LOUISVILLE (WHAS11) -- U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced President Donald Trump personally assured him -- at the Senator’s request -- the new Robley Rex VA Medical Center (VAMC) in Louisville, Ky. will be fully funded in the President’s 2020 budget request to Congress.
President Trump contacted Senator McConnell to inform him that he would include the full request of more than $400 million in his upcoming budget, expected to be released later in March.
After President Trump officially submits his budget request to Congress, lawmakers must then approve the funding level in the appropriations process. Senator McConnell will continue to make the Louisville VAMC a top priority.
“I want to thank President Trump for his assurance that my request to fully fund the Robley Rex VA Medical Center will be included in his budget, and I am proud to work with him to support Kentucky’s veterans,” said Senator McConnell. “This has been a long time coming, but this is a huge step forward for this important project. Kentucky veterans, who have served our country so bravely, deserve to receive quality health care in a new, modern facility. As Senate Majority Leader, one of my top priorities is to support our nation’s heroes, especially the more than 300,000 veterans who call Kentucky home. They have been waiting far too long for this medical center, and I am pleased we are now one step closer.”
The project has spanned all or parts of three presidencies, but McConnell says Trump's budget recommendation means "we can see a light at the end of the tunnel." McConnell says the project's inclusion in the president's budget proposal makes it easier to keep it in the final budget that emerges from Congress.
McConnell says groundbreaking could occur as soon as 2020.