Dan Webster: “My amendment is simple. It requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to follow existing law and to insist on having an…”

“My amendment is simple. It requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to follow existing law and to insist on having an experienced Director of Construction and Facilities Management. All it requires is that the holder of this position have a degree in architecture or engineering and have professional experience in construction project management. Not many people have heard of this position, but it carries enormous responsibility, not only for the stewardship of our tax dollars, but also for ensuring that our veterans have the facilities necessary for the health care and medical treatment we promised them and they earned. The VA manages over 5,000 buildings nationwide. According to the GAO, it has nearly 70 ongoing major construction projects around the country, 33 of which are major medical facilities. Of these 33, many have experienced considerable cost overruns and schedule delays. Four of the largest projects under construction are full service hospitals designed to provide health care to the hundreds of thousands of American veterans. The VA will spend an estimated $3 billion on these four facilities. One of these sites is in Orlando. The construction of the Orlando VAMC has been a classic example of government waste and inefficiency. The VA broke ground on the site in 2008 with a scheduled completion date of 2010. The estimated completion date now has been pushed back well into 2013.…”