{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://pingree.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pingree-poliquin-introduce-bill-push-through-lease-va-clinic-portland", "Pingree, Poliquin introduce bill to push through lease on VA clinic for Portland", "2016-09-29", "2016", "2016-09", "Democrat", "House", "ME", "Chellie Pingree", "P000597", "pingree.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Pingree at the opening of the Portland clinic in 2011.Representatives Chellie Pingree and Bruce Poliquin joined Representative Julia Brownley (D-CA) in introducing a bill last night to force the approval of a lease for a major expansion of the Portland VA health clinic, as well as leases for 23 other VA facilities around the country. \u00a0Because of technicalities in the way the leases are approved, work on the expansion in Portland has been delayed.  \n\t\u00a0  \n\t\"The plans are ready to go and construction is ready to start in Portland,\" Pingree said. \u00a0\"But the Congressional bureaucracy has gotten in the way and we need to step in and get these leases approved immediately. \u00a0The sooner this project is completed the sooner veterans will have better access to the high quality health care they deserve.\"  \n\t\u00a0  \n\t\u201cAny hurdle getting in the way of our veterans receiving the best and most timely care possible is unacceptable,\u201d said Poliquin. \u201cThis important legislation will give our veterans seeking specialty care access to service at Maine Medical Center, one of our nation\u2019s leading hospitals, instead of having to travel all the way to Boston. This will allow them to receive better care, closer to home. I\u2019m proud to work across the aisle to put forward a sensible solution to help ensure our veterans in Maine and across our nation are not left without the support they were promised.\u201d  \n\t\u00a0  At issue is the lease for a 50,000 square foot expansion of the Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) Portland, which would allow veterans to access services not currently offered in southern Maine. \u00a0Under current law, Congress must authorize VA medical facility leases with average annual rental payments in excess of $1 million. \u00a0Beginning in 2012, the Congressional Budget Office began assessing the cost of all VA clinics based on the total obligation for the life of the lease rather than the annual payment. \u00a0This makes the leases appear much more expensive than they really are and has delayed their authorization.\u00a0  \n\t\u00a0  \n\tPingree and Poliquin's bill would approve leases at 24 for these facilities around the country regardless of the artificially inflated price tags.  \n\t\u00a0  \n\tSenators Susan Collins and Angus King have introduced similar legislation in the Senate.", 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://pingree.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pingree-poliquin-introduce-bill-push-through-lease-va-clinic-portland"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8900309912860394, "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"}