South Dakota’s Congressional delegation is inviting the head of Veterans Affairs in Washington D.C to Hot Springs. Senators John Thune and Tim Johnson, joined Congresswoman Kristi Noem in a letter calling on the U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs to listen to citizens concerns over a proposal to close part of the VA facilities in Hot Springs.
U.S. Senator John Thune says the delegation is disappointed by what they’ve seen from the VA. Thune says local concerns over the proposal to close the facility in Hot Springs should be heard by U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki.
“The VA had initially suggested that they were going to pay very careful attention to and listen to the suggestions that were going to come out of the community with regards with to what to do with the facility there. And subsequent to that it’s become pretty clear that they never had any intention to paying very careful attention to what the community had to say and so we want to get the Secretary out here and allow him the opportunity to hear from citizens who are going to be impacted by some of these decisions,” says Thune.
Thune says the negotiations between a citizens group and the VA broke down in September when the VA refused to waver. VA officials in the Black Hills say they’ve tried very carefully to weigh the concerns of Hot Springs residents, and they welcome more .