Michael Bennet: “I want to take this opportunity to thank my colleagues for lifting the authorization cap to allow construction to…”

“I want to take this opportunity to thank my colleagues for lifting the authorization cap to allow construction to continue on the VA hospital in Aurora, CO. This project has been an absolutely shameful display of mismanagement from the very beginning. And the Colorado delegation has been screaming from the hilltops about a flawed strategy on the part of the VA for years now. But with the right accountability and transparency reforms, we have all concluded that the right thing to do is to move forward and complete this facility. And today, we have acknowledged that the worst possible thing we could do is to stop work on the construction site again. Doing so would add hundreds of millions of dollars in extra costs to the project and would be a grave disservice to veterans throughout Colorado. This is an important step, but we have a long way to go. The VA and Congress are going to have to work together to get this project back on track. And finding the money to do this will be painful, which is why we need to ensure strong accountability and that we protect critical programs and services for our veterans. Failing to complete this hospital, though, simply is not an option. Having a half-finished hospital in Colorado would be a national disgrace. And the hundreds of thousands of veterans across the Rocky Mountain region that this hospital would service deserve better.…”