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SENATORS BLOCK LEASES AT WEST L.A. VA HOSPITAL --

In a 66-25 vote, lawmakers shot down an amendment that

would have stripped protections for the property.

 

West L.A. VA facility

 

For more about the VA's plans for the West L.A. property, use the VA Watchdog search engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/ses
search.php?q=west+l.a.&op=ph

Story here... http://www.daily
news.com/news/ci_6812426

Story below:

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Senators block leases at L.A. vets hospital

BY LISA FRIEDMAN Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - California's U.S. senators thwarted a Bush administration attempt Wednesday to allow commercial leasing of a Los Angeles veterans hospital.

In a 66-25 vote, lawmakers shot down an amendment that would have stripped protections written by Sen. Dianne Feinstein into a $109.2 military spending bill prohibiting development at the West Los Angeles Medical Center.

"The bottom line is, would you sell the national mall for profit? Would you sell Teddy Roosevelt Island for profit?" asked Feinstein, who tacked on the protections after the Veterans Administration leased some of the center's 388 acres to a film studio and a car-rental agency.

"There are a lot of ways to make money, but I think the worst way is to make money off of veterans," Feinstein said.

The White House earlier this week said it opposed the protections and predicted it would eliminate more than $4 billion in revenue from the Veterans Administration.

Federal budget officials noted the money would be used "to improve facilities around the country for our nation's veterans."

Sen. Barbara Boxer maintained that the administration should not be setting its sights on the Los Angeles hospital in a time of war.
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"This is not the time to say to our veterans, `You're not important.' That it's more important to have a rental car agency or a movie studio here," she said.

"Certain things you can't put a price on because in the long run it's wrong to do."

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Larry Scott  --