{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://kevinmccarthy.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/mccarthy-statement-on-va-clinic-in-bakersfield", "McCarthy Statement on VA Clinic in Bakersfield", "2019-10-07", "2019", "2019-10", "Republican", "House", "CA", "Kevin McCarthy", "M001165", "kevinmccarthy.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently terminated the lease for a new veterans' community-based outpatient clinic (CBOC) on Knudsen Drive in Bakersfield, California, after determining that the award the VA made last fall does not meet its requirements. The VA also announced that it is moving forward with a new solicitation for a new CBOC in the Bakersfield area. Today, Congressman Kevin McCarthy sent aletterto the VA urging that he receive a timeline on the construction and activation of this new CBOC.\nMcCarthy released the following statement:\nTo say that I am highly disappointed in the VA's announcement would be a severe understatement. It is utterly unacceptable that our veterans have patiently spent years waiting for a clinic  which Congress authorized ten years ago  and are facing yetanotherdelay because of the VA's mistakes.I will continue fighting until our Kern County veterans have the new CBOC that they deserve, and I expect SecretaryWilkieto make thisnew clinic a priority.Any further delays or mistakes by the VA will not be tolerated.\nVA SecretaryWilkieissued the following response:\nI have expressed to the Leader my commitment to building the CBOC in Bakersfield. I have also made clear my strong feelings to work with Congress to help reform the out of date and burdensome federal acquisition process that is responsible for so many construction delays that only harm our veterans and the public.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://kevinmccarthy.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/mccarthy-statement-on-va-clinic-in-bakersfield"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.136950846761465, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}