number of combat veterans in the Rio Grande Valley and surrounding areas will only increase, as will future demand for VA health care services. I thank the elected officials of South Texas, whose support and commitment to our veterans has been undeniable. In addition, I applaud our VA leaders for their efforts in expanding the range of outpatient services and facilities for the veterans of Far South Texas. Their work has helped improve the VA's available health care there. My legislation will take their work and efforts a step further," Sen. Cornyn said.

Background

In the 110th Congress, Sen. Cornyn introduced the South Texas Veterans Access to Care Act, which would have directed the VA to examine and then choose one of three policy options for meeting Far South Texas veterans' inpatient health care needs: 1) public-private venture to provide services at an existing facility; 2) construction of a new full-service, 50-bed hospital with a 125-bed nursing home; or 3) a sharing agreement with a military treatment facility. The bill would have required the VA Secretary to implement whichever option he selected. If he chose to build a new VA hospital, the bill would have authorized $175M for that purpose.

After its introduction, Sen. Cornyn made several efforts to move the bill forward last Congress. In October 2007, he wrote to the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee leaders, asking them to move his bill forward. On September 8, 2008, he filed his legislation as an amendment to the Defense Authorization bill.

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