Senate Bill Would Fund New Army Reserve Building In Starkville

PRESS RELEASE

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, today voted for Senate approval of $9.3 million in federal military construction funding to replace the aging Guy II & Will Jones U.S. Army Reserve Center (USARC) in Starkville.

Cochran voted with 93 Senators to approve the FY2016 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs (MilCon-VA) Appropriations Bill (HR.2029).  The measure is the first stand-alone appropriations bill amended, debated, and passed in the Senate since 2011.  This year also marks the first time since 2009 that all 12 appropriations bills were approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Within the MilCon-VA bill, $9.3 million is provided to a new USARC facility in Starkville.  The bill must now be reconciled with a similar measure passed by the House of Representatives that does not fund the Starkville project.

“I look forward to conferencing our bill with the House bill, and making our case for this project.  The Army Reserve Center replacement project is supported by the Army and was included in the budget request.  There are good arguments to be made for replacing a run-down center with one that has joint-use potential and meets modern standards,” Cochran said.

The project in Starkville is authorized in the National Defense Authorization Act, which that received final congressional approval from the Senate on Tuesday, clearing the policy bill to be resent to the White House for consideration.  The Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Housing and Partnerships has indicated that a new USARC can be considered for joint military service use.

The bulk of the funding in the Senate MilCon-VA bill is dedicated to veterans’ benefits and health care.  While it provides $8.2 billion for military construction, the bill makes $71.2 billion in discretionary funding available for U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs programs.  It recommends $50.7 billion for the treatment and care of approximately 6.9 million veterans in FY2016.

“This bipartisan bill ensures that our veterans, active duty military and their families have the support that they deserve.  It is our duty to meet our obligation to the men and women who have risked their lives to defend our nation,” Cochran said.  “For the more than 200,000 veterans who call Mississippi home, it is important that we finish our work and get this legislation enacted.”

The Senate measure increases discretionary funding in order to improve patient access to care, and to support additional health care services including coverage of the drug to cure hepatitis C, veterans’ caregiver services, and homeless veterans’ assistance.  The bill funds the VA Electronic Health Record Program but restricts full usage of the funding until the VA demonstrates functional improvements in the exchange of veterans’ medical data between the VA, Department of Defense and private health care providers. The bill also increases the oversight of major VA medical construction programs.

At Cochran’s request, the bill includes language directing the VA to continue reporting to Congress the details of its actions to resolve issues at the Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System in Biloxi and the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Gulfport.