VA Construction Assistance Act of 2014

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Kirkpatrick for yielding time to me.

I rise in opposition to this legislation. Let me just say, I understand I am the longest-serving member on the VA--23 years--and I understand--don't confuse me with too many facts--that this bill only includes three projects: Denver, Colorado; Orlando, Florida, one that we have been working on for over 25 years; and New Orleans, Louisiana. These projects, all of them, are far too along in the process to inject a special project manager. The Orlando VA Medical Center is currently 94 percent complete and construction is planned to be completed by the end of this year.

New Orleans is 52 percent complete and completion is scheduled for February 2016. The VA and the contractor have signed an agreement on a firm fixed price and are working closely together on the delivery of this project.

I understand that the gentleman from Colorado is concerned about the Denver VA Medical Center. However, the project is 55 percent complete, and any efforts to change the leadership midstream would only delay things further and cost our veterans time and money that could be better spent on their health care.

As a senior member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, I know firsthand the amount of critical infrastructure work that the Corps of Engineers have accomplished around the country. With nearly $6 billion in backlog of authorized civil works projects for the Corps of Engineers and with new, critical port-related projects included in the recent passage of the Water Resources Development Act, there are grave concerns by the Army Corps about their ability to participate in this project, especially the costs that it would relate to the Army Corps.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to put the letter in the Record from the Army Corps.

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Mr. Speaker, with prior experience, the Army Corps has indicated that this kind of agreement does not work. They presently have all of the authorization they need to work with VA. And, in fact, they--the VA--spent $377 million at 74 projects they already participate in nationwide, so they don't need an additional authorization.

What this bill would do would only slow down the project in Orlando. I have spent--and all of the Members from the Orlando area and from Florida--we have spent years on this problem, and it is not just the VA's problem. For years, we did not have any construction going on with the VA. These projects, these last projects, we hadn't done any construction in the VA in 15 years, so certainly a lot of the expertise was gone.

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But now it is not a benefit to have additional responsibilities placed particularly in Orlando at this time. We have a project that is close to completion. We want to bring this project in on time. By the time this bill is ever passed and signed into law, I am hoping that the veterans will be in the VA facility in Orlando, Florida.

In addition, we have worked with them--and the people who are handling it are not just the VA--the construction people. It has been a problem all along. I am not saying that the Army Corps could not be helpful, but at this time they absolutely cannot be helpful in this project.

So as we move forward, take Orlando out of what you are proposing. It is too late. We are ready for our VA facility to open up in Orlando, Florida, and to serve the veterans of the central Florida area. May God continue to bless America, and certainly the veterans deserve to be able to move into the VA facility in the Orlando, central Florida, area.

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