I also want to briefly address a widely held misperception that because VA is downsizing, merging facilities, and moving care out of hospital beds, it no longer requires major construction funds. Major construction funds are not just used to build new facilities. While VA has significantly reduced its reliance on bed care, VA providers will continue in the foreseeable future to need beds in a variety of settings. Remaining beds must be housed in modern, safe and accessible facilities. Other selected projects allow VA to continue moving more expensive hospital bed care to outpatient care settings.
Some projects consolidate VA's activities and allow it to become more cost effective.
In addition, the Committee is authorizing funds for three major leases for outpatient facilities. These leases will allow VA to take advantage of the community's excess capacity and become more accessible to its users. These projects are not only consistent with recent trends in VA health care, they are consistent with the direction of modern medicine. I hope others on the Committee will join me in supporting the major medical construction projects contained in this bill. Thank you Mr. Chairman.