Domenici: Southern N.M. Vets to Access Transitional Aid Through New Las Cruces Vet Center
Domenici: Southern N.M. Vets to Access Transitional Aid Through New Las Cruces Vet Center
U.S. Senator Pete Domenici today praised the decision by the Department of Veterans' Affairs to open a Vet Center in Las Cruces to provide readjustment counseling and other outreach services to southern New Mexico veterans returning from the Global War on Terror.
The Las Cruces facility is one of 23 centers slated to open across the country in 2007 and 2008. The Las Cruces center to serve combat veterans and their families is expected to be opened in 2008.
There are currently Vet Centers in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Farmington. As a community-based facility, Vet Centers offer mental health and employment counseling, as well as family issue, education, bereavement, and outreach services. Servicemen and women, who have served in any combat zone and received a military campaign ribbon, are eligible for Vet Center services as are their families.
"American military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan is the most intense fighting our service men and women have experienced in a generation. Transition back to civilian life after such service is not always easy," Domenici said. "It is important to provide resources for these veterans as they begin to return to everyday life with their families and friends. I am pleased that the VA has seen the need in southern New Mexico and has chosen to place a new facility there."
There are currently 209 veterans' facilities across the country. Each is staffed by teams of counselors and specialists from the local community.
Domenici is a long-time member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which oversees funding for federal programs. The President's 2008 proposed budget includes a request for the Department of Veterans Affairs totaling $87 billion and includes $45 billion for entitlements and $42 billion for discretionary spending. The FY08 request includes an estimated $876.6 million in benefits and services for New Mexico veterans and is nearly $132 million dollars above the FY06 enacted level.
Along with the Albuquerque VA Hospital, the VA Department operates community-based outpatient clinics in Alamogordo, Artesia, Clovis, Espanola, Farmington, Gallup, Hobbs, Las Cruces, Raton, Santa Fe, Silver City, and Truth or Consequences. Under the FY2008 VA budget proposal, these clinics will receive an estimated $317,085 million in funding for health care services and construction. This is an increase of approximately $48 million above the FY2006 enacted level.
http://domenici.senate.gov/news/record.cfm?id=268849