A bipartisan group of senators has set up a roadblock, perhaps insurmountable, against a congressionally mandated US Dept. of Veterans Affairs proposal revamping its extensive network of hospitals and other health care facilities.

由退伍军人事务委员会主席Jon Tester（D-Mont。）领导的十二名参议员在6月27日的声明中说，他们反对2018年法律为启动VA设施制度大修而制定的程序。

At issue is the process for an Asset and Infrastructure Review (AIR) Commission, created by the 2018 VA MISSION Act. That law required the VA to propose a reshaping of its portfolio of about 170 medical facilities, which the department says, makes it the largest U.S. integrated healthy care system.

VA的建议，三月份发行, would shut some facilities, build new ones and expand or reconfigure others. At the time, the Associated General Contractors of America projected that the proposed program could mean billions of dollars for construction.

一位发言人说，该提议将对这种趋势做出响应，例如居住在南部和西部某些地区的退伍军人人数增加，并减少了居住在东北和中西部的人数。

VA设施的年龄和状况也参与了该部门的计划。在概述新设施网络的报告中，部门部长丹尼斯·麦克唐纳（Denis McDonough）表示，它将取代“旧，过时的，破产的设施，其最先进的设施是由退伍军人和VA员工设计的。”

VA的建筑物的中位年龄将近60岁，而美国私营部门医院的中位数为8.5岁。3月份报告称，VA的医院中约有69％的医院年龄超过50岁。

Under the 2018 statute, after VA developed its proposal, the plan was to be reviewed by the AIR Commission, composed of nine presidentially nominated members who were subject to Senate confirmation.

The commission then was to study the plan, which it could alter, and submit its version to the President. He then could end the process at that point or send his recommendations to Congress.

Fierce Opposition

现在有12名参议员正在挥舞的杠杆拒绝批准委员会的任何提名人。拜登（Biden）于三月份向参议院发送了八次提名，并在6月份向参议院发送了提名，但没有人投票甚至进行确认听证会。

Tester and the 11 other senators said in their statement that the AIR process “would put veterans in both rural and urban areas at a disadvantage” and added that the process “does not have our support and will not move forward.”

Besides Tester, the other anti-AIR Democrats are: Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Maggie Hassan (N.H.), Martin Heinrich (N.M.), Ben Ray Lujan (N.M.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Patty Murray (Wash.).

Republicans who signed on to the statement are: Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.), Steve Daines (Mont.), Rob Portman (Ohio), Mike Rounds (S.D.) and John Thune (S.D.).

Tester’s stance is no surprise. Montana would lose a VA nursing home and two clinics under the VA proposal. At the time the proposal was released, he said that “any effort to kneecap our veterans’ health care is a non-starter for me."

Supporters Cite Outdated Facilities

空气程序有其支持者。参议员杰里铁道部an, the veterans' affairs panel's top Republican, said in a statement, "Many of the VA's facilities are empty, underutilized and severely outdated."

莫兰补充说：“我们通过了《 VA任务法》来解决这些问题，但拒绝确认专员，我们实际上是关闭空中委员会的工作，这可能是我们解决这个长期存在的问题的唯一机会。”

“President Biden has insisted that our veterans in the 21st century should not be forced to receive care in early 20th century buildings. The median age of VA’s hospitals is nearly 60 years old, and that’s why the President requested nearly $20 billion in new VA infrastructure spending last year and it is why he has requested the largest ever investment in VA infrastructure in his FY23 budget," said Melissa Bryant, Acting Assistant Secretary for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs, in an email to ENR.

"Whatever Congress decides to do with the AIR Commission—which was called for in the 2018 MISSION Act—we will continue to fight for the funding and modernization that our veterans deserve,” she added.

If the AIR proposal doesn’t resurface in some form, decisions on funding and building new VA hospitals and clinics would continue to rest with Congress, including the appropriations committees. In the Senate, that key panel’s members include Tester, Capito, Heinrich, Murray and Moran.

The text of this article was updated on July 6, 2022, to reflect comments from the VA acting assistant secretary.