SLS 22RS-1017 ORIGINAL
2022 Regular Session
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 20
BY SENATOR LUNEAU
HEALTH SERVICES. Requests the continued operation of the Alexandria Veterans Affairs
Medical Center.
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2 To urge and request the United States Department of Veterans Affairs to reconsider the
3 closure of the Alexandria Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
4 WHEREAS, in his second inaugural address, President Abraham Lincoln promised
5 "to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan"; and
6 WHEREAS, President Lincoln affirmed the government's obligation to care for those
7 injured during the war, and to provide for the families of those who perished on the
8 battlefield; and
9 WHEREAS, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) carries out
10 specific missions to honor President Lincoln's commitment to America's veterans by
11 providing healthcare and educational benefits, home loans, and dignified burial services; and
12 WHEREAS, the vision of the VA is to provide veterans the benefits and services they
13 have earned by adhering to the highest standards of compassion, commitment, excellence,
14 professionalism, integrity, accountability, and stewardship; and
15 WHEREAS, the Alexandria Veterans Affairs Medical Center (the Center) is a
16 teaching hospital in Pineville, Louisiana, that provides a full range of services, with state-of-
17 the-art technology as well as education and research; and
18 WHEREAS, the Center serves a potential population of more than one hundred
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SLS 22RS-1017 ORIGINAL
1 thousand veterans and an active patient roster of more than thirty-seven thousand; and
2 WHEREAS, the VA recommends closing the Center and more than fifteen other sites
3 where the number of veterans, and the overall population, has declined in recent decades;
4 and
5 WHEREAS, services at the closed sites would be replaced by smaller inpatient and
6 outpatient clinics to be built in those areas or by construction of new VA medical centers in
7 nearby communities; and
8 WHEREAS, the Center provides outstanding health care, trains America's future
9 heath care providers, and conducts important medical research; and
10 WHEREAS, Louisiana's congressional leadership has remarked that the Center is
11 critical for veterans across the state and the detrimental effects of its closure would be
12 immeasurable.
13 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
14 urge and request the United States Department of Veterans Affairs to reconsider the closure
15 of the Alexandria Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
16 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
17 secretary of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Yoursheka Butler.
DIGEST
SCR 20 Original 2022 Regular Session Luneau
Requests the United States Department of Veterans Affairs to reconsider the closure of the
Alexandria Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
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