Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2005 | 11:13 a.m.
SUN WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON -- President Bush has asked Congress for $750 million for new veterans hospitals and clinics next year, including money for a new medical complex in North Las Vegas.
Bush sent his $2.57 trillion federal budget proposal for fiscal year 2006 to lawmakers on Monday, including a request for $70.8 billion for the Veterans Affairs Department.
Bush's request for the department's new facilities construction budget would be used for projects including 28 new clinics, two major construction projects in Biloxi, Miss. and Fayetteville, Ark; plus five major new medical centers, in North Las Vegas; Cleveland; Pittsburgh; Gainsville, Fla; and Anchorage, Alaska.
It will be up to Congress to finalize the Veterans Affairs budget. But there is no early indication that lawmakers would seek to trim the department's budget or to curb its new construction plans, Nevada congressional sources said.
Nevada lawmakers urged the department for several years to consider the Las Vegas Valley for a major new veterans medical center, citing the fast-rising veterans population. The new complex, which would cost about $295 million, would include a 90-bed hospital, a 120-bed nursing home and an outpatient clinic.
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