Schumer Announces Key Senate Panel Backs $200,000 For The Veterans Outreach Center in Rochester

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced that the Senate Appropriations Committee approved $200,000 for Veterans Outreach Center in Rochester under the FY06 Transportation, Treasury, HUD Appropriations Act. The federal funds will go to renovate and expand the centers employment, job training, and counseling facilities that have become overcrowded due to increasing demand for services. The bill must now be approved by the full Senate before being sent to a House and Senate Conference Committee, then eventually being signed into law. Schumer had aggressively lobbied members of the Appropriations Committee to include funding for the project in this years spending bill.

When men and women risk the ultimate sacrifice to serve our county and protect our liberties, we make a promise in return that we will take care of them and their families, Schumer said. The expanded Veterans Outreach Center will give your veterans and our returning troops the support they need and the help they deserve. Rochester veterans will now have a onestopshop for veterans for employment assistance, healthcare needs, and help cutting through the red tape.

The Veterans Outreach Center has expanded their staff over the past five years and has rapidly outgrown the current facilities. The federal funds will be used for the expansion project which combines 5,500 sq. ft. of new construction with 2,050 sq. ft. in renovations to a recently acquired twostory historic house and renovations to their existing office facility. The expansion will provide an additional nearly 10,000 sq. ft. of additional space for employment and training programs. The centers Veterans Community Technology Center will provide occupational skills computer training in tutorial and classroom applications, as well as handson laboratory experience as part of its program. The historic house will be renovated to expand the space for the NYS Division of Veterans Affairs, NYS Dept. of Labor, US Dept. of Veterans Affairs and Operation Welcome Home (OWH).

Today, the Appropriations Committee included $200,000 for this project in the Transportation, Treasury, HUD spending bill. The bill was passed out of the Appropriations Committee today and now heads to the floor for a vote before the Senate. A vote is expected later this summer, and after final passage a conference committee will reconcile the differences between the House and Senate versions of the Transportation, Treasury, HUD Appropriations Bill before sending it to the President to become law.