{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.gardner.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/gardner-announces-push-for-va-hospital-in-colorado-springs", "Gardner Announces Push for VA Hospital in Colorado Springs", "2020-10-16", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "House", "CO", "Cory Gardner", "G000562", "www.gardner.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C. U.S. Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO) announced today a push to establish a Veterans Affairs (VA) Hospital in Colorado Springs to increase access to timely services for Colorado veterans. This announcement followed a meeting with the leadership of the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center and U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie in Aurora.\r\nToday Secretary Wilkie and I met with the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Center in Aurora to discuss ways to improvecare for veterans in Colorado, and I firmly believe one of the ways we can achieve increased access to services, especially with the projections for rapid growth in the veteran population in El Paso County, isthrough a VA Hospital in Colorado Springs,said Senator Gardner.I am forever grateful to our nation's men and women who served in uniform and will always fight to ensure they receive access to the quality care they deserve.\r\nSecretary Wilkie agreed with Gardner that Colorado needs more VA resources, citing the population growth of veterans in the state.\r\nBackground: Senator Gardner led the effort for the completion of the VA Hospital in Aurora:\r\n \r\nIn Gardner's first month in the U.S. Senate, he teamed up with fellow members of the Colorado delegation to introduce theAurora VA Hospital Financing and Construction Reform Act of 2015, and much of the language Gardner authored was later included in legislation that provided funding to the Aurora hospital.\r\nGardner was instrumental in pressing for the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs tohold a field hearingin Colorado in April of 2015.\r\nIn May 2015, Gardnerworked to garner supportfor the passage of a short-term funding bill that would allow construction to continue after the project ran out of money.\r\nIn September of 2015, the project once again was threatened to be shut down in the face of cost overruns. Gardner again secured the funding required to complete the hospital by working with leadership in theHouse of Representativesand in theSenate.\r\nIn July 2018, Gardner attended theribbon cutting ceremonyfor the Rocky Mountain VA Medical Center in Aurora.\r\n \r\nSenator Gardner has made it a priority to improve veterans services and ease the transition to civilian life:\r\n \r\nGardner launched hisVA Readiness Initiativein February 2019 to ensure the government is always ready to assist veterans and prepared to fulfill the promises our country has made them.\r\nIn February, 2020 the President signed S. 153, theSupporting Veterans in STEM Careers Act, bipartisan legislation that included Gardner's language directing the U.S. Government Accountability Office to study the barriers student veterans face when pursuing careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).\r\nIn January 2020, The Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs passed Gardner's bipartisanVeterans Improved Access and Care Actto hold the Department of Veterans Affairs accountable to a higher standard for hiring process timelines.\r\nThe Senate unanimously passed Gardner's bipartisanVA Provider Accountability Actin December 2019, which would bring much-needed accountability to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).\r\nIn November 2019, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resourcesunanimously passed the bipartisan Energy Jobs for our Heroes Act, introduced by Senators Gardner and Bennet to help ease the transition back to civilian life for service members and connect veterans with jobs in the rapidly expanding energy sector.\r\nIn June 2019, Gardner introduced theVeterans Small Business Ownership Improvements Actto protect and enhance entrepreneurship training for service members, veterans, and their families.\r\nGardner reintroduced the bipartisanImproving Preparation and Resources for Occupational, Vocational, and Educational (IMPROVE) Transition for Servicemembers Actin May 2019 to provide pre-separation counseling, training and assistance to servicemembers returning to civilian live and their families.\r\nGardner and a bipartisan group of colleagues introduced theHire Student Veterans Actin February 2019, which would expand the existing Work Opportunity Tax Credit to ensure all student veterans using their GI benefits can take advantage of valuable paid internships or work opportunities while in school.\r\n \r\n###\r\nCory Gardner is a member of the U.S. Senate serving Colorado. He sits on the Energy & Natural Resources Committee, the Foreign Relations Committee, the Commerce, Science, & Transportation Committee, and is the Chairman of the Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy.", 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://www.gardner.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/gardner-announces-push-for-va-hospital-in-colorado-springs"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4002530369907618, "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"}