2022 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 20
BY SENATORS LUNEAU, ABRAHAM, BERNARD, BOUIE, CARTER, CATHEY,
CLOUD, CORTEZ, FESI, FIELDS, HENRY, MCMATH, FRED
MILLS, MORRIS, PEACOCK, PRICE, REESE, STINE AND TALBOT
A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
To urge and request the United States Department of Veterans Affairs to reconsider the
closure of the Alexandria Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
WHEREAS, in his second inaugural address, President Abraham Lincoln promised
"to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan"; and
WHEREAS, President Lincoln affirmed the government's obligation to care for those
injured during the war, and to provide for the families of those who perished on the
battlefield; and
WHEREAS, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) carries out
specific missions to honor President Lincoln's commitment to America's veterans by
providing healthcare and educational benefits, home loans, and dignified burial services; and
WHEREAS, the vision of the VA is to provide veterans the benefits and services they
have earned by adhering to the highest standards of compassion, commitment, excellence,
professionalism, integrity, accountability, and stewardship; and
WHEREAS, the Alexandria Veterans Affairs Medical Center (the Center) is a
teaching hospital in Pineville, Louisiana, that provides a full range of services, with state-of-
the-art technology as well as education and research; and
WHEREAS, the Center serves a potential population of more than one hundred
thousand veterans and an active patient roster of more than thirty-seven thousand; and
WHEREAS, the VA recommends closing the Center and more than fifteen other sites
where the number of veterans, and the overall population, has declined in recent decades;
and
WHEREAS, services at the closed sites would be replaced by smaller inpatient and
outpatient clinics to be built in those areas or by construction of new VA medical centers in
nearby communities; and
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WHEREAS, the Center provides outstanding health care, trains America's future
heath care providers, and conducts important medical research; and
WHEREAS, Louisiana's congressional leadership has remarked that the Center is
critical for veterans across the state and the detrimental effects of its closure would be
immeasurable.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
urge and request the United States Department of Veterans Affairs to reconsider the closure
of the Alexandria Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
secretary of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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