Washington – Lawmakers want a veterans cemetery in Colorado Springs but need to overcome a 3-mile obstacle to get one.
U.S. Sens. Wayne Allard, a Republican, and Ken Salazar, a Democrat, on Thursday asked the U.S. Senate’s Committee on Veterans’ Affairs to support a bill they’re co-sponsoring to place a national cemetery in Colorado Springs.
Rep. Joel Hefley, a Colorado Springs Republican, has a similar bill in the House.
“The bottom line is that our veterans deserve this cemetery,” Salazar said. “They fought for and served our country to the best of their ability. It seems absurd that Colorado Springs, an area with more than 100,000 veterans, several military bases and installations and a military academy, does not warrant a cemetery honoring them.”
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which administers most of the nation’s 130 national cemeteries, opposes the legislation because of that 3-mile issue.
VA guidelines say national cemeteries must be at least 75 miles apart.
Colorado Springs is 3 miles too close to the nearest veterans’ cemetery 72 miles away in Denver.
“The most recent demographic study of the veteran population, which was completed in 2002, did not indicate a need for a new national cemetery in Colorado,” testified Daniel L. Cooper, the VA undersecretary for benefits, during a committee hearing.
Getting Congress to approve the bill could be difficult. A few years ago, Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, and now chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, offered a bill trying to get a veterans cemetery in his state. When it became clear it would not meet the 75-mile standard, he instead sought funding for a state veterans cemetery.
With state facilities, the state comes up with the land and the VA pays for construction. The state then takes over the costs of maintaining the facility.
There is a state cemetery for veterans in Grand Junction. The land was donated.
The VA’s Cooper said Thursday that he could work with lawmakers to do that in Colorado Springs.
Colorado has two national veterans cemeteries – Fort Logan in Denver and Fort Lyon in Las Animas, 140 miles southeast of Colorado Springs. Fort Logan is expected to be full by 2021 and Fort Lyon sometime after 2030.
Lawmakers have been working with veterans groups and Colorado Springs leaders to try to get property for the cemetery donated. No land has been donated yet.
One possible cemetery site is near the Army’s Fort Carson, south of Colorado Springs, Allard said Thursday at the hearing.
If the cemetery were placed just south of Colorado Springs, that would be more than 75 miles south of Fort Logan.
Establishing a new national cemetery costs $20 million to $30 million, not including the cost of the land, said Josephine Schuda, VA spokeswoman.
The average annual operating costs range from $1 million to $2 million, Cooper said at the hearing.
Staff writer Anne C. Mulkern can be reached at 202-662-8907 or amulkern@denverpost.com.
