(Washington, D.C.) Today, Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers applauded the Veterans Affairs’ long-awaited announcement of a $74.1 million dollar renovation at the Walla Walla VA Medical Center.

“Eastern Washington veterans have waited a long time for this news,” McMorris Rodgers said. “I applaud the VA for moving forward on this project that will ensure veterans in Eastern Washington, Northern Idaho and Northeastern Oregon receive the kind of care they have earned from a modern facility.”

McMorris Rodgers has long been an advocate of this project that will improve veterans’ outpatient and dental care.

• In February 2008, she asked Secretary of Veterans Affairs James Peake to put the project on the fast track. (Read the letter here.)
• Days later, McMorris Rodgers met with Secretary Peake at the Walla Walla VA Medical Center and stressed to him the importance of this project.
• In a follow up letter in March of 2008, McMorris Rodgers encouraged Secretary Peake to make the project, slated for a 2012 groundbreaking, a higher priority. (Read the letter here.)

The FY09 project to modernize 65,000 square feet of medical space is scheduled to break ground in 2010. “I thank Secretary Peake for listening to my concerns about how important this project is for Eastern Washington veterans and acting on my request to move it forward,” McMorris Rodgers said. “The staff at the Walla Walla VA Medical Center already provides quality care and I look forward to seeing the even greater care they will deliver with this new, modern facility."

Since coming to Congress in 2005, McMorris Rodgers has been a strong advocate of Eastern Washington veterans. In addition to repeatedly supporting increased education, health care, and benefits for veterans, McMorris Rodgers hosts quarterly veterans advisory meetings and recently introduced the PROVets Act, which helps veterans know what benefits are available to them and how they can apply for them. McMorris Rodgers is married to Brian Rodgers, a 26-year retired Navy pilot.