[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 170 (Friday, November 21, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S15413-S15414]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. STABENOW (for herself and Mr. Levin):
  S. 1914. A bill to prohibit the closure or realignment of inpatient 
services at the Aleda E. Lutz Department of Veterans Affairs Medical 
Center in Saginaw, Michigan, as proposed under the Capital Asset 
Realignment for Enhanced Services initiatives; to the Committee on 
Veterans' Affairs.
  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation 
that would prevent the closure of the Saginaw Veterans Administration 
Medical Center in Saginaw, MI.
  As of August 2003, there were almost one million veterans in lower 
Michigan and Northwestern Ohio. These one million veterans are served 
by four V.A. Medical Centers--Saginaw, Detroit, Ann Arbor and Battle 
Creek--and 12 Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs), all located 
in lower Michigan or Toledo, OH.
  Regrettably, the Department of Veterans Affairs' Capitol Asset 
Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES) Commission is recommending 
closing all acute care beds at the Aleda E. Lutz Department of Veterans 
Affairs Medical Center in Saginaw, MI. The geographic range for the 
acute services in Saginaw is vast. The facility essentially covers half 
of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Therefore, closing these inpatient beds 
in Saginaw would have a devastating impact on veterans who live in 
Central and Northern Michigan.
  If the Saginaw facility were to close, a veteran who lived in 
Mackinaw City would have to drive 281 miles to the Detroit facility or 
272 miles to the Ann Arbor facility for medical care. Under ideal 
conditions these trips would take six hours instead of the current two 
hour trip that it would take to reach the existing Saginaw facility. 
Asking a veteran to go from Mackinaw City to Detroit is like asking a 
veteran to go from southeast Michigan to Buffalo, New York to get acute 
care.
  How can we ask veterans, many of whom are sick and frail, to travel 
six hours to get necessary inpatient services? Going through a major 
illness is tough enough for our veterans. The closing of this hospital 
would add insult to injury.
  This bill seeks to stop this closure and ensure that the thousands of 
veterans who live in central and northern Michigan have access to the 
medical services they deserve. I urge my colleagues to support this 
bill.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1914

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

[[Page S15414]]

     SECTION 1. PROHIBITION ON CLOSURE OR REALIGNMENT OF INPATIENT 
                   SERVICES AT ALEDA E. LUTZ DEPARTMENT OF 
                   VETERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL CENTER IN SAGINAW, 
                   MICHIGAN.

       The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall not carry out the 
     closure or realignment of inpatient services at the Aleda E. 
     Lutz Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in 
     Saginaw, Michigan, as proposed under the Capital Asset 
     Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES) initiative.
                                 ______