Campaign Promises
Departments -> Veterans Affairs -> General | ||
| Item | Veterans Affairs | |
| General | Grade | |
| VA-1 | The Promise: "...will fully fund the VA so it has all the resources it needs to serve the veterans who need it, when they need it, when they need it." When/Where: Plan for America: "Blueprint for Change," dated 10/09/08 Source: https://www.documentcloud.org/ Obama and Biden's documents/550007-barack-obama-2008-blueprint-for-change.html Status:The final enacted FY2010 appropriation for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) was $127.2B, $29.5B above the $97.7B appropriation for FY2009. The FY2010 appropriation included $71.3B for mandatory VA benefits programs, $53.1B for discretionary funding purposes, and $2.8B for the Medical Care Collections Fund (MCCF). For the first time, the VA's FY2010 appropriation included an advance appropriation to ensure uninterrupted funding for medical care for veterans for FY2011. The final FY2011 enacted budget for the VA was $125.5B, a slight decrease from FY2010. VA funding for the remainder of President Obama's two terms in office was as follows: FY2012 - $126.8B FY2013 - $139.1B FY2014 - $168.9B FY2015 - $163.5B FY2016 - $163.5B FY2017 - $182.1B This promise was fulfilled. | 1.00 |
| VA-2 | The Promise: "...will also push to quickly build a new, state-of-the-art Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in New Orleans so that the city's veterans can get top-quality care." When/Where: Obama-Biden Plan: "Rebuilding the Gulf Coast and Preventing Future Catastrophes", dated 09/11/08. Source: https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/550006/barack-obama-2008-rebuilding-the-gulf-coast-and.pdf Status:Ground was broken on 06/25/10 for a new VA medical complex to be built in New Orleans -- an $800M facility scheduled to open in early-CY2014, 10 years after the Hurricane Katrina severely damaged the VA hospital that existed in the downtown medical district. Construction issues delayed completion of the facility until 11/18/16 and caused cost increases to about $1B. The 31-acre complex contains 1.7 million square feet, 300 outpatient exam rooms, 200 hospital rooms, 20 intervention/surgery rooms, an emergency department, a research facility, rehabilitation services and a mental health division. The hospital employs 2,800 people able to handle 500K outpatient visits annually while serving over 70K veterans in the New Orleans area. This promise was fulfilled. | 1.00 |